Explores aesthetic and technical underpinnings of contemporary dance composition. Basic compositional techniques discussed and practiced with an emphasis on principles such as weight, space, time, effort, and shape. Principles of musicality considered and developed by each student. Working together, students create short compositions to help them understand the range of possibilities available when working with the medium of the human body. Selected viewing and reading exercises augment classroom work. Class attends at least two professional dance events in the Boston area.

Introduction to various forms of dance (to include ballet, tap, jazz, modern, and social dance) with an emphasis on dance technique, history, theory and appreciation.
Chapter 1: What is Dance?
Chapter 2: Elements of Dance
Chapter 3: Ballet
Chapter 4: Modern Dance
Chapter 5: Tap, Jazz, Musical Theater, Television and Film
Chapter 6: Religious and Social Dance
Chapter 7: Hip Hop
Chapter 8: Current Trends

This course explores the forms, contents, and context of world traditions in dance that played a crucial role in shaping American concert dance. For example, we will identify dances from an African American vernacular tradition that were transferred from the social space to the concert stage we will explore the artistic lives of such American dance artists as Katherine Dunham, Pearl Primus and Alvin Ailey along with Isadora Duncan, Martha Graham, George Balanchine, and Merce Cunningham as American dance innovators. Of particular importance to our investigation will be the construction of gender and autobiography that lie at the heart of concert dance practice, and the ways in which these qualities have been choreographed by American artists.