THDA 245 - Performance Methods: Shakespeare to Butoh

This course is an experiential survey of influential performance histories, practitioners and methods, 1600-present. Through readings in performance history and theory, students will investigate the social forces and performance lineages that have shaped contemporary embodied performance on the spectrum from acting to dancing. Material covered may include: Shakespeare in performance; commedia dell’arte’s contemporary clown forms; court dance; classical Indian dance forms; Stanislavski’s “magic if,” contemporary Japanese butoh. In a weekly intensive lab component, students will learn the specific techniques developed by these practitioners and genres, taught by guest specialists in rotation with the course professor. How these forms get passed on, through embodied transmission, documentation and pedagogies will be a focus of the course. Final projects will culminate in an open community workshop of exercises and techniques, taught by the students in the course. Required for Theater and Dance majors. Prerequisite(s): Preference given to Theater and Dance major and/or minors. (4 Credits)