Dance 3300:
Aesthetics of 20th Century Contemporary Dance

Guest Choreographers

Aesthetics of 20th Century Contemporary Dance features television interviews with esteemed choreographers from around the world who talk about their practical experience with dance making.

Read more about the guest choreographers

Aesthetics of 20th Century Contemporary Dance

(DAN 3300)

A Distance Education Course on Dance Making

Instructor: Karen Stokes

Course Description

Aesthetics of 20th Century Contemporary Dance is a course that investigates areas of creative process, compositional tools, and individual methods in dance making. The course introduces ideas about choreography that have influenced dance as a fine art in the contemporary genre.

We will examine some of the influential choreographers of the 20th Century, in addition to exploring some theoretical and critical ideas on dance in the 20th century. While specialized towards the area of choreography, this course will emphasize an understanding of dance as an art form, and as part of a larger context and culture.

Course Objectives

An understanding of choreography as a craft
An understanding of contemporary ideas and themes in dance making
An understanding of viewing dance as expression and the aesthetics of dance performance in the contemporary genre
An understanding of the basic training intrinsic to forming the dancer's body
An understanding of the some of the methods in creative process relative to dance
An overview of history

Areas of study will include

Dance history & Aesthetics
Music and dance
Themes in Dance
Manipulations in the craft of dance
Dance criticism
Creative Process
Basic understanding of the body mechanics of alignment, strength, flexibility as relative to dance

"Choreography in Action" offers a blend of lecture, dance interviews, and demonstrations. While the focus of the course will be on choreography, other relevant areas will be included such as aesthetics, theatre, architecture, music, and world dance forms. Generally, the structure of the course will include three central components that will be shown back to back in 50 minute segments:

Lectures on aesthetics and choreography
Interviews with choreographers
Demonstrations of craft tools used in choreography

At the time of the midterm exam and on-campus meetings, repeat segments will be shown on instructional television.

Note: You will need a simple wood or metal chair to (hard back, no cushions) to participate in the chair warm up which will be led in all the studio demonstrations.