DANC 305
Choreographies Spring 2016
Division I
This is not the current course catalog

By unpacking the idea of choreography, this course will be a laboratory for deepening a student’s thinking, writing and practice of performance. Choreography will be our flexible methodology for personalizing an approach to movement, text and objects as well as our lens for discussing cultural phenomena such as protests, public ceremonies and performance. Gleaning cues from these public spectacles, morning class exercises will focus on a skill or aspect of performance such as physicality, image, affect, duration, obstructions, objects, speech, timing and place. Afternoon sessions will be composition accompanied by a writing practice as each student navigates matters such as identity, representation and social space. How does choreography operate in society at large? What is the line between representing and doing something with one¿s body? How might performance question or transgress notions of identity? How can writing further performance as an expanded field of thought and action? The semester will culminate in a series of choreographies installed on campus, in locations chosen by the students. We will consider the work of established and emerging artists including : Vito Acconci, Marina Abramovic, Banksy, luciana achugar, William Pope.L, David Hammons, Trisha Brown, Jen Rosenblit, Guerilla Girls, Stuart Sherman, Jerome Bel and Visual AIDS. We will also read texts by Andre Lepecki, Michel Foucault, Douglas Crimp, Jennifer Doyle, José Muñoz, Marten Spanberg, Fred Moten, Jenn Joy, Judith Butler, Adrienne Edwards and Gilles Deleuze. Evaluation will be based on class participation, 2 short response papers, a longer paper and a final choreography.