Dance

Content Requirements
During Weeks 8 and 9, you will complete the Research and Explore assignment for your topic. The readings and videos in these two Research and Explore assignments will give you ideas for selecting a specific dance piece to analyze for your project. For example, if you select the Hip Hop stream, you will choose a hip hip style from the lineage of hip hop practices discussed in Research and Explore 8 (or another style that you may propose to your TA.) On the other hand, if you select Contemporary dance as your special interest stream, your group will choose a choreographer from those discussed in Research and Explore 8 and 9 and one of their specific dance works to analyze (or, you may request another choreographer to your TA.)

Your final product, due in Week 10, will be a recorded slideshow presentation in which you analyze your selected piece. Be sure that your presentation addresses the content guidelines below.

1. Introduction — Name of the work you are focusing on, images and/or links to it; introduction of your group and its members, and why you chose this work.

2. Description: Situation and Surroundings (of this work)

3 Description: Historical and Societal Context (of this kind of dance practice)

4. Description: Narrative and Intention (purpose of this piece)

5. Description: Movement (what dancers are doing)

6. Analysis I: Draw connections between the “4 Guidelines” quadrants. For example, how does the intention of the work relate to the context of the performance? How does the movement relate to the historical context?

7. Analysis 2: Develop an argument about these connections, focusing on a topic we have addressed in this class, such as race, gender, sexuality, class, appropriation, commodification, etc. Having taken this class, what do you notice about the dance’s “culture and context”?

8. Conclusion: Add final thoughts about the dance work and about your group’s experience working with it.

You may have up to 2 slides for each section in the presentation ( a maximum of 16 slides.) Your slides should be as visual as possible. Limit text to labels so that your slides are simple and visually informative. Each slide should note the name of the student who was primarily responsible for its content.

Format Guidelines
1. Format. Your presentation will adhere to the guidelines of a “Pecha Kucha”-style slide presentation . A “Pecha Kucha” is a highly structured, visually compelling presentation in which each slide is given precisely 20 seconds of screen time. Formal Pecha Kuchas are also precisely 20 slides, making an official Pecha Kucha exactly 400 seconds (20 slides X 20sec/slide), or 6:66 minutes long. For this assignment, you may have up to 16 slides and no more than 20 seconds narration per slide. View the video below to learn more about Pecha Kuchas (note that this video is, itself, a Pecha Kucha about Pecha Kuchas!)