Dance through the Anthropological Lens

Assessment: essay (4000 words) OR oral presentation with audio/visual aids - presentation (15 min.) [40%] AND essay (2500 words) [60%]

This module develops out of HE2 Dance in Cultures, taking the anthropological approach introduced to a higher level. It investigates how the study of dance in the 21st century can be informed by an anthropological approach, which situates dance practices within global and post-colonial contexts. In contrast to the earlier module, Dance in Cultures, which emphasised the structure and coherence of cultural systems, this module takes a more radical anthropological perspective and stresses the contradictions, paradoxes and fragmentation of cultures. It investigates the history of discourses and practices within the arts in general, and within dance in particular, examining what is at stake within them. Offering a cross-cultural perspective the module explores the social construction of dance cultures emphasising some of the different conceptualisations of dance generally and of the dancing body particularly looking at the implications they may have within transnational contexts. The module will also provide a sound grounding for postgraduate studies in the anthropology of dance.