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CREATIVITY AND PERFORMANCE with visiting Cornell Professor, Kumudini Lakhia. (DANC 007, 1 credit, MW 1:15PM – 2:30PM, Papazian 324) Eligible for Asian Studies credit.

This course taught by visiting Cornell Professor Kumudini Lakhia from India will explore the relationship between creativity, performance, and improvisation.  Padmashri Kumudini Lakhia is one of the foremost Gurus and Kathak Choreographers in India. Credited with many innovations in Kathak, she is the Founder & Director of Kadamb, a renowned Kathak institution in Ahmedabad, India. Her teaching and choreography is admired not only in India but the world over. Based on pedagogical and choreographic experiences with the classical Indian Kathak dance for six decades, the course will engage how traditional knowledge can be the spring board for innovation in thought and action.  The course will situate performance at the intersection of interdisciplinary studies on religion, Asian studies, dance, theater, and music.

DANCING DESIRE IN BOLLYWOOD FILMS with Pallabi Chakravorty. (Dance 016, 1 Credit, Lang Music 204, TTH 11:20AM-12:35PM) This course may be counted toward a minor in Gender and Sexuality Studies & Asian Studies

Bombay films have played an important role in fashioning the narrative of Indian women as symbols of tradition and spirituality in the public imagination. They represent the convergence of art, entertainment, female sexuality, nation building, and commodity production. However, recent shifts in the depiction of the “erotic” in Bollywood dances are transforming the past representations of women. This course will explore the shifts in sexuality and gender constructions of Indian women from national to transnational symbols through the songs and dances in Bollywood.  We will examine the place of erotic/desire in reconstructing gender and sexuality from past notions of romantic love to desires for commodity. The course will   analyze the aesthetic shifts from traditional/classical song and dance repertoire to contemporary MTV inspired moves by focusing on Bombay films and related fields such as television dance reality shows. The primary focus will be centered on cross-cultural approaches to the body, desire, subjectivity, and affect drawing on anthropology, performance, film, media, and gender studies. In addition to the readings, students will be asked to view a list of Hindi films and television dance reality shows.

DANCE LAB I: MAKING DANCE with Jumatatu Poe.  (Dance 011, 1 Credit, TTH – 2:40PM to 4:00PM, LPAC 2) Prerequisite: Any dance course or permission of the instructor.  A  course in dance technique must be taken concurrently.

A study of the basic principles of dance composition through exploration of the elements of time, space, and energy, movement invention, and movement themes to understand various choreographic structures. Principles explored are applicable to dance making in a wide variety of styles and students are encouraged to create in their range of vocabularies. Reading, video and live concert viewing, movement studies, journals, exposure to a graphic animation tool for dance, and a final piece for public performance in the Troy dance lab are required.

REPERTORY BALLET with Jennifer Chipman-Bloom. (Dance 049.5, 049.5P, 0.5 Credit or PE Credit, LPAC 3, Monday 1:15PM – 4:00PM) Open to advanced ballet students. Auditions will be held during the first class.

This class will offer students experience with learning and performing classical ballet, while also being a part of the creative process of new choreography.  Choreography will be performed in December.

DANCE AND DIASPORA with Pallabi Chakravorty.  (Dance 025A (cross listed with SOAN 020J), 1 Credit, TTH 1:15PM – 2:30PM, Lang Music Bldg. 204) This is a reading and writing intensive course. Open to all students without prerequisite.

Dance is an unconventional but powerful device for studying migration and social mobility. This course will explore the interrelated themes of performance, gender, personhood, and migration in the context of diasporic experiences. By focusing on specific dance forms from Asia, Africa and Latin America, we will examine the competing claims of place-ness, globalization, and hybridization on cultural identity and difference. Students will engage with theories on nationalism, transnationalism, and globalization, as well as embodiment and experience. Broadly, the course will investigate the interlocking structures of aesthetics and politics, economics and culture, and history and power, all of which inform and continue to reshape these cultures and their dance forms.