EXPR 261(S) Dance: Bodies in Latina/o Motion (Same as Africana Studies 261, Latina/o Studies 261, and Theatre 261)

LATS 261(S) Dance: Bodies in Latina/o Motion (Same as Africana Studies 261, Theatre 261, and EXPR 261)
This course is dedicated to the historical and practical study of four central forms of popular AfroLatina/o dance: Capoeira, a Brazilian martial art; Rumba, a Cuban popular dance and music event; Bomba, a traditional Puerto Rican dance; and Comparsa, a choreographed music ensemble that participates in carnivals. For each genre, students will do historical and ethnographic readings, and write a short essay. These will serve as the basis for dance workshops, which will be lead by guest dancers and choreographers. We will engage with dance practice as a site of knowledge transmitted via movement, gesture, dance, and music. The goal of this course is for students to learn and to integrate the history of each genre via embodiment; in other words, to understand the history of the body's motion and gesture. The course includes a fieldtrip(s) to New York City and the learning of basic rhythms. The course culminates in a public Carnival, drawing on students' final research on Cuban, Puerto Rican and Dominican comparsa traditions.
Format: discussion, workshops, field trip. Evaluation will be based on class participation and workshop attendance, 3 short essays, and the final choreography and short essay on comparsa characters.
No prerequisites. Enrollment limit: 19 (expected: 10). Preference to Latina/o Studies and Africana Studies concentrators, Performance Studies students, and Theatre majors.
Hour: JOTTAR