Interdisciplinary Arts 0256 - Eldersong

Who are your elders? Family members or ancestors? Artists, activists and intellectuals who have paved the way for you? Someone - younger than you - who has the insight of an elder? Elements of your world: a tree, the sidewalk, the wind, a familiar laugh that goes back generations? In this course, you'll create an ensemble-based theater piece inspired by your elders. You'll research the piece (through interviews and the gathering of stories, gestures, and images) then develop a work-in-progress performance. To inform your process, you'll be introduced to ensemble-based plays and companies: from for colored girls who have considered suicide when the rainbow is enuf to Universes; from New York's Open Theater to New Orleans' Mondo Bizarro. The goal is to create a song not in the musical sense (although you may involve music to tell your story) but in the sense of a theater piece that reflects the dynamic rhythm of life that extends across generations.

Multiple Cultural Perspectives Independent Work Writing and Research In this course, students are expected to spend at least six to eight hours a week of preparation and work outside of class time. This time includes reading, writing, research.