Queens College Department of Drama Theatre and Dance

DANCE 150: Introduction to Dance

Monday/Wednesday 1:40pm – 2:55pm, Fall 2011

Professor: Edisa Weeks

Email: eweeks@qc.cuny.edu, Tel: 718-997-3068
Office Hours: Monday 3pm – 5pm, Rathaus Hall Room 108, or by appointment

COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course serves as an introduction to the fundamentals of modern dance technique,
improvisation, and composition. It is designed for students with little or no previous experience in
modern dance who wish to develop an understanding of modern dance techniques, individual
movement styles, and dance as a creative art form and aesthetic practice. The essential principles
and evolution of twentieth century modern and post-modern dance will be studied through various
movement techniques, creative problem solving, readings, and viewing of live and video taped
dance performances.

TEACHING/LEARNING STRATEGIES
The course utilizes studio classes that incorporate structured exercises, combinations of
movement, improvisation, composition and discussion to explore the functional, expressive and
creative possibilities of moving. We will use lectures, class discussions, group demonstration,
feedback models, video observations, movement experiences, written exercises, and reflective
activities to synthesize material. This course is reliant upon an atmosphere of trust wherein
personal risk and differences, including differences of opinion, may reside with mutual respect.

COURSE OBJECTIVES
Each student will:
• Demonstrate their understanding of dance through the practice of various movement
techniques, improvisations, and compositions.
• Recognize their own unique movement potential.
• Demonstrate an ability to create their own dances.
• Be knowledgeable about major figures in twentieth century modern dance, their styles, and
philosophical beliefs.
• Have an increased ability to communicate, in choreography, writing and speaking, about
the meaning of dance.

REQUIREMENTS

Live Performance:
You are required to attend the following two events:

1. Water Stains on the Wall

Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan
Thursday October 20, 2011 at 7:30pm – Tickets $20
Performances from Wed. Oct. 19 – Sat. Oct. 22, 2011
Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) www.BAM.org

2. Faculty Dance Concert

December 1 – 4, 2011 – Tickets $12 with QCID
Featuring choreography by Asli Bulbul, Marshal Davis, Kristin Jackson, Carolyn Webb
Goldstein Theater, Queens College
DANCE 150: INTRODUCTION TO DANCE REQUIREMENTS - continued

Video Viewing:
Videos are available on Youtube, on the website Alexander Street Press and at the Queens
College Rosenthal Library Reserves. Videos on reserve cannot leave Rosenthal Library, so set
aside time to watch videos at the Library. Library hours are Mon.-Thu. 9am-10pm, Fri. 9am-5pm.
Sat. and Sun. 11am- 5pm. Take notes while viewing video to use in written assignments.

Reading:
The textbook is available for purchase at the Queens College Book Store.

Vision of Modern Dance: In the Words of its Creators. (paperback) by Jean Morrison,
Naomi Midlin, Charles Woodford, ed., Highstown, NJ: Princeton Book Co., 1998.

Course Reader: All course readings are available on Blackboard and on reserve at Rosenthal
Library.

Writing:
During the course of the semester you will write an introduction letter, two short essays (1 - 3
pages), One review paper (3 – 4 pages), a creative response, and a final project which will be
either a 5 – 6 page review paper or a creative response with an analysis paper.

Choreography:
Composition assignments will be given approximately every 2-3 weeks. During the course you will
create a solo, duet, trio along with group choreographic forms.

Attendance and Participation

Attendance in all classes is mandatory. Students must be ready to begin class at 10:50am. If
physically unable to participate in class, students must attend and submit a brief written critique of
class. Two late arrivals – five minutes – will be considered an absence. If you arrive ten minutes
late you will not allowed to take the class and marked absent. Each student is allowed two
unavoidable absences without their grade being affected. Three or more absences will lower your
grade. It is the studentʼs responsibility to inform the professor in advance if they know they are
going to be absent. Prompt arrival, participation in every single class, and performing in the End of
Semester Showing are essential requirements of the course.

End of Semester Showing:

There will be an informal showing of dances created throughout the course on
Wednesday December 14, 2011 from 1:40 – 2:55

Materials
• Dance or exercise clothing, that allow for movement. (NO JEANS)
• Access to a computer, the internet and Queens College Blackboard.

Please notify the Professor immediately in the event of any injury or change in
health status that occurs before, during, or after class. Safety is an integral part of
the learning experience in this course.

Please be aware that the Professor uses touch as a teaching tool. You will also have
physical contact with your classmates throughout the semester. If for any reason
either of these situations is uncomfortable for you, please speak with the Professor.

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DANCE 150: Introduction to Dance - Fall 2011
Professor: Edisa Weeks Tel: 718-997-3068 Email: eweeks@qc.cuny.edu

WEEK ONE – Introduction to Modern Dance

Class – Review syllabus and do introductions. Warm-up exercises that begin introducing core
movement concepts regarding modern dance. Short in class composition assignment
based on your name.

Write – Introduction Letter: write a 1 – 2 page letter describing your current interests and pursuits
in regards to movement and dance. At the bottom of the letter spontaneously define
“modern dance” for yourself.

WEEK TWO – Introduction to Modern Dance

Class – Discuss reading and video viewing. Continue being introduced to core movement ideas
regarding modern dance. Discuss and explore symmetry, asymmetry and planes

Read – 1. Vissicaro, Pegge. Studying Dance Cultures Around The World. Dubuque, Iowa:
Kendall/Hunt. 2004 pp. 59 - 63 “The Dynamic Individual”.
2. Huxley, Michael and Noel Wits Ed., The Twentieth Century Performance Reader,
Routledge, 1966. pp 255 – 263 "Characteristics of the Modern Dance," by John Martin.

Watch – Watch the following video online. Take notes and be prepared to discuss it in class.
Dancing: The Individual and Tradition. Dir. Muffie Meyer, Prod. U.K.: British Broadcasting
Corporation, 1993. 59 min.

WEEK THREE – Composition

Class – First Composition Assignment: Shape Study - Design 3 symmetrical shapes and 3
asymmetrical shapes (high, middle, low planes) and link them together through movement.
You can present them in any order, but be prepared to show the study more than once, so
that you have taken the time to "set" the shapes and transitions. The total composition
should be one minute or less. Share and discuss composition studies in class.

WEEK FOUR – Composition

Class – Second Composition Assignment: Affinity Study - With a partner(s) take your
symmetrical/asymmetrical shape study and combine it with your partner(s) shape study to
create a new movement study. Make choices about the following spatial and choreographic
devices: a shared, direct focus, an extreme of spatial proximity, use of frontal, backwards,
and diagonal facing, two clear floor spatial patterns, at least 15 seconds of unison
movement. Create a title for your Affinity Study. Share and discuss composition studies in
class.

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WEEK FIVE – Forerunners of Modern Dance (1850 – 1920ʼs)
Isadora Duncan, Ruth St. Denis, Ted Shawn, Loie Fuller, Mary Wigman, Michio Ito

Class - Introduce the Forerunners of Modern Dance. Explore Isadora Duncan movement
technique and philosophy. Discuss reading and video viewing.

Read – 1. Brown, Jean Morrison, Naomi Midlin, Charles Woodford, ed., Vision of Modern Dance:
In the Words of its Creators. Highstown, NJ: Princeton Book Co., 1998. pp. 3-42
“Part 1: The Forerunners - Isadora Duncan, Lois Fuller, Ruth St. Denis, Ted Shawn,
Mary Wigman”
2. Foster, Susan Leigh, ed., Worlding Dance. Hampshire, England: Macmillan, 2009.
pp.144 - 162 “Artistic Utopias: Michio Ito and the Trope of the International” by
Yutian Wong.

Watch – Watch the following videos online. Take notes and be prepared to discuss them in class.
Ruth St Denis in the 'East Indian Nautch Dance' (1932) 1:10min.
Danse Serpentine - Loie Fuller 1 min. (no sound)
Kinetic Molpai (1935) by Ted Shawn.mkv 2.12 min.
Mary Wigmanʼs Witch Dance 2:08 min.

WEEK SIX – Forerunners + Pioneers of Modern Dance

Class – Introduction to Martha Graham technique and philosophy.

Write – Point of View Essay - Based on what you have read and observed about the forerunners
of modern dance, choose one of the artists discussed whose philosophy appeals to you. In a
one to three page, double spaced essay, briefly articulate the point-of-view of the artist. What
inspired the artist to dance and choreograph? What did the artist seek to achieve through
dance? I am interested in knowing what you found compelling or problematic about the artist.
Allow your own artistic belief and point of view to emerge in your discussion of the artist.

WEEK SEVEN - Pioneers (1930ʼs – 1950ʼs)

Martha Graham, Doris Humphrey, Hanya Holm, Charles Weidman

Class – Introduction to Doris Humphrey/Jose Limon technique and philosophy. Discuss reading
and video viewing in class.

Read – Brown, Jean Morrison, ed., et al., Vision of Modern Dance: In the Words of its Creators.
pp. 43 – 84 “The Four Pioneers.”

Watch – Watch the following videos online. Take notes and be prepared to discuss them in class.
Water Study – Doris Humphrey 8:35 min.
Day on Earth – Doris Humphrey 2:36 min.
Errand Into The Maze – Martha Graham 16:34min.
Steps In The – Martha Graham 7:45 min.

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WEEK EIGHT - Pioneers + Live Performance by Dance Company

Class – Continue exploring Doris Humphrey/Jose Limon Technique and philosophy. Introduce AB
composition structure. Discuss reading and guidelines for writing a review paper.

Write – 3 Investigative Questions: Write three investigative questions (i.e. not YES/NO) you would
like to ask either Martha Graham or Doris Humphrey. Base your questions in response to
their essays and to watching their work on video. Take into consideration your reactions to
the reading and performed work on video. Did you have any expectations after reading the
choreographerʼs written work? Did the choreographer's work surprise you in anyway?

Read – 1. Nadel, Myron Howard and Marc Raymond Strauss, The Dance Experience: Insights into
History, Culture and Creativity. Hightstown, NJ: Princeton Book Co., 2003 pp. 287 – 296
“Dance Criticism.”
2. Read articles and interviews about the dance company going to see as a class.

Watch – Video of work by dance company going to see as a class. Attend a live performance by
the dance company and take notes. Bring your notes to our next class.

WEEK NINE – Live Performance by Dance Company + Composition

Class - Discuss the live performance in class. Show and discuss third composition assignment
based on an AB structure that integrates either a rondo or five-part form.

WEEK TEN – Live Performance by Dance Company + Merce Cunningham + Composition

Class – Introduce Merce Cunningham Technique. Continue showing and discussing AB studies.

Write - Review of Live Performance: Write a 3 to 4 page review/critique of the dance performance,
providing a context for the entire concert, before discussing the work in greater detail.
Please use tools of description, interpretation, evaluation and context discussed in “Dance
Criticism” by Marc Raymond Strauss. These elements need to balance each other. Include
a bibliography with the paper.

WEEK ELEVEN – Next Generation, Jose Limon + Merce Cunninham (1940ʼs – 50ʼs)

Class – Continue investigating Merce Cunningham technique and philosophy. Discuss reading
and video viewing.

Write - Based on the reading and video viewing, write an investigative question you would like to
ask both Jose Limon and Merce Cunningham. Be prepared to share and discuss your
questions in class.

Read – 1. Morgenroth, Joyce, Speaking of Dance: Twelve Contemporary Choreographers on

Their Craft. New York: Routledge, 2004. pp. 11 - 22 “Merce Cunningham.”
2. Brown, Jean Morrison, ed., et al., Vision of Modern Dance: In the Words of its Creators.
pp. 97 – 106 “Jose Limon.”

Watch - Watch the following videos online. Take notes and be prepared to discuss them in class.
Jose Limon: Life Beyond Words, 1 hour
Three Modern Dance Classics – Merce Cunningham, 22 minutes.
Points in space – Merce Cunningham, 30 minutes total

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WEEK TWELVE - Post Modern Dance (1960 – 1970ʼs)
Trisha Brown, Yvonne Rainer, Judson Church Movement

Class – Introduce improvisation as a warm-up and compositional device. Discuss reading and
video viewing in class.

Read – 1. Banes, Sally, Terpsichore In Sneakers: Post-Modern Dance. Hanover, NH: Wesleyan
Univ. Press, 1987 pp. 1 - 19
2. Morgenroth, Joyce, Speaking of Dance: Twelve Contemporary Choreographers on Their
Craft. New York: Routledge, 2004. pp. 57 - 69 “Trisha Brown”
3. Cohen, Marshall and Roger Copeland, What Is Dance? Readings In Theory And
Criticism. New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 1983. pp. 325 – 332, “A Quasi Survey of Some
“Minimalist” Tendencies In The Quantitatively Minimal Dance Activity Midst The
Plethora, Or An Analysis of Trio A” by Yvonne Rainer.

Watch - Watch the following videos online. Take notes and be prepared to discuss them in class.
Trisha Brown – Early Works
Trio A - Yvonne Rainer

WEEK THIRTEEN – Post Modern Dance + Composition

Class – Continue exploring improvisation as a warm-up and compositional device, as well as the
questions being asked and value structures being challenged by the post modern
movement.

Write – Write a paragraph on your definition of, What is Post Modern Dance?

WEEK FOURTEEN – African-American Concert Dance (1960 – 1970) Alvin Ailey

Class – Introduction to Horton technique and philosophy. Discuss reading and video viewing in
class. Discuss and begin working on final composition assignment.

Read – 1. Brown, Jean Morrison, ed., et al., Vision of Modern Dance: In the Words of its
Creators. pp. 131 – 134 “Alvin Ailey.”
2. DeFrantz, Thomas F., Dancing Revelations: Alvin Aileyʼs Embodiment of African-
American Culture, New York: Oxford University Press, 2004 pp. 3 – 25 “Revelations
1962”

Watch – 1. Watch the following video online. Take notes and be prepared to discuss it in class.
Revelations - Alvin Ailey
2. Attend a live performance at Queens College. Take notes and bring them to our next
class for discussion.

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WEEK FIFTEEN – Contemporary Dance (1980 – present)

Class – Discuss live performance in class. Show and discuss final composition projects.

Write - Create an artistic response to Revelations by Alvin Ailey. Your response should address
the political, cultural or religious ideas expressed in Aileyʼs writing and choreography, as
well as your own responses to viewing Revelations, class discussions, and Thomas
DeFrantzʼs chapter in Dancing Revelations. Your creative response can be in the form of a
poem, a short story, a drawing, a visual collage, a map, a diagram, a tune, a model…
USE YOUR IMAGINATION!!! Feel free to interpret this assignment individually. I am
interested in your unique voice in response to the choreography, choreographer and
author.

WEEK SIXTEEN – Contemporary Dance (1980 – present)

Class – Continue showing and discussing final composition projects.

EXAM PERIOD

Composition – Informal Showing of final composition project that integrates feedback received
from the first showing.

Write – I. Write a review (5 or 6) regarding the live performance at Queens College, that includes
an interview with the choreographer or one of the dancers about the dance. OR do a
creative response inspired by the live performance. For the creative response include an
essay that explains the choices you made and how your response is in dialogue with the
performance.

II. Write an addendum discussing your current definition of modern dance as well as your
current aesthetic preference in terms of movement and choreography.

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Queens College Department of Drama Theatre and Dance
DANCE 150: Introduction to Dance – Fall 2011 - Professor: Edisa Weeks

Grade Assignments
A+ (97 – 100) Exceptional; meets the highest expectations for undergraduate work.
A (93- 96) Outstanding; meets the highest standards for the assignment or course.
A- (90-92) Excellent; meets very high standards for the assignment or course.
B+ (87-89) Very good; meets high standards for the assignment or course.
B (83-86) Good; meets most of the standards for the assignment or course.
B- (80-82) More than adequate; shows some reasonable command of the material.
C+ (77-79) Acceptable; meets basic standards for the assignment of the course.
C (73-76) Acceptable; meets some of the basic standards for the assignment or course.
C- (70-72) Acceptable, while falling short of meeting basic standards in several ways.
D+ (67-69) Minimally Acceptable, falls very short of meeting basic standards.
D (60-66) Barely Acceptable; lowest passing grade.
F (0-59) Failing; very poor performance.

Criteria for Student Evaluation

Technique = 25% of Grade
Choreography = 25% of grade
Attendance & Participation = 25% of grade
Writing = 25% of grade

Guidelines for Evaluation:

Attendance & Participation: Demonstrates prompt and consistent attendance. Maintains sustained focus in
each class and throughout the semester. Actively participates in peer-feedback and contributes to class
discussions. Works willingly with peers. Asks appropriate questions and seeks feedback. Shows respect
for self, peers, instructors, and the dance space.

Choreography: Invests creativity and thought into the process of creating a dance. Demonstrates a
willingness to experiment and explore new territory. Spends rigorous time on all assignments and adheres to
assignment instructions. Integrates feedback and suggestions from the class and readings. Assimilates
ideas into practice, filtering peer and faculty feedback to make artistic choices that reflect a clear and
committed point of view. Actively questions established paradigms of art-making. Demonstrates progress
and growth throughout the semester.

Technique: Works toward a mastery of skill. Shows readiness to start combinations, preparedness for work
of the class, and integration of corrections and movement concepts over time. Demonstrates willingness to
work with peers through collaborative learning. Maintains constant focus during class. Takes initiative to
maintain daily movement practices and works on material outside of class: remembering sequences and
doing exercises. (The more time invested outside, the greater improvement in class will be.) Arrives
prepared and on time for each class. Shows progress week to week and consistently assimilates ideas into
practice. Incorporates and demonstrates performance skills in rehearsal and performance. Displays dynamic
range and presence in performance of movement exercises and combinations.

Written Assignments: Utilizes and documents sources, considers material, develops own point of view,
synthesizes various perspectives, and writes clearly. Adheres to assignment (content, page length,
formatting requirements, bibliography, originality of thought, clarity of writing). Shows progress over time,
integrating feedback into subsequent writing assignments. Evolves ideas and own point of view through
integration of information from viewing, reading assignments, own research and discussions. Demonstrates,
through their writing assignments, an increased ability to use critical thinking and analysis as a tool for
artistic growth. All graded papers should be written in 12 point font (Times or Times New Roman or similar);
formatted with 1.5 spacing and 1 inch margins (right, left, top, and bottom). When appropriate, include a
bibliography and format all citations in the MLA reference style (see Queens College > Academics > Writing
at Queens > The Writing Center > For Students > Writing Guides > On Line Tutorial for the MLA
Documentation Style).

Late papers are only accepted with prior consent of the professor.