96431 - History of Dance

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course the student: acquires a basic knowledge of the history of the dance, especially in the context of the European theatrical culture from the 19th century until today; learns and is able to use some analysis methodologies of the dance performance; is able to read and understand bibliographical, iconographical and video documents.

Course contents

During the first part of the course (from Monday, January 30, 2023 to, idyllically, Wednesday, March 8) we will trace a panorama of the history of theatrical dance between Europe and the United States from the nineteenth century until today, with a short reference to previous eras. We will then touch on the repertoire of the nineteenth century to cross the revolutionary instances put in place at the beginning of the twentieth century and then the expansion of research experiences that mark the second half of that century, to the variegated multiplicity that characterizes the times in which we live, in which the experiments aimed at the future happily coexist with the legacy of the past.

During the second part of the course (from Monday, March 20, 2023 to, indicatively, Monday, April 24) we will focus on contemporaneity, through the vision, analysis and commentary of some examples of choreographic creations, appropriately introduced and contextualized, through the viewing of video recordings.

The lessons will be enriched by meetings with artists and scholars.

 

The course will start on Monday 30 January 2023 and will run at the following schedule:

Monday, hours 9,00-11,00
Tuesday, hours 9,00-11,00
Wednesday, hours 9,00-11,00

Readings/Bibliography

Please note: bibliography and videography have been updated on 18 April 2023.

 

The exam program consists of three readings (points a and b) and the viewing of a list of videos (point c):


a) a handbook on the history of dance (only pages from the nineteenth century):

• Elena Cervellati, Storia della danza, Pearson, Torino 2020 (from p. 53)

 

b) two volumes chosen from the following list:

• Eugenia Casini Ropa, La danza e l'agit-prop. I teatri non-teatrali nella cultura teatrale del primo Novecento, Cue press, Imola 2016 (I ed. Il Mulino, Bologna 1988)
  
• Elena Cervellati, Théophile Gautier e la danza. La rivelazione del corpo nel balletto del XIX secolo, CLUEB, Bologna 2007
• Vito Di Bernardi, Ossatura. Mimmo Cuticchio e Virgilio Sieni: marionette e danza in Nudità, Bulzoni, Roma 2019
  
• Silvia Garzarella, Valeria Magli o la poesia ballerina, Mimesis, Milano 2021
• Roberto Giambrone, Pina Bausch. Le coreografie del viaggio, Ephemeria, Macerata 2008
• Elisa Guzzo Vaccarino, La danza d'arte. Balanchine, Cunningham, Forsythe, Dino Audino Editore, Roma 2015
• Concetta Lo Iacono, Il danzatore attore, da Noverre a Pina Bausch, Dino Audino Editore, Roma 2007
  
• Cynthia Novack, Contact improvisation. Storia e tecnica di una danza contemporanea, Dino Audino, Roma 2018
  
• Elena Randi, La grande stagione del balletto russo. Fra Ottocento e Novecento: tradizione e avanguardia, Dino Audino, Roma 2022
• Elena Randi, La modern dance. Teorie e protagonisti, Carocci editore, Roma 2018

c) the viewing, in full or at least in significant excerpts, of some of the main shows treated in the texts prepared for examination, through the help of video recordings on dvd or on the net (youtube, vimeo, numéridanse and similar). It will be considered essential, in order to pass the exam, the ability to be able to contextualize and describe the following shows, starting from the vision of short extracts during the exam:

• Giselle (1841), by Jean Coralli e Jules Perrot;
• Lo Schiaccianoci (1892), by Marius Petipa e Lev Ivanov;
• Apollon musagète (1928), by George Balanchine;
• Lamentation (1930), by Martha Graham;
• Event (1964), by Merce Cunningham;
• Blaubart (1977), by Pina Bausch;
• Blue Lady (1983), by Carolyn Carlson;
• at least two shows from those mentioned in each of the two volumes chosen for point b of the bibliography.

Various links to video recordings useful for addressing this point of the syllabus can be found in the lesson summary slides, available on Virtual.

A useful methodological support for viewing the scheduled performances is Sally Banes' essay, On your Fingertips: Writing Dance Criticism, in Id., Writing Dancing in the Age of Postmodernism, Wesleyan University Press, Hanover, c1994, pp. 24-43.

Teaching methods

Lessons will be supported by the commented viewing of iconographic materials and recordings of performances, as well as enriched by meetings with artists. The active participation of attending students will be solicited through proposed readings and classroom discussions.

Assessment methods

The students’ learning outcomes on the history of the dance and the arts of the movement will be verified through an interview concerning the recommended bibliography to verify their ability 1) to move within the key phases of the history of the theatrical dance beginning from the Renaissance and to make specific reference to specific artistic experiences.

It will be assessed as excellent the performance of those students achieving an organic vision of the course contents, the use of a proper specific language, the originality of the reflection as well as the familiarity with the tolls for analysing the History of The Dance and The Arts of The Movement.

It will be assessed as discrete the performance of those students showing mostly mechanical or mnemonic knowledge of the subject, not articulated synthesis and analysis capabilities, a correct but not always appropriate language, as well as a scholastic study of the History of The Dance and The Arts of The Movement. It will be assessed as barely sufficient the performance of those students showing learning gaps, inappropriate language, lack of knowledge of the discipline. It will be assessed as insufficient the performance of those students showing learning gaps, inappropriate language, no orientation within the recommended bibliography and inability to analyse the History of The Dance and The Arts of The Movement.

Teaching tools

Vision of iconographic and videographic documents, analysis of performances through playful tools.

Office hours

See the website of Elena Cervellati