DANC 134 SC - Movement as Culture: Dances from the Near and Middle East, North Africa, and the Diaspora

This course focuses on exploration of social, folk, and stage dances from Egypt, the Levant (common to Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine), the Khaleeg (Persian Gulf), Morocco, Iraq, and Turkey – sources for what in the U.S. is known as belly dance. Through reading we will address questions that histories of colonialism and concerns around the performance of race, gender, and sexuality bring to the global spaces of performance and circulation of these dance forms. Readings draw from Dance Studies, Anthropology, Post-Colonial/Decolonial Studies, Dance Ethnography, and first-person accounts written by dancers, complimented by video and sound objects. We will investigate the concepts of Orientalism, authenticity, transnational feminisms, innovation in dance, Western vs. Eastern understandings of virtuosity in movement, cultural appropriation, sexuality and gender in dance, and the politics of representation through dance. The course will be 70% reading/writing; 30% movement/practice.

Course Credit: 1.0
Offered: Occasionally

Please refer to the course schedule on the Scripps Portal for current course offerings and details.