Composition

Catalog description

In this course, each student will be charged with creating a short choreography using their classmates as a cast. We will think of choreographing or composing these dances as “the action of combining” or “a putting together, connecting, and arranging.” The course will treat “set” choreography and improvisation as a continuum. We will be dealing with both but will focus on the former—treating improvisation as one of many means of developing choreography, as well as potentially using highly scored improvisation in performance as compositional choice- making in real time. The course aims to develop tools that can be of use in this endeavor and to develop skills of analysis and articulation in relation to our artistic work. Throughout the semester, students will be asked to think and work critically and analytically about the act of composition and the act of perception. A key component of this course will be discussions about what we experience in the work of our colleagues, as well as what our intentions are within our own choice-making. Classes 45 Dance will be structured around in-class choreographic/ improvisational exercises and analysis and discussion in response to choreographic assignments. There will be some homework in creating short choreographic sketches, short readings and viewing of works of art on video and online, and critique and discussion in relationship to those works. The course will strongly embrace interdisciplinary practices. The goal of the class will be to offer a forum through which students can deeply engage with creation, develop their own artistic voices, and investigate new ways of thinking about form through the lens of choreographic inquiry. Live Time-Based Art