World History of the Dance / Fall 2024

  I Introduction   According to Kassing (2007), from its origins dance served as a medium for magic and religion through rituals and ceremonies. For early societies, a ritual was a series of acts established through tradition. Ceremonies, on the other hand, signify or celebrate an important event.Ceremonies are performed by enacting strictly prescribed rituals. II Learning Objectives   Understand the outer and inner aspects of dance in non-literate societies during prehistory. Explain the importance of dance ornaments Gain an awareness of the role of the mind's eye in the development of art Discuss the role of the shaman in these early societies Articulate what cave art suggest in reference to dance  Experience the labyrinth III Main Lesson 1 The Dancer Take a look at the diagram on page 29 of Kassing (2007)   Source: Kassing, Gayle (2007). History of Dance:  An Interactive Arts Approach. Human Kinetics   Question 1 Which are the outer and inner a...

  I Unit: Homonins Theme: The Oldest Human Rituals Introduction   Human evolution is the lengthy process of change by which people originated from apelike ancestors. Scientific evidence shows that the physical and behavioral traits shared by all people originated from apelike ancestors and evolved over a period of approximately seven million years. II Learning Objectives   Understand the influence homonins had on human's abilities to dance Explain the importance of bipedality for dance development in the paleolithic Gain an awareness of the significance the construction of early shelters, burials and art objects had for human evolution Experience finger dexterity through choreography of hand gestures  III   Main Lesson   1   First Ancestors   2  N O T E S First Ancestors  Our first ancestors lived  7 million  years ago Bipedal, upright walking  Ability to walk emerged long before humankind developed big brains. Even th...

Unit: Fundamentals Theme: World View I   Introduction   History is about the study of humans and their actions. As posed by Carter (2004), the study of history as an academic field or as part of a larger field such as cultural studies, should be engaged with in practice in studio, at the desk and in the field (p.2).  Methodological approaches should be so diverse that we stop seeing its boundaries. Dance in particular has a history that changes in accordance to the historian's world view.      II   Learning Objectives   Understand the importance of studying history Gain an awareness of the different ways we can study history Explain the relationship between history, archeology and anthropology Discuss the connection between history and world-view Experience embodied history by sharing a dance that has affected your world-view   III   Main Lesson   1  BRAINSTORMING Advertisement by Southern New Hampshire University  ...

    Unit : Fundamentals Theme :   Re-framing History I   Introduction   Learning about history requires a learning environment where everyone feels included so that everyone's own histories count as much as what is recorded in published sources. Therefore, introducing ourselves and learning each other's names becomes a necessary step in creating a safe learning environment. Class today is about re-framing our concept of history. It is about knowing that history depends on who tells the story. For this reason we have to take published sources with a grain of salt. We will use Alexandra Carter's metaphors to explain the different ways we can conceptualize the study of history.   II   Learning Objectives Know  each other's names Understand different conceptual frames when looking at history Discuss  how these concepts apply to your own field III   Main Lesson    1  Activity a) Introduce yourself to the group by say...