http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/33998 Music and Theater Arts (21M) http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/45570 21M.670 / SP.472 / WGS.472 Traditions in American Concert Dance: Gender and Autobiography, Spring 2003 DeFrantz, Thomas This course explores the forms, contents, and contexts of world traditions in dance that played a crucial role in shaping American concert dance. For example, we will identify dances from an African American vernacular tradition that were transferred from the social space to the concert stage. We will explore the artistic lives of such American dance artists as Katherine Dunham, and Alvin Ailey along with Isadora Duncan, Martha Graham, George Balanchine, and Merce Cunningham as American dance innovators. Of particular importance to our investigation will be the construction of gender and autobiography which lie at the heart of concert dance practice, and the ways in which these qualities have been choreographed by American artists. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/45543 21M.621 Theater and Cultural Diversity in the U.S., Spring 2004 DeFrantz, Thomas A study of contemporary North American theater movements and selected individual works that are organized around issues of ethnic and socio-cultural identity. Class lectures and discussions analyze samples of African-American, Chicano, Asian-American, Puerto Rican and Native American theater taking into consideration their historical and political context. Performance exercises help students identify the theatrical context and theatrical forms and techniques used by these theaters. From the course home page: Course Description This course explores contemporary American theatrical expression as it may be organized around issues of ethnic and cultural identity. This exploration will include the analysis of performances, scripts, and video documentation, as well as the invention of original documents of theatrical expression. Class lectures and discussions will analyze samples of Native American, Chicano, African American, and Asian American theater, taking into consideration the historical and political context for the creation of these works. Performance exercises will help students identify theatrical forms and techniques used by these theaters, and how these techniques contribute to the overall goals of specific theatrical expressions. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/44633 21M.775 Hip Hop, Spring 2003 DeFrantz, Thomas Subject explores the political and aesthetic foundations of hip hop. Students trace the musical, corporeal, visual, spoken word, and literary manifestations of hip hop over its thirty year presence in the American cultural imagery. Students also investigate specific black cultural practices that have given rise to its various idioms. Students create material culture related to each thematic section of the course. Scheduled work in performance studio help students understand how hip hop is created and assessed. From the course home page: Course Description This course explores the political and aesthetic foundations of hip hop. It traces the musical, corporeal, visual, spoken word, and literary manifestations of hip hop over its thirty-five year presence in the American cultural imaginary. It also investigates specific black cultural practices that have given rise to its various idioms. Hip hop has invigorated the academy, inspiring scholarship rooted in black musical and literary traditions. This course assesses these sharp breaks and flamboyant versionings of hip hop that have occurred within the academy. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/39425 21L.423 / 21M.223J Introduction to Anglo-American Folkmusic, Fall 2002 Perry, Ruth Ruckert, George This subject will introduce students to scholarship about folk music of the British Isles and North America. We will define the qualities of "folk music" and "folk poetry," including the narrative qualities of ballads, and we will try to recreate the historical context in which such music was an essential part of everyday life. We will survey the history of collecting, beginning with Pepys' collection of broadsides, Percy's Reliques and the Gow collections of fiddle tunes. The urge to collect folk music will be placed in its larger historical, social and political contexts. We will trace the migrations of fiddle styles and of sung ballads to look at the broad outlines of the story of collecting folk music in the USA, especially in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.