New York City College of Technology
The City University of New York
African American Studies Department
COURSE CODE: AFR 1131- AFRICAN DANCE WORKSHOP
Course Description
This course will concentrate on the music and dance traditions indigenous to the cultures
found in Africa and in the Caribbean Islands, Brazil, the United States, and the large
metropolitan centers of Western Europe where descendants of Africans have created
discrete cultures. Students will discuss the similarities and differences of these dance
forms and also discuss how religion, economics, politics, and cultural identities have
influenced these dance forms. In addition, they will learn some of the dance forms
through movements, song and rhythm.
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The first half of class will consist of floor movements and warm-up exercises
based on the physical and movement practices inspired by the philosophies of
Yoga, Pilates and Zena Rommett. Emphasis will be placed on the application of
correct placement, flexibility and motor skills. Students will be introduced to
basic anatomy and the principles of movement including, centering, the overload
principle, and pre and post stretching.
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The second half of the class will utilize the Katherine Dunham Technique that
encompasses the elements of dance, space, time, force, quality, isolation,
progressions, and exercises based on cultural rhythms.
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The third part of the class will consist of a series of sequential movements and
transitions that create movements found in the dance traditions indigenous to the
cultures found in the African Diaspora.
Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of this course students will be able:
• To demonstrate the ability to identify various dance forms, styles and rituals
unique to Africa and the African Diaspora.
• To compare the similarities and differences of African dance cultures and the
belief systems which shapes the dance forms.
• To identify the major figures and their contributions to African or African –
inspired dance forms.
• To distinguish between strong and weak artistic dance forms and movements.
• To properly document their observations and reactions to live and recorded dance
forms and performances.
• To develop an appreciation for dance as an art form.
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To identify the connection between dance as an art form and the society from
which it emerges.
To provide the student with exercises that will enhance various aspects of
technique such as flexibility, coordination, agility, strength, postural alignment
and range of movements.
To provide students with a continued exploration in movements and the creative
use of space and rhythm.
To provide the student with an in depth exploration of rhythmic styles to help the
student enhance their performance and dance skills with greater efficiency.
To introduce the student to the dance theories and principles specific to Katherine
Dunham, Joseph Pilates, and Zena Rommett.
To promote the development of the student’s aesthetic sense and appreciation of
African Dance as an art form.
Required Text
All students are required to purchase a course packet for the course. This packet will
contain all required readings and information vital to the class
Grading Policy and other requirements
Final Paper
Critical Review
Participation
30%
20%
50%
All students are required to:
• Keep a journal.
• Attend one live dance performance and write a critical review of the
performance.
• Write a 5-7 page research paper.
• Full participation in all classes is required. (Note: If any student has a
disability, injured, or has limited range of movement please inform the
instructor at the beginning of class.)
• Dance attire: barefoot, leotards, body suite, tights, unitards, sweatpants, teeshirts, Lapa (wrap), folklore skirts.
College Policy on Absence/Lateness.
No more than one absence is allowed because the class meets once a week. A student
may be absent without penalty for 10% of the number of scheduled class meetings. If a
student’s absences exceed the limit of 3 CLASSES the instructor will inform you that a
grade of “WU” may be assigned. The department’s policy on lateness is as follows. Any
student who arrives 10 minutes after class has started will be considered late. If you are
late for more than three class sessions you will lose credit.
New York City College of Technology Policy on Academic Integrity
Students and all others who work with information, ideas, texts, images, music,
inventions, and other intellectual property owe their audience and sources accuracy and
honesty in using, crediting, and citing sources. As a community of intellectual and
professional workers, the College recognizes its responsibility for providing instruction in
information literacy and academic integrity, offering models of good practice, and
responding vigilantly and appropriately to infractions of academic integrity. Accordingly,
academic dishonesty is prohibited in The City University of New York and at New York
City College of Technology and is punishable by penalties, including failing grades,
suspension, and expulsion. The complete text of the College policy on Academic
Integrity may be found in the catalog
CLASS SCHEDULE
Week 1
Introductions
Call and Respond Chant
Warm-up Vocabulary
West African Movement
Discussion: What Is Dance?
Week 2
Warm-up
African Movement and Song
Video/Discussion
Vocabulary/Criticism/Research
Readings:
Foreword by Sir Rex Nettleford
African Dance by Pearl Primus
Traditional Dance in Africa by Doris Green
Black Dance in the United States: From 1619 to Today by Emery, Lynne Fauley
African Dance in New York City by Marcea E. Heard and Mansa K. Mussa
Culture, Art and Dance by Marcea T. Daiter
Vocabulary/Criticism/Research
Week 3
Warm-up
African Movement and Song
Video/Discussion
Vocabulary/Criticism/Research
Readings:
Culture, Art and Dance by Marcea T. Daiter
Panoply of African Dance Dynamics by Esilokun Kinni-Olusanyin
Dunham Technique. History by Dr. Albirda Rose
In Memory of Pearl Primus by Kariamu Welsh Asante
Pearl Primus: Rebuilding America’s Cultural Infrastructure by Beverly Hillsman
Barber
Week 4
Warm-up
African and Caribbean Movement and Song
Video/Discussion
Readings:
Dunham Technique. Theories and Methodologies by Dr. Albirda Rose.
Black Dance In The United States: From 1619 to Today by Emery, Lynne Fauley.
African Dance in New York City by Marcea E. Heard and Mansa K. Mussa.
Culture, Art and Dance by Marcea T. Daiter
Week 5
Warm-up
African and Caribbean Movement and Song
Video/Discussion
Readings: Dance Magazine, Haiti Dances to a Different Drummer by Elizabeth
Culture, Art and Dance by Marcea T. Daiter
Anthropology and Dance by Joyce Aschenbrenner
Dances of Haiti/Functions of the Dances/Interrelation of Form and Function by
Katherine Dunham
Week 6
Warm-up
African and Caribbean Dance Movements and Songs
Video/Discussion
Research and Criticism
Readings:
Culture, Art and Dance by Marcea T. Daiter
“An Aesthetic of the Cool” Revisited: The Ancestral Dance Link in the African
Diaspora by Halifu Osumare
Up From Under: The Africanist Presence/First Premise Of an Africanist Aesthetic
Don’t Take Away My Picasso: Cultural Borrowing and the Afro-Euro-American
Triangle by Brenda Dixon Gottschild
Week 7
CRITICAL REVIEW DUE
Warm-up
African and Caribbean Dance Movements and Songs
Video/Discussions
Readings:
Culture, Art and Dance by Marcea T. Daiter
African Influences in Brazilian Dance by Myriam Evelyse Mariani
Program Notes. Bale Folclorico Da Bahia/World Music Institute: City Center
Bahia Makes Room For A Candomble Pantheon by Jon Pareles.
Capoeira by Cornell Coley.
Program Notes. Carnival Music and Dance of Ban Rarra/World Music Institute:
Symphony Space, 2001.
Week 8
Warm-up
African and Caribbean Dance Movements and Songs
Video/Discussion
Research and Criticism
Readings:
Anthropology and Dance by Joyce Aschenbrenner
Culture, Art and Dance by Marcea T. Daiter
Kykunkor, of the Witch Woman: An African Opera in America by Maureen
Needham.
Week 9
Warm-up
African and Caribbean Dance Movements and Songs
Video/Discussions
Research and Criticism
Readings:
Haitian Vodou Ritual Dance and Its Secularization by Dr. Henry Frank
Spirit Unbound by Lois E. Wilcken
Week 10
Warm-up
African and Caribbean Dance Movements and Songs
Video/Discussions
Research and Criticism
Week 11
Warm-up
African and Caribbean Dance Movements and Songs
Video/Discussions
Week 12
RESEARCH PAPER DUE
Warm-up/Review
Week 13:
Warm-up/Review
Week 14
Warm-up/Bembe
Note: Readings/Video schedule subject to change