Humanities Arts Cultural Stu 0145 - Moving, Making, Meaning: An Introduction to Dance Studies and Practice

This beginning-level course invites students to develop movement, making, and performance practices as vehicles for thinking about and supporting new beginnings. The course will function as dance class, rehearsal, and research seminar where we will examine assumptions about whose bodies are afforded the opportunity to be expressive, and learn to trust what our bodies already know. We will also work to expand our capacities for embodied play, experimentation, meaning-making, physical and intellectual rigor, and employ a range of creative modalities (including use of the written word, video and digital media) to contextualize and process embodied experience. Our work will be bolstered by the study of theoretical underpinnings of contemporary dance, art-making and performance practices. We will share our work informally at the conclusion of the semester, with possible performances (live or virtual) early in February 2022. No previous dance experience is necessary. (keywords: critical dance studies, performance, embodiment)

Time and Narrative Field trip fees: $30-$50 to attend performances throughout the semester. Students in this course can expect to spend 6 to 8 hours weekly on work and preparation outside of class time.