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Kindly note that not all courses may be offered in any given year. You may check the Cave Hill On-Line (CHOL) course schedule at the beginning of the semester for the list of courses available for that semester.
LEVEL I
DANC1015 Contemporary Dance I (6 Credits)
This year-long course introduces to the globally informed concert dance genre initiated in the United States at the turn of the twentieth century. Contemporary dance is characterized by radical experimentation that developed into movement principles such as contraction/release and fall/recovery, as well as theatrical practices of abstraction and psycho-social investigation. The variety of pedagogical approaches and aesthetics employed in this course may include but are not limited to Limón, Graham, Horton, Cunningham, Acogny, L’Antech, Sylvestre and Release techniques. This is primarily a movement course with light reading and viewing assignments to convey the historic role of contemporary dance.
DANC1016 Africana Dances I (3 credits)
This course introduces students to various social dances of the African diaspora. The course will include some performance observation and analysis but will primarily consist of movement exercises in social dance techniques used in the improvisation and choreography of genres such as Hip-Hop, House, Salsa, Rumba, Bruk Up, Dancehall, Jazz, Voguing and more.
DANC1018 Global Dance Histories (3 credits)
This course surveys dance practices from all over the world to demonstrate how dance reflects and creates history. By analysing texts and videos, students explore the sacred, secular, and staged contexts in which dancing takes place. Dance is revealed as an art form as well as a form of worship, documentation, storytelling, resistance, genealogy, and personal and collective communication.
DANC1020 Body Conditioning and Wellness (3 credits)
This course takes a holistic approach to the concept of conditioning by supporting it with the incorporation of the fundamentals of nutrition, basic anatomy and injury prevention, as well as by introducing students to alternative ways to traditional conditioning. This combination of course content will provide students with the pertinent information necessary to implement all-round better practices for a longer, healthier, successful career in the discipline of dance.
DANC1025 Moving Cultures (3 credits)
This course introduces non-majors to dance as an expression of culture that involves aesthetic awareness, technical training (formal and informal), and social interaction. It emphasizes foundational movement skills to help students gain overall kinesthetic awareness and historical and anthropologic studies to encourage critical thinking and global citizenship. A variety of dance forms will be examined in terms of their power to heal, celebrate, tell stories, and resolve conflicts.
DANC1030 Dance Ensemble I (3 credits)
This course has a double focus which straddles both performance and repertoire and in so doing introduces students to the systematic study of dance performance through the learning of selected dance repertory, practical exercises, discussions, journaling, portfolio creation and contextual research.
DANC1301 Introduction to Dance (3 credits) (no longer offered)
Please check Faculty Office for replacement course.
Level II
DANC2105 Improvisation (3 credits)
Co-requisite: DANC2115
This course centres creative movement explorations through exercises that access and develop imagination and enrich movement vocabulary. Students are invited to question habitual movement patterns and respond creatively to sounds, silences, shapes and energies in solo and ensemble work.
DANC2110 Contemporary Dance II (6 credits)
Co-requisite: DANC1015
This year-long course builds on the skills established in Contemporary Dance I with attention paid to the development of clear shapes, energetic pathways, and complex uses of rhythm. The variety of pedagogical approaches and aesthetics employed in this course may include but are not limited to Limón, Graham, Horton, Cunningham, Dunham, Acogny, L’Antech, Sylvestre and Release techniques. This is primarily a movement course with reading and viewing assignments to establish how the form has evolved over space and time.
DANC2115 Movement Theory and Analysis (3 credits)
Co-requisite: DANC2105
This course is based on the premise that knowledge of the concepts related to abstract elements of movement opens up the opportunity for more creative use of movement for dance creation, performance and appreciation.
When students are provided with these tools that can be applied to their artistic and even educational situations, links are made that allow for holistic understanding, and development of the movement experience.
DANC2120 Embodying the Sacred: Ritual Dances of the African Diaspora (3 credits)
Prerequisite: CLTR1505
This course will guide students through a sample of ritual dances from the Caribbean and broader African diaspora. Specifically, this class will explore the practice, study, interpretation, transmission and representation of sacred forms of dancing for the divine on and off-stage. Students will be immersed in embodying the dances and keen attention will be given to examining the sonic, visual and corporal aesthetic systems that govern complex religious and ritual experiences. As an interdisciplinary course, readings will be drawn from history, anthropology, performance studies, art history, ethnomusicology, dance studies, religious studies, and cultural studies to illustrate intersecting ways of knowing, which will be enhanced by class lectures/discussions, course readings and supplemental field excursions, videos, and performance/rituals events.
DANC2125 Africana Dances II (3 credits)
Prerequisite: DANC1016
This course explores social, theatrical, and sacred dances from Africa and/or African Diaspora. Genres may include Lamba, Samba, Rumba, and those of the Yorubá diaspora. Texts, discussions, and videos will amplify the physical practice of these forms and provide the socio-historic context to understand how and why they developed.
DANC2130 Dance Composition (3 credits)
In this course, students will explore and experiment with time, space, and energy through strategies of ground-breaking choreographers. Emphasis will be placed on developing one’s own critical lens and approach to movement composition in diverse settings. Critical reading and video analysis will enhance the course's practical framework. Students will expand the toolkit of choreographic skills developed in Movement Theory and Analysis and create their own aesthetic philosophies.
DANC2131 Critical Dance Studies II (3 credits)
Through an examination of current scholarship in Dance, Gender, Cultural, and Ethnic Studies, students are encouraged to think critically about how bodies in motion propose diverse perspectives on race, gender, and sexuality. In discussion and in writing, students analyse performances and texts to articulate the power relations enacted through movement.
DANC2132 Dance Ensemble II (3 credits)
Prerequisite: DANC1015 or DANC1030
Co-requisite: DANC2115
This course builds on the foundation laid and the skills established in Dance Ensemble I. It sets out to further nurture the student’s journey of discovering his/her performing self and it supports continued transformation as performing artists. This course has a double focus which straddles both performance and repertoire, and in so doing furthers the students’ systematic study of dance performance.
DANC2301 Dance Technique (6 credits) (no longer offered)
Please check Faculty Office for replacement course.
Level III
DANC3102 Africana Performance Theory
Prerequisite: DANC2131
This course engages historic and developing concepts of Blackness, Africanité, and performance from within Africa and its diaspora. Readings engage the pedestrian and performative contexts where embodiment and movement help explain how African peoples around the world create and express theories of identity-formation, subjugation, creativity, resistance, resilience, and cosmology. Special attention is given to reading post-colonial/decolonial literature and discussing its relationship to discourses of tradition, modernity, anti-Black racism, and Black liberation.
DANC3103 Africana Dances III (3 credits)
Prerequisite: DANC2125
This course expands on Africana Dances II by advancing technical skill and inviting students to choreograph phrases from the movement vocabularies demonstrated. Texts, discussions, and videos will amplify the practice of these forms and provide the socio-historic context to understand how and why they developed.
DANC3106 Contemporary Dance III ( 3 credits)
Prerequisite: DANC2110
This year-long course builds on the skills established in Contemporary Dance II with attention paid to the development of individual artistry as well as ensemble thinking. The variety of pedagogical approaches and aesthetics employed in this course may include but are not limited to Limón, Graham, Horton, Cunningham, Dunham, Acogny, L’Antech, Sylvestre and Release techniques. This is primarily a movement course with light reading and viewing assignments to convey the artistic possibilities within the form.
DANC3110 Dance Ensemble III (3 credit)
Prerequisites: DANC2110 AND DANC2131
Dance Ensemble III furthers the systematic study of the craft of performance from Dance Ensemble II. This course has a double focus which straddles both performance and repertoire. Through practical exercises, discussion and the learning of selected dance repertoire, students will focus on applying the skills learnt, to solo and small ensemble dance performances that are rich in emotional depth and clarity. There will be an increased emphasis on technical demands and performance nuances in style as well as a more rigorous rehearsal schedule which will see student – led rehearsals. At this level there will be a focus on learning repertory from multiple sources, that is, choreography by fellow students, faculty, and guest artists. At this juncture focus will also be placed on performance skills specific to auditioning for dance employment.
DANC3301 Choreography (3 credits) (no longer offered)
Please check Faculty Office for replacement course.
DANC3302 Dance Education (3 credits)
This is an advanced course, which explores the teaching of dance in schools and community settings in the Caribbean. It explores a wide range of skills used in dance teacher education. Students examine the literature, practice and pedagogical strategies of dance education in school and community settings, particularly as it relates to social and cultural development of the Caribbean.
DANC3303 Dance Ensemble (6 credits) (no longer offered)
Please check Faculty Office for replacement course.