Introduction to Critical Dance Studies

Critical dance studies centers dancing bodies as integral to various social, cultural, and political identity-making practices. In this course students will study, observe, examine, discuss, and at times participate in popular, classical, and social dance forms from a range of historical and global perspectives. Our driving inquiries include: How does dance travel and transform through time and space? How does dance produce identities? How does dance complicate notions of authorship and originality? Course readings are drawn from dance studies, critical race studies, gender and sexuality studies, and performance studies. Readings are complemented by screenings, movement exercises, and live performance.