DAN2110: CRITICAL STUDIES

Outline of Sessions, term 1, 2016-17

Module Leader: Dr. Alexandra Kolb
Session 1, 3rd October 2016: Introduction
Overview of course content and assessments
In this first session, we will introduce pertinent questions such as: What is dance?
What is philosophy? Why and how is philosophy relevant to the study of dance?
Session 2, 10th October 2016: Aesthetics
On Beauty
Definition of beauty in different periods; different views of beauty in relation to art and
dance; the ideal dancing body
Compulsory Reading: Eco, U. 2010. On Beauty. London: Maclehose Press (read
only Chapter III, Beauty as Proportion and Harmony, 61-81).
Session 3, 17th October: Aesthetics
Aesthetics of the ugly, the dark and the forbidden
Definition of ugliness with particular reference to dance. This session will focus on the
use of the ugly, dark and forbidden as aesthetic concepts in 20 th-century dance
works.
Compulsory Reading: Eco, U.: Introduction, in: U. Eco (ed.) On ugliness. London:
Harvill, 8-20.
Session 4, 24th October: Aesthetics
Aesthetics and the everyday
This session examines what happens when artists turn to the everyday for source
material or inspiration. It engages with the ways in which postmodern dance and
turn-of-the-21st-century choreographic work have aestheticised everyday life:
documenting and celebrating things which are normally considered too trivial and
banal to be noticed, such as walking, dressing, or brushing your teeth.
Compulsory Reading: Dempster, E. 2008. The Choreography of the Pedestrian.
Performance Research: A Journal of the Performing Arts 13(1), 23-28.
Session 5, 31st October: Ethics: Should dance be moral?
Western democracies like the UK and US value freedom of speech, information and
a free press. In the performing arts this has been interpreted as encompassing rights
to freedom of expression and opinion. Others argue, however, that art should uphold
certain standards of decency, leading to concerns over nudity, sexual content,
swearwords etc. We will discuss these conflicting views.
Compulsory reading: Eldridge, R. 2003. An Introduction to the Philosophy of Art.
Cambridge University Press. (chapter 9, entitled Art and Morality, 205-214)
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7th November: Reading week no class!

Session 6, 14th November 2016
Political Philosophy: Dance and Human Rights Visiting Prof. Christy Adair
In this session, we will look at a range of connections between dance and human
rights, for instance the regulation of dance activity by governments or other authority
groups, issues of race, or the use of dance to oppose or support inhumane regimes.
Compulsory reading: Jackson, N. 2011. Dance and Human Rights. In A. Kolb (ed.):
Dance and Politics. Oxford: Peter Lang, 195-221.
Session 7, 21st November: Educational Philosophy: Foucault and Dance
Training
Dance teaching is the chosen career path for many dance graduates, but what is the
underpinning philosophy of teaching and training? Michel Foucaults theories on
surveillance, power and discipline have been applied in various educational contexts,
notably to dance and dance education. We will examine the relations between
Foucaults views and dance; and more specifically the training of dancers docile
bodies, tackling the issue of authoritarianism.
Compulsory readings:
Foucault, M. 1991. Docile Bodies. In: Foucault: Discipline and Punish. The Birth of
the Prison. London: Penguin. Please read from p. 135 down to p. 149.
Smith, C. 1998: On Authoritarianism in the Dance Classroom. In: S. Shapiro (ed.):
Dance, Power and Difference. Critical and Feminist Perspectives on Dance
Education. Champaign/Ill: Human Kinetics. Read from p. 130 (Useful Theory) down
to the end of p. 144.
Session 8, 28th November 2016
Interculturalism, multicultural identities, and hybridity
An examination of how in a globalised world, more and more choreographies are
based on or influenced by a diverse range of cultures and traditions.
Compulsory reading:
Pavis, Patrice (ed.). 1996. The Intercultural Performance Reader. London and New
York: Routledge. (read introduction from page 1-21).
Session 9, 5th December 2016
Interculturalism, multicultural identities, and hybridity (continued)
Compulsory reading:
Burt, Ramsay. 2004. Contemporary dance and the performance of multicultural
identities. Available online on the Akram Khan website:
http://www.akramkhancompany.net/html/akram_essay.php?id=15
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Malik, Kenan. 2007. The Failures of Multiculturalism.

The Secular State and Islam in Europe. Edited by Kurt Almqvist. Ax:son
Johnson Foundation. Available online on the following website:
http://www.kenanmalik.com/papers/engelsberg_mc.html

Session 10, 12th December: Tutorials (plus further tutorials scheduled in the
same and previous week)

Essay deadline (2500 words): 9th January 2017

Reading list:
C=compulsory, R=recommended
Aesthetics:
(Beauty):
C: Eco U. 2010. On Beauty. London: Maclehose Press.
R: Gautier, T. 1986. Gautier on Dance. Selected, translated and annotated by Ivor
Guest. London: Dance.
Tip: There are many texts which examine beauty from a philosophical perspective.
(Ugliness)
C: Eco, Umberto (ed.). On Ugliness. London: Harvill.
(The Everyday)
C: Dempster, E. 2008. The Choreography of the Pedestrian. Performance Research:
A Journal of the Performing Arts 13(1), 23-28
R: Banes, S. 1978. The Presentation of Everyday Life as Dance. Dance Research
Journal 10(2), 43-49.
Ethics:
C: Eldridge, R. 2003. An Introduction to the Philosophy of Art. Cambridge University
Press. (chapter 9)
R: Besanzon, R. 2008. Performing Art: National Endowment for the Arts vs. Finley,
Federal Communications Journal 60(3): 535-576. Available on the Internet at:
www.law.indiana.edu/fclj/pubs/v60/no3/9-Bezanson.pdf
Educational Philosophy:
(Dance, authoritarianism and the docile body)
C: Foucault, M. 1991. Docile Bodies. In: Foucault: Discipline and Punish. The Birth of
the Prison. London: Penguin.
C: Smith, C. 1998: On Authoritarianism in the Dance Classroom. In: S. Shapiro (ed.):
Dance, Power and Difference. Critical and Feminist Perspectives on Dance
Education. Champaign/Ill: Human Kinetics, 123-146.
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R: Green, J. Foucault and the training of docile bodies in dance education. Arts and
Learning 19(1), 99-126, at http://libres.uncg.edu/ir/uncg/listing.aspx?id=15316
(Dance and pleasure)
R: Aalten, Anna. (2004). The Moment When it All Comes Together: Embodied
Experiences in Ballet, European Journal of Womens Studies 11(3): 26376.
R: Kolb, A. & Kalogeropoulou, S. 2012. In Defence of Ballet. Women, Agency and the
Philosophy of Pleasure. Dance Research 30(2), 107-125.
(General)
R: Smith-Autard, J. 2002. The Art of Dance in Education. London: A. & C. Black.
Political Philosophy:
C: Kolb, A. (ed.): 2011. Dance and Politics. Oxford: Peter Lang (chapter by Jackson)
R: Prickett, S. 2013. Embodied Politics: Dance, Protest and Identities. Hampshire:
Dance Books.
R: Foster, S. 2003. Choreographies of Protest, Theatre Journal 55(3), 395-412.
R: Heywood, A. 1999. Political Theory: An Introduction. Basingstoke: MacMillan.
R: Jackson, N. & Shapiro-Phim, T. 2008. Dance, Human Rights and Social Justice.
Dignity in Motion. Lanham, Md., Plymouth: Scarecrow Press.
Multiculturalism, Interculturalism, hybridity:
C: Pavis, P. (ed.). 1996. The Intercultural Performance Reader. London: Routledge.
C: Burt, Ramsay. 2004. Contemporary dance and the performance of multicultural
identities. Available online on the Akram Khan website:
http://www.akramkhancompany.net/html/akram_essay.php?id=15
C: Malik, Kenan. 2007. The Failures of Multiculturalism.
The Secular State and Islam in Europe. Edited by Kurt Almqvist. Ax:son
Johnson Foundation. Available online on the following website:
http://www.kenanmalik.com/papers/engelsberg_mc.html
C: Mitra, Royona. 2015. Akram Khan: Dancing New Interculturalism. Basingstoke:
Palgrave MacMillan.
R: Adair, C. 2007. Dancing the Black Question: The Phoenix Dance Company
Phenomenon. Dance Books.
R: Shapiro, S. 2008. Dance in a World of Change: Reflections on Globalization and
Cultural Difference. Champaign,Ill: Human Kinetics.
R: Nor, Mohd Anis Md. 2012. Dancing Mosaic: Issues on Dance Hybridity. Kuala
Lumpur Cultural Center, University of Malaya.
R: Papastergiadis, N. 1997. Tracing Hybridity in Theory. In: Debating Cultural
Hybridity. Multi-Cultural identities and the Politics of Anti-Racism. Edited by
Pnina Werbner and Tariq Modood. London: Zed Books, 257-281.
R: Friedman, S. S. 2002. Border Talk, Hybridity, and Performativity. Cultural Theory
and Identity in the Spaces between Difference. In Eurozine (online journal),
available at: www.eurozine.com/articles/2002-06-07-friedman-en.html.
For some of the above topics, and related ones, also consult: Bunker, J.,
Pakes, A. & Rowell, B. 2013. Thinking through Dance: The Philosophy of Dance
Performance and Practices. Binsted, Hampshire: Dance Books.