Course Info: LCSEM-0109
| Course | LCSEM-0109 West African Dance History |
| Long Title | West African Dance History: West African Independence Struggles and the Rise of Ballets Africains |
| Term | 2024F |
| Note(s) |
Textbook information |
| Meeting Info | Music and Dance Building MAIN on M,W from 10:30-11:50 |
| Faculty | Amy Jordan |
| Capacity | 15 |
| Available | 7 |
| Waitlist | 0 |
| Distribution(s) |
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| Cumulative Skill(s) | |
| Additional Info | The content of this course deals with issues of race and power Students should expect to spend 8 hours weekly on work and preparation outside of class time |
| Description | This course combined (in studio) West African dance classes with discussion-based classes on the social and cultural history of West Africa, with a particular focus on Guinea. We explored multiple modes of knowledge production in which the people of Guinea expressed a dynamic conception of history. Dance classes were accompanied by live drumming where they learned Guinean choreographies at their own pace. By practicing the choreography popularized by Les Ballet Africains, the course required students to develop embodied knowledge contained in traditional dance choreographies as well as a sense of how they are in conversation with contemporary politics. The course required students to attend dance classes regularly, partipate in several discussion classes, rehearse and perform a final piece of choreogrpahy and write a midterm and final research essay. |