Critical Social Inquiry 0128 - Choreographies of Protest: African American Dance and Performance History

Choreographies of Protest: African American Social and Performance History: African American dance and music traditions have played a critical role in how African-Americans chose to convey and sustain their humanity and express joy and pain corporeally and through a particular relationship to rhythm. This class will explore the forms, contents and contexts of black dance traditions that played a crucial role in shaping American dance; focusing on how expressive cultural forms from the African diaspora have been transferred from the religious and social spaces to the concert stage. Viewing American cultural history through the lens of movement and performance, we will begin with an exploration of social and spiritual dances during slavery and the late nineteenth century when vibrant social dances insisted that black bodies, generally relegated to long hours of strenuous labor, devote themselves to pleasure as well. We will also explore the creation of protest choreographies among popular music artists, social dance contexts and modern dance idioms. This course will provide a strong foundation for students who want to pursue Africana Studies , cultural or social movement history or pursue transdisciplinary arts based research or performance studies KEYWORDS:Africana Studies, dance history, performance studies, African American history,Race and Power

In/Justice Students should expect to spend 6-8 hours weekly on work and preparation outside of class time