- Spring 2018
Syllabus Description:
Dance 490A/CMS 497A
Dance History and Popular Cinema:
Imagined Conversations between William Forsythe and Quentin Tarantino (and others)
Spring 2018 Instructor: Alethea Alexander
Savery Hall 164 Office Hours: Th/9:30-10:30
Monday/Friday 2:30-3:50 - 3 credits - MNY 59J
Wednesday 2:30-4:20 Email: aletheas@uw.edu
Course Description
What are the choreographic tools available to a dance maker? What are the "choreographic" tools available to a filmmaker? In this class we will look at the ways that creators in these two mediums explore and express artistic ideas in similar ways. Dance and film have long been catalysts for and a response to changes in popular, political and sociocultural movements. This dance history course will situate eight choreographers (mostly American and European) in their historical cultural context, pairing the thrust of their body of work with a popular culture film that explores similar structures and values. In a seminar-style learning experience, we will look at changes and trends in twentieth and twenty-first century (dance) history by examining specific choreographers' bodies of work, using popular film to magnify or elucidate the specific contributions of each. The course will not highlight dance on film or filmed musicals, but instead will examine non-dance specific film genres and techniques and compare them to choreographic practices.
Course Objectives:
By the end of the course, students will have:
- engaged in conversation and written reflection that explicitly situates contemporary dance choreographers in their political, social, cultural and personal histories
- practiced drawing connections between dances and cultural movements of the past with contemporary politics, culture and art
- considered and discussed shared uses of form, function, rhythm, narrative and structure between contemporary dance and popular cinema
- developed a deeper understanding of contemporary and modern dance history
Course Content and Structure:
Students will do readings, viewings and engage in discussions about the lives, historical contexts and works of eight contemporary dancemakers and engage in critical thinking to find connections between choreography and popular cinematic forms. The class will involve group discussions, selected primary materials regarding reception of dancemakers in their time, reading critical theory, group viewings of contemporary films, written reflections and a final paper.
Assignments and Grading:
Class Preparation & Participation: 10%
Wednesday Film Viewing Reactions: 20%
Selected Reading Response Short Essays: 30%
Final Project / Paper Presentation: 10%
Final Project / Paper: 30%
Course Outline
WEEK 1: Syllabus, Introductions & Framing Dance and Cinema
Monday March 26th Syllabus and general introduction
Wednesday March 28th Conversation: Why does art matter? What do we get by participating?
Friday March 30th Cinema and Dance clip warm-up game
WEEK 2: Pearl Primus: radical art and political activism
Monday April 16th Pearl Primus lecture
Wednesday April 18th watch Coogler’s Fruitvale Station (2013)
Friday April 20th Compare and discuss
WEEK 3: George Balanchine: neoclassicalism & “ballet is woman”
Monday April 2nd George Balanchine lecture
Wednesday April 4th watch Glazer’s Under the Skin (2014)
Friday April 6th Compare and discuss
WEEK 4: William Forsythe: deconstructing form & the neo-Baroque
Monday April 9th William Forsythe lecture
Wednesday April 11th watch Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction (1994)
Friday April 13th compare and discuss
WEEK 5: Hijikata Tatsumi: imagination, identity, crisis and rebellion
Monday April 23rd movement workshop with Diana Garcia Snyder [HUTCH 208]
Wednesday April 25th watch Kurosawa’s Dreams (1990)
Friday April 27th compare and discuss
WEEK 6: Merce Cunningham: formal modernism, chance, cause and effect
Monday April 30th Merce Cunningham lecture
Wednesday May 2nd watch Tykwer's Run Lola Run (1999)
Friday May 4th compare and discuss
WEEK 7: Pina Bausch: expressionism and performing “bodies”
Monday May 7th Pina Bausch lecture
Wednesday May 9th watch Almodóvar's Hable con Ella (2002)
Friday May 11th compare and discuss
WEEK 8: Trisha Brown: avant-garde and improvisation
Monday May 14th Trisha Brown lecture
Wednesday May 16th watch Cassavetes' Shadows (1959)
ASSIGNMENT DUE: Please turn in a brief document that details which artist and personal/community issue you have chosen for your final project. Please include a brief personal reflection on why you have chosen your artist and issue.
Friday May 18th compare and discuss
WEEK 9: Elizabeth Streb: visceral communication & technology
Monday May 21st Elizabeth Streb lecture
Wednesday May 23rd watch Jenkins' Wonder Woman (2017)
Friday May 25th compare and discuss
WEEK 10: Recap & Project / Paper Presentations
Monday May 28th –no school: Memorial Day—
Wednesday May 30th course overview and Choreographer Conversations
Friday June 1st Informal student project presentations