| CODE | DCS1005 | ||||||||||||
| TITLE | Dance in History and Society 1 | ||||||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 01 - Year 1 in Modular Undergraduate Course | ||||||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 5 | ||||||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 5 | ||||||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Dance Studies | ||||||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | The study-unit introduces dance and its role in history and society. Alongside the development of concert dance forms, it explores how these forms were connected to the wider world. It also investigates the: - Study of specific history as a means of gaining understanding of the traditions, conventions and changes that inform contemporary dance practice; - The essential differences between ballet and modern dance, with special reference to notions of narrative and characterisation. - Study of historical ideas in their socio-cultural context Study-Unit Aims: The study-unit intends to: - Highlight the role of dance practices as a part of society - Aid articulation of an historical account of contemporary dance practice; - Develop understanding of both dance analysis and dance history as two different methodologies for constructing dance knowledge; - Develop understanding about dance in logical written and oral form Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Demonstrate understanding of dance history and how to apply processes of analysis and discussion in short essay form; - Critically describe and debate the development and role of dance as a part of history and society; - Articulate chosen historical accounts of dance practices and their place in dance history and society; - Critically engage with multiple methodologies for constructing dance knowledge; - Communicate a developing knowledge about dance history in logical written and oral form, demonstrating evidence of application of appropriate study skills. 2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Critically evaluate current and historical texts and events from a range of perspectives; - Identify and critically engage with the development of social and theatre dance forms from a historical perspective; - Demonstrate and apply a range of study and class based skills, including those related to close reading of texts, evaluation of video examples, critical thinking and class discussions, and academic writing. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Main Texts: -Banes, Sally 1998. Dancing Women: Female Bodies Onstage (London: Routledge) - Gottschild, Brenda Dixon. 1998. Digging the Africanist Presence in American Performance: Dance and Other Contexts (Westport: Praeger) - Lee, Carol 2002 Ballet in Western Culture: A History of Its Origins and Evolution. (London: Routledge). - Morris, Geraldine, and Nicholas, Larrainne (Eds.) (2017) Rethinking Dance History: Issues and Methodologies (London: Palgrave) Supplementary Readings: - Au, Susan.1988. Ballet and Modern Dance (London: Thames & Hudson). -Brown, Ronald K, (et. Al) 2019. Black Dance: A Contemporary Voice (Leicester: Serendipity). - Cohen, Selma Jeanne and Katy Matheson. 1992. Dance as a Theatre Art, sec. ed. (London: Dance Books). - McDonagh, Don. 1990.The Rise and Fall and Rise of Modern Dance (A Cappella Books). |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture and Tutorial | ||||||||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
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| LECTURER/S | Margherita Borg Buhagiar Margaret Jean Westby |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2025/6. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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