Dance Pedagogy

DANCE 5130

In this course students will learn methods of instruction, assessment and how to develop dance curriculum for K-12. Students will design classes based on national standards, grade level expectations and sound dance principles. In the studio they will teach each other sample lessons that they have developed. This class will cover dance competencies required by DESE for beginning teachers of dance. We will pay attention to current trends in arts education. Our discussion will include the diversity of student populations and how to prepare and respond. We will discuss the role of the arts in education and the dance teacher's role as classroom instructor, arts integration instructor, diplomat and arts advocate. Credit may be applied toward the education major and potentially toward state certification. Prerequisite: minimum of two semesters of upper level coursework in dance technique. Prerequisite: minimum of two semesters of upper level coursework in dance technique.
Course Attributes: EN H; AS HUM; FA HUM; AR HUM

Modern Dance and the African American Legacy II

DANCE 5102

This course will focus on works by 2-3 renowned African-American choreographers. The selected choreographers are chosen for their contributions to the field of American modern dance based primarily on their explorations regarding the process and dynamics of building community--the sense of community as experienced through the lens of African-American cultural values and aesthetics and as it pertains to the creative process. Therefore, the course focuses on viewing the body as a site for the exchange of ideas concerning humanity. Students will investigate these choreographers through learning excerpts of their choreography and choreographing personal responses, as well as through related readings, videos, and independent research.
Course Attributes: EN H; AS HUM; AS SD I; FA HUM; AR HUM; AS SC; FA CPSC

Accompaniment Techniques for Dance

DANCE 312

A wide variety of percussion instruments and techniques are studied to determine what makes effective dance accompaniment. The course includes: examples and discussion of dance musics from western and non-western cultures; basic notation of rhythm and form; demonstrations of musical styles and discussion of social contexts. Students will have opportunities to assist in accompanying modern dance classes. Minimum of 2-3 hours a week of individual practice and/or listening to recordings expected.
Course Attributes: EN H; AS HUM; FA HUM

Politics and Performance in Historical Practice

DRAMA 3013

What is "political theater"? Is it a media stunt, designed to score points with supporters? Is it a form of protest of the status quo? Approached from another direction, we might ask: what theater is notpolitical? This course offers students to think about the role that performance (both on stage and in the streets) has played in the assertion of state power, the constitution of a body politic, the shoring up of consent, the expression of dissent, and as an embodied imagining of another world that might be possible. This course fulfills the "Studies in Historical Practice" requirement for Drama majors and minors.
Course Attributes: AS HUM; EN H

Performing Gender and Sexuality in America

DANCE 433

This course examines how the performance of gender and sexuality has shaped the social, cultural, and political history of the United States from the early nineteenth century to the present. While performance happens in everyday life, we will primarily focus on how the stage has been a potent space to debate issues about gender and sexuality. This course will put forth the argument that the stage has historically not only reflected broader social concerns, but also actively helped to shape those social dynamics. After an introduction to foundational ideas, we will start the semester with minstrelsy, signaling that the performance of gender and sexuality in America is deeply intertwined with race, class, and national belonging. Reading and viewing assignments bring together feminist theory, queer theory, American social history, and performance texts to build robust seminar discussions.
Course Attributes: EN H; BU Hum; BU BA; AS HUM; AS SD I; FA HUM; AR HUM; AS SC; FA CPSC

Theory and Technique of Modern Dance III

DANCE 302

Prerequisite: permission of the instructor.
Course Attributes: BU Hum

Independent Work

DRAMA 5970

Students may contract with a faculty supervisor for credit for their work on theatrical productions or research. Contracts must be signed by the student and the coordinator of Drama 500 before the student's work on the project commences. Credit and grade option to be determined in each case. In order to enroll for this course, students must complete a contract and submit it to the Performing Arts Department office.
Course Attributes:

Race, Realism, and Representation from Madama Butterfly to Hamilton

DRAMA 1225

In the Euro-American tradition, operas and musicals have long normalized the portrayal of (usually white) performers as characters of other races. Only in recent decades has the work of activists, performers, and scholars, pushed the cultural conversation to critique these practices as racist, exoticist, and culturally appropriative. On the live stage and on screen, music theater in recent years have paid careful attention to racially sensitive casting as a matter of restorative justice. We intuitively understand today that it is disrespectful for performers to portray themselves as characters of color outside their cultural background, but how has this relatively new idea come to be? How have performers of color engaged with this body of work over the past century? How have imagined narratives about the experiences of marginalized peoples affected the lives of the groups of people being depicted? Who has the cultural authority (or authenticity) to tell stories about others, and how has that authority been constructed and construed across different places and times? This course introduces students to the fraught and complex history of music theater in which performers portray racialized roles outside of their own identities. The syllabus pays particular attention to histories of music-theatrical yellowface as a racialized practice that - unlike brownface and blackface which have become taboo - continues to appear on performing arts stages today. Understanding the historical context in which these works arose and became popular, as well as analyzing the musical and dramatic techniques they utilized, can give us insight into their enduring legacy through to the present day. We will also complicate the easy rejection of this tradition by paying close attention to the history of people of color who, for the past hundred years, participated in, contributed to, and even loved, this body of work.
Course Attributes: EN H; AS HUM; FA HUM; AR HUM; AS SC; FA VC

Pointe Technique

DANCE 5181

Designed for dancers with a basic foundation in pointe work. Variable content; may be repeated for credit in a subsequent semester. Prerequisite: Dance 415, 416 and permission of instructor.
Course Attributes: EN H; AS HUM