2020 Fall

THEATER R1A 001 - LEC 001

Performance: Writing and Research

From Flashmobs to the Rockettes: The History and Politics of Dancing Together

Randi Marie Evans

Aug 26, 2020 - Dec 11, 2020

Tu, Th

09:30 am - 10:59 am

Internet/Online

Class #:23658

Units: 4

Instruction Mode: Remote Instruction
Time Conflict Enrollment Allowed

Offered through Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies

Current Enrollment

Total Open Seats: 0

Enrolled:

Waitlisted:

Capacity:

Waitlist Max:

No Reserved Seats

Hours & Workload

3 hours of instructor presentation of course materials per week, and 9 hours of outside work hours per week.

Course Catalog Description

Reading and composition in connection with the study of dramatic literature. R1A satisfies the first half of the Reading and Composition requirement, and R1B satisfies the second half.

This course fulfills the first half of the Reading and Composition requirement, and its main aim is to help students develop reading, critical analysis, and composition skills at the college-level. From unexpected flashmobs to the synchronicity of Beyoncé’s Formation video, we dance together to find joy, to disrupt the everyday, to protest, and to signal unity. Working across diverse genres of dance, this course will examine the discourse, history, and politics of the collective dancing body. Using keywords such as synchronicity, community, collective, collaboration, spectacle, and mass(es), we will analyze the ways in which viewers have been entranced by and afraid of bodies in motion together. In addition, we will consider how dance artists have used the collective as a way to eschew the hierarchy of choreographer and dancer. Most importantly, we will examine the racial and gender politics that surface according to who is dancing with whom, and where and when that dancing occurs.

Class Notes

R&C classes offered by TDPS in Fall 2020 will meet during scheduled class times remotely and synchronously for at least ½ of the scheduled class hours per week. The remainder of class time will be held either synchronously or asynchronously. Some of the Zoom class meetings will involve break-out groups. Regular reading, writing, video viewing assignments, research-based assignments, etc. will be shared with students via bCourses. Final assessment will involve written papers. Students are expected to use the video option in Zoom for this class. Please contact the instructor if you have extenuating circumstances that prevent use of the video option (or if you have other technical issues). show less