New York City College of Technology The City University of New York African American Studies Department

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1 New York City College of Technology The City University of New York African American Studies Department COURSE CODE: AFR AFRICAN DANCE WORKSHOP Course Description This course will concentrate on the music and dance traditions indigenous to the cultures found in Africa and in the Caribbean Islands, Brazil, the United States, and the large metropolitan centers of Western Europe where descendants of Africans have created discrete cultures. Students will discuss the similarities and differences of these dance forms and also discuss how religion, economics, politics, and cultural identities have influenced these dance forms. In addition, they will learn some of the dance forms through movements, song and rhythm. The first half of class will consist of floor movements and warm-up exercises based on the physical and movement practices inspired by the philosophies of Yoga, Pilates and Zena Rommett. Emphasis will be placed on the application of correct placement, flexibility and motor skills. Students will be introduced to basic anatomy and the principles of movement including, centering, the overload principle, and pre and post stretching. The second half of the class will utilize the Katherine Dunham Technique that encompasses the elements of dance, space, time, force, quality, isolation, progressions, and exercises based on cultural rhythms. The third part of the class will consist of a series of sequential movements and transitions that create movements found in the dance traditions indigenous to the cultures found in the African Diaspora. Learning Outcomes Upon completion of this course students will be able: To demonstrate the ability to identify various dance forms, styles and rituals unique to Africa and the African Diaspora. To compare the similarities and differences of African dance cultures and the belief systems which shapes the dance forms. To identify the major figures and their contributions to African or African inspired dance forms. To distinguish between strong and weak artistic dance forms and movements. To properly document their observations and reactions to live and recorded dance forms and performances. To develop an appreciation for dance as an art form.

2 To identify the connection between dance as an art form and the society from which it emerges. To provide the student with exercises that will enhance various aspects of technique such as flexibility, coordination, agility, strength, postural alignment and range of movements. To provide students with a continued exploration in movements and the creative use of space and rhythm. To provide the student with an in depth exploration of rhythmic styles to help the student enhance their performance and dance skills with greater efficiency. To introduce the student to the dance theories and principles specific to Katherine Dunham, Joseph Pilates, and Zena Rommett. To promote the development of the student s aesthetic sense and appreciation of African Dance as an art form. Required Text All students are required to purchase a course packet for the course. This packet will contain all required readings and information vital to the class Grading Policy and other requirements Final Paper 30% Critical Review 20% Participation 50% All students are required to: Keep a journal. Attend one live dance performance and write a critical review of the performance. Write a 5-7 page research paper. Full participation in all classes is required. (Note: If any student has a disability, injured, or has limited range of movement please inform the instructor at the beginning of class.) Dance attire: barefoot, leotards, body suite, tights, unitards, sweatpants, teeshirts, Lapa (wrap), folklore skirts. College Policy on Absence/Lateness. No more than one absence is allowed because the class meets once a week. A student may be absent without penalty for 10% of the number of scheduled class meetings. If a student s absences exceed the limit of 3 CLASSES the instructor will inform you that a grade of WU may be assigned. The department s policy on lateness is as follows. Any student who arrives 10 minutes after class has started will be considered late. If you are late for more than three class sessions you will lose credit.

3 New York City College of Technology Policy on Academic Integrity Students and all others who work with information, ideas, texts, images, music, inventions, and other intellectual property owe their audience and sources accuracy and honesty in using, crediting, and citing sources. As a community of intellectual and professional workers, the College recognizes its responsibility for providing instruction in information literacy and academic integrity, offering models of good practice, and responding vigilantly and appropriately to infractions of academic integrity. Accordingly, academic dishonesty is prohibited in The City University of New York and at New York City College of Technology and is punishable by penalties, including failing grades, suspension, and expulsion. The complete text of the College policy on Academic Integrity may be found in the catalog CLASS SCHEDULE Week 1 Introductions Call and Respond Chant Vocabulary West African Movement Discussion: What Is Dance? Week 2 African Movement and Song Vocabulary/Criticism/Research Foreword by Sir Rex Nettleford African Dance by Pearl Primus Traditional Dance in Africa by Doris Green Black Dance in the United States: From 1619 to Today by Emery, Lynne Fauley African Dance in New York City by Marcea E. Heard and Mansa K. Mussa Vocabulary/Criticism/Research Week 3 African Movement and Song Vocabulary/Criticism/Research

4 Panoply of African Dance Dynamics by Esilokun Kinni-Olusanyin Dunham Technique. History by Dr. Albirda Rose In Memory of Pearl Primus by Kariamu Welsh Asante Pearl Primus: Rebuilding America s Cultural Infrastructure by Beverly Hillsman Barber Week 4 African and Caribbean Movement and Song Dunham Technique. Theories and Methodologies by Dr. Albirda Rose. Black Dance In The United States: From 1619 to Today by Emery, Lynne Fauley. African Dance in New York City by Marcea E. Heard and Mansa K. Mussa. Week 5 African and Caribbean Movement and Song Dance Magazine, Haiti Dances to a Different Drummer by Elizabeth Anthropology and Dance by Joyce Aschenbrenner Dances of Haiti/Functions of the Dances/Interrelation of Form and Function by Katherine Dunham Week 6 An Aesthetic of the Cool Revisited: The Ancestral Dance Link in the African Diaspora by Halifu Osumare Up From Under: The Africanist Presence/First Premise Of an Africanist Aesthetic Don t Take Away My Picasso: Cultural Borrowing and the Afro-Euro-American Triangle by Brenda Dixon Gottschild

5 Week 7 CRITICAL REVIEW DUE s African Influences in Brazilian Dance by Myriam Evelyse Mariani Program Notes. Bale Folclorico Da Bahia/World Music Institute: City Center Bahia Makes Room For A Candomble Pantheon by Jon Pareles. Capoeira by Cornell Coley. Program Notes. Carnival Music and Dance of Ban Rarra/World Music Institute: Symphony Space, Week 8 Anthropology and Dance by Joyce Aschenbrenner Kykunkor, of the Witch Woman: An African Opera in America by Maureen Needham. Week 9 s Haitian Vodou Ritual Dance and Its Secularization by Dr. Henry Frank Spirit Unbound by Lois E. Wilcken Week 10 s

6 Week 11 s Week 12 RESEARCH PAPER DUE /Review Week 13: /Review Week 14 /Bembe Note: Readings/Video schedule subject to change

CUNY Common Core Course Submission Form

CUNY Common Core Course Submission Form Instructions: All courses submitted for the Common Core must be liberal arts courses. Courses may be submitted for only one area of the Common Core. All courses