IODLCS0123 - Shall We Dance? Dance as Narrative in American Film

Course Description

"Shall We Dance?" introduces students to a myriad of dance styles that appear on the popular American screen. It looks at how the screen apparatus is employed to shape the ways in which dancing bodies are represented across a range of film and television genres, and it develops interpretive methods to read popular screen dance within its social, historical and economic contexts of production. The course examines how dance on screen can impact spectators' lived experience, and the affect that screen images have on the broader social world. The course covers dance in Hollywood musicals, narrative dance films, film documentaries, pop music video, reality television contests, commercial advertisements, and YouTube clips. Students will be assessed on class participation, a short answer quiz, a written analysis, a group project, and a final essay. NOTE: This course fulfills the Arts (GA) requirement for students under GenEd and Arts (AR) for students under Core. Students cannot receive credit for this course if they have successfully completed Dance 0931.