Music Dance in US 1932-1962

3 Credits · Level: Undergraduate

This course explores one of the most vital periods of music and dance in America through a combination of sociohistorical context and musico-choreographic analysis. Ballet, modern dance, theatrical dance, dance in the movies, and social dance were all undergoing great change as well as burgeoning popularity; and there was significant overlap between types that are today considered quite distinct. Ballet pioneer George Balanchine and modern dance choreographer Agnes de Mille not only innovated within "serious" theatrical dance but also made dances for Broadway and the movies; Fred Astaire brought social dance to a highly polished theatrical level with both his sister Adele and Ginger Rogers; football and hockey player Gene Kelly turned down a position with the Ballets Russes and went on to revolutionize dance on film; tap dance was, like rock and roll, an product of American racial interaction. Evolving conceptions of identity, including gender, race, ethnicity, and sexuality, were reflected through movement in ways that words and still image could not express. This was also a period in which social dancing was a major shaping force of popular culture, from the swing of the 1930s through the jive of the 1940s and a string of Latin dance crazes, culminating in perhaps the greatest dance revolution of the century, the Twist. Other key figures include Martha Graham, Bill Robinson, Shirley Temple, Sonja Henie, the Nicholas Brothers, Eleanor Powell, Alvin Ailey, Bob Fosse, Carol Haney, and composers Aaron Copland, Richard Rodgers, and Elliott Carter.