Instructor: Allen Fogelsanger
Department of Theatre, Film & Dance
Cornell University
Music and Choreography, DANCE 3530 / MUSIC 3513, has the following goals: to expose students to music they probably have not heard and are unlikely to seek out on their own, particularly contemporary "classical" music; to alert students to a diverse range of music to whch they may choreograph; to give students the chance to participate in music making; to mark out the possible relationships which can be found between music and dance when presented together in concert; and to pull apart the compositional construction of musical pieces in order to consider what musical structuring ideas might be profitably applied by choreographers to making dances.
Music and Choreography is intended to expand choreographers' conceptions of music and its uses for dance, including serving as a source for ideas of choreographic organization. It partially surveys the use of contemporary music for dance, and studies music and dance collaborations, but it also includes examples from film and the plastic arts. Reading topics include criticism and aesthetics of dance, music, and the arts in general.
The first third of the course concentrates on the related compositional/choreographic devices of simultaneity, polyphony, and counterpoint. The latter two thirds of the course focuses especially on minimalism, improvisation, and polystylism in music, dance, the two considered together, and other arts singly and in combination.
Course Meeting Time: TR for 75 minutes each in Lincoln Hall, except for four dates TBA in Schwartz SB10. For more information about the course, see the syllabus and course requirements.
Textbook: Required: course reading packet. For the contents, see the bibliography.