Dance Intensive: Embodiment, Improvisation, Performance (DAN2354.01)

Levi Gonzalez

This course is for students who have a serious interest in dance or a desire to explore embodied practice and cognition, whether or not you have previous dance experience. Through a broad range of cultural and artistic perspectives, we will consider many possible approaches to dance, including aspects of embodiment (through technique, physical and somatic practice, improvisation and more) and performance (methods of making performance and also ways it can be understood). This will include reading critical scholarship and viewing artistic work from multiple historical periods, aesthetics, and cultural points of view. Embodied movement practices and Improvisational structures will inform and expand our physical toolkit in developing and performing our own work and feeling more comfortable in our bodies. Additionally, we will be attentive to our own learning processes—recognizing patterns, heightening awareness of observation, and discovering new and expansive ways of moving and thinking. Students’ experiments will be regularly drafted, viewed, discussed and edited, opening up conversations about how we relate to technique, structure, organization, and disorganization. Collaborative and solo projects will be developed throughout the term and will include a showing in Dance Workshop or in the end-of-term Studio Concert.


Learning Outcomes:
Students will:
-gain an introductory understanding of contemporary scholarship on dance that incorporates critical analyses and cultural context into our understanding of dance forms.
-explore approaches to dance technique, structure, improvisation and performance from a broad range of cultural, historic and artistic perspectives.
-develop self-directed learning strategies, such as recognizing patterns, heightening awareness of observation, and practicing intention and agency in selecting effective movement options.
-build familiarity with multiple somatic practices and awareness.
-develop and perform their own work.
-gain confidence in different ways of providing and receiving feedback on their creative work.


Delivery Method: Fully in-person
Corequisites: Attendance at Dance Workshop on Thursday evenings; Dance or Drama Lab Assignment if students are registered for 4 or more credits in Dance.
Course Level: 2000-level
Credits: 4
T/F 2:10PM - 4:00PM (Full-term)
Maximum Enrollment: 24
Course Frequency: Once a year

Categories: All courses , Dance , Fully In-Person
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