Dancers working presently in the contemporary, experimental dance world do so in relation to the historical definitions of “the dancer,” all while deconstructing and recontextualizing its meaning. Dancers are makers in their own right inside choreographic structures. In this course, we will work with specific choreographic structures and scores, and use them as a frame to help understand how we participate in the process of making.  We will look at the choices we make as we help shape the choreography and performance. We will look at how we, as whole people, interact with the material. We will work with approaches to employing technical skill and elements such as movement quality and relationship to space, exploring our personal agency and presence.  As a final project we will study the efforts of a few dancers working presently in the contemporary experimental dance realm with major choreographers. We will be learning their choreographed material and also charting their perceived methods for engaging in and performing the work. We will be asking questions like: What was their training model? What influenced their work? How did they integrate themselves into the whole concept?

Co-requisite: Dance or Drama lab assignment if students sign up for 4 or more credits in dance.