Dance
- DAN 204: Introduction to ChoreographyThis studio course will introduce students to choreographic processes and questions of movement vocabulary, structure, pacing, orchestration and meaning. Through completing a number of short dances and a substantial final project, the class will explore choreographic forms and innovations found in contemporary dance. Readings and viewings work in tandem with students' dance-making to fuel debate and analysis of today's choreographic work and the power of movement to engage in current artistic and political issues.
- DAN 206/MTD 206/THR 206: PracticeThe writer Annie Dillard says that how we spend our days is how we spend our lives. College is a unique time to question how we spend those days and develop tools for lifelong independent learning, creating, exploring, and centering. We will look at practice as both verb and noun, pay special attention to the ways in which we embody the work (and change) we want to see in the world. Through somatic activities, talks with invited guests, projects, and readings (across the arts, sciences, philosophy, religion, and activism), we'll revel in the interplay between process and product, solitude and community, structure and freedom, life and art.
- DAN 208/THR 208/GHP 338: Body and LanguageIn this studio course open to all, we'll dive into experiences in which body and language meet. We'll think about these from aesthetic, cultural, political, medical, personal, and philosophical perspectives. We'll explore language from, in, around, and about (our) bodies. We'll question hierarchies between body and language, use embodied approaches to examine pressing issues of our time. We'll play with the physicality of voice and the material qualities of words and sentences. We'lll find literary structures in movement. We'll move and create together with tools from dance, theater, visual art, improvisation, writing, and somatic practices.
- DAN 211/AAS 211: The American Experience and Dance Practices of the African DiasporaA studio course introducing students to American dance aesthetics and practices, with a focus on how its evolution has been influenced by African American choreographers and dancers. An ongoing study of movement practices from traditional African dances and those of the African Diaspora, touching on American jazz dance, modern dance, and American ballet. Studio work will be complemented by readings, video viewings, guest speakers, and dance studies.
- DAN 213: Introduction to Contemporary DanceThis course offers a broad, embodied introduction to the breadth of contemporary dance. We will be moving, reading, watching, and writing about dance. Contemporary issues, such as Black Lives Matter, LGBTQ rights, immigration, and American exceptionalism will be viewed through the lens of contemporary dance. We will try on the styles of essential creators in the field in an effort to understand their POV. We will create work ourselves (no experience necessary) to learn about the expressive and communicative potential of dance. We will be moving and meditating to release tension, increase personal awareness, and boost authenticity.
- DAN 222/AAS 222: Introduction to Hip-Hop DanceThis introductory survey course gives equal weight to scholarly study and embodied practice, using both approaches to explore a range of hip-hop dance techniques, as well as the cultural and historical contexts from which these dances emerged. Special attention will be given to breaking - the most prominent hip-hop form - as a foundation for exploring other forms of movement. By critically exploring these physical and historical connections, individuals will adapt and apply their own philosophies to dance in order to develop a personalized style.
- DAN 224: Experiential AnatomyThis course introduces students to human anatomy using movement, drawing, and dance practices. We will study the structure and function of the body from an interdisciplinary perspective, with a focus on relationships between cognition, the nervous system and movement. Class time will be shared between anatomy/kinesiology lectures and exploring the material through experiential and creative activities. We will discuss common problems encountered in fitness and every day life, while looking at the human structure in depth to evaluate possible solutions. Creative and research projects explore multiple ways the arts and sciences intersect.
- DAN 225: Introduction to Breaking: Deciphering its PowerThis introductory course gives equal weight to scholarly study and embodied practice, using both approaches to explore the flow, power and cultural contexts of Breaking. This course will focus on developing a clear foundational Breaking technique in order to build a strong basis for exploring other Hip-Hop forms. By critically exploring this form physically and historically, individuals will adapt and apply their own philosophies to dance in order to eventually develop a personalized style.
- DAN 302/AAS 316: #Dancing Black: Black American Dance from 1970 to TodayThis course explores the politics, aesthetics, and histories of Black American dance from the early 1970s to today. Paying special attention to the politics of circulation and new technologies, we will explore questions around innovation, virality, citation, ownership, and appropriation. Radio, television, YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok will be studied as connected yet discreet technologies of creative dispersal in direct relationship to their capacity for/constraints around creative, economic, and political output.
- DAN 303/AAS 329/MTD 303/MUS 268: Rhythm Tap Dance Lab: Explorations in Black Embodied and Electronic MusicEnrolled students will engage with this course as workshop cast members of a new interdisciplinary piece by Princeton Arts Fellow Michael J. Love and explore methods of rhythm tap dance performance, live electronic music composition, and practice-based research on Black American music (genres such as jazz, funk, soul, hip hop, techno, and house). In-studio class meetings, structured as rehearsals, will be augmented with weekly listening, viewing, and reading assignments. There may also be opportunities for guest artists and respondents. The course will culminate in a work-in-progress showing during the final weeks of the semester.
- DAN 317: Choreography StudioThis seminar is designed for junior dance certificate students to investigate current dance practices and ideas. Part study and discussion of the processes, aesthetics and politics involved in dance making and viewing -- part independent creative practice and critique -- this course invites students to a deeper understanding of their own art making perspectives and to those of their classmates. Guest artists will visit classes and share some of the directorial, collaborative and interpersonal challenges involved in leading a significant creative enterprise. Serious creators (non-juniors/certificates) may apply to enroll.
- DAN 357/AMS 358/THR 357/VIS 357: Are You For Sale? Performance Making, Philanthropy and EthicsIn this class we study the relationships between performance-making, philanthropy and ethics. How are performing artists financing their work, and what does this mean in relationship to economic and social justice? How did we arrive to the current conditions of arts funding? What is the connection between wealth and giving and when are those ties inherently questionable? What is at stake in the debate of public versus private support? Does funding follow artists' concerns or delimit them?
- DAN 401: Building Physical Literacies: Practices in Contemporary DanceThis advanced studio course compares practices and performance methods of diverse approaches to the body and community in contemporary dance. Through a comparative embodied approach, students will train intensively with a rotating faculty to develop physical research built on a synthesis of experiences. The course exposes students to leading developments in improvisation and choreography and examines their philosophical, cultural and physiological underpinnings. Select readings and viewings provide a lens to examine how dance and movement training fuels individual development, choreographic process and aesthetic research.
- DAN 431: Approaches to Ballet: Technique and RepertoryA studio course in Classical and Contemporary Ballet technique for advanced dancers, with explorations into neoclassical and contemporary choreography through readings, viewings, and the learning of and creation of repertory. Students will also examine ballet's response to recent social movements.
- VIS 354/DAN 354/THR 354: Performance as ArtThis studio class will explore a broad range of approaches to art-based performance: from instruction pieces and happenings, to the body as language and gesture, to performance as a form of archiving. We move through the history of performance to investigate techniques of narrative, site, the audience, duration, voice, movement, installation, with a particular emphasis on documentation and how performance has engaged virtual spaces. Readings and critiques expand vocabulary in assessing performance art. Exercises explore different forms of performance building a foundation of techniques and positions for developing art-based performance work.