DNC 147: Movement as Culture

Dance historians traditionally represented dance history in surveys limited to the history of Western theatrical dance, setting apart “ethnic” or folk dance forms into sections labeled, not as history, but as anthropology.  Presenting some dance forms as history and others as anthropology creates a sense that some dances are art, and perhaps of higher complexity or status, and some dances simply expressions of social behavior or religious belief. This course responds to these debates/ideas through a conscious framing of dance/movement across categories that have historically signaled racist distinctions between ethnic, folk and theatrical dance.