EGMT 1510: Performing the Black Aesthetic

Western artistic pedagogy inherently hinders and alters how people of a global majority enter creative processes and spaces. This remains true even when modern theatrical productions or concert dance emphasize alterity, global styles or traditions. In this class, using the creative processes of theater and dance, you will experience different perspectives on and about stage based production. You will identify key aspects of the Black aesthetic, and gain the ability to unpack the tacit underlying assumptions which inform global creative practices, commonly referred to as ideological frameworks. Utilizing history, scripts, staged works, and classic performances, students will evaluate theatrical and dance languages in order to unpack the lived experiences of the global majority, explore alternatives, and critically interrogate the ways that form, function, rhythm, and performance create and support identity. Weekly, we will approach our course through a series of juxtapositions, placing in dialogue one play and one dancer or company, exploring common themes and posing complementary questions.