Humanities Arts Cultural Stu 0275 - Stomping the Blues

Embellishing upon Ralph Ellison's astute remark that much in American life is "jazz shaped," this course examines the influence of black musical traditions on American dance concert dance. We will focus on the relationship between jazz music and dance, looking at how jazz rhythm, improvisation, call-and-response patterning and elements of swing altered the line, attack, speed, weight, and phrasing of contemporary dance forms. Learning how to listen to the music will be crucial to recognizing how jazz became the motive and method for shaping a distinctly black modernist aesthetic. We will focus in large part on the jazzographies of Alvin Ailey and his contemporaries. Ailey collaborated with such various classically-trained jazz musicians as Charles Mingus, Max Roach, Dizzy Gillespie, Alice Coltrane, Mary Lou Williams, and Keith Jarrett, but the bulk of his so-called jazz works were created to the music by Duke Ellington. While we will survey dance works created by numerous choreographers to the music of the blues, swing, bebop, cool jazz, and hard bop, we will also look at vocal choreographies to rhythm and blues (Motown) as well as to hip hop and jukin', whose roots lie in the jazz tradition.

Independent Work Multiple Cultural Perspectives Writing and Research Students are expected to spend an additional 8 hours per week in work and preparation outside of class time.