Dance: Contemporary: Foundations

Introduction to applied practice in contemporary dance. Open to students with no previous dance training. Emphasis on fundamentals of contemporary dance technique and movement mechanics. Includes overview of modern/contemporary dance history and experiential anatomy. Reading, writing, and attending live performances required. May be repeated for credit.

Open to degree and PACE students

DESCRIPTION: This is a studio course in beginner/intermediate dance technique; it’s the right level for students who are beginners, or who have some dance but no contemporary dance training, and/or are entering technique classes in the Dance Program for the first time. Contemporary dance – also called “modern dance” - has historically been individualistic and transgressive, first against societal and aesthetic strictures in the early years of the 20th century, and then in successive reactionary waves throughout the 20th and 21st centuries; there are endless varieties of movement and training. METHOD and ASSESSMENT: The primary method of study is consistent and fully embodied physical/mental participation in the class. A student's success in the course will depend on willingness and ability to develop meaningful understandings of dance training and bring in-depth participation and response in class activities and assignments. Supplements to in-class work: reading, drawing/writing, video and live performance viewing, and a final in-class composition & performance.