Dance reflects the cultural heritage and is a key to understanding diverse societies. Each week the students are introduced to a different dance form through videos, reading and a dance class. There is a Capoeira teacher of this Brazilian martial art disguised as a dance, and guest lecturers of Indian, Middle Eastern or Bellydance, Irish, Russian, Balinese and African dance from their locations. Dance can be seen as encoded forms of a society’s religious, artistic, political, economic and familial values. We discuss globalization, fusion and authenticity. Migration, missionaries the diaspora have created new forms like “Bollywood,” “Tribal,” and “K-Pop.” The internet has brought further influence for dance as signifier of new values during the pandemic, but live performance and ethnic roots survive. The student’s project is to find their own world dance. They themselves become researchers in the field, performers and creators of new forms.

Arts Workshops (Undergraduate)
4 credits – 15 Weeks