1 Music for Dancers Sample Course Syllabus Developed by Andy Miller
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Music for Dancers Sample Course Syllabus Developed by Andy Miller Course Description: This course is designed to introduce dance students to the elements of music that most closely relate to dance practice through the study of music theory, history, and compositional approaches. Through this study, students will explore: musical form in relation to dance, diverse musical styles including Western and Non-western cultural practices, the affect of musical style on dance movement, contextual and critical perspectives in relation to musical style, and awareness of musicality in dance practice. Organized in three Units, the course introduces dancers to the fundamentals of music (rhythm, harmony, and melody) to equip them with a working musical vocabulary, surveys the history of Western music (medieval to 19th century), and critically engages with contemporary, folk, popular, and Non-western music performance and compositional practice in relation to collaboration with modern dance choreography. Students will listen to a lot of music, journal about their learning process in relation to course lectures and reading, evince their learning through quizzes, and work creatively on choreographic studies based on the musical genres and theories studied in class. Course Objectives: This course will serve to educate modern dance students in the basics of theoretical music analysis as it applies to the dance discipline. o Expand the awareness of musicality and create a richer and more vital relationship to music when dancing. o Acquire knowledge and a working vocabulary of musical elements. o Acquire a basic understanding of music theory, particularly rhythmic motives and key structure. o Expand awareness of the aural characteristics and cultural construction of a variety of musical styles. Specifically Western music (Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, 20th Century, Jazz, etc.) and popular and folkloric styles from world cultures. o Acquire historical context and critical perspective on historical and present day popular and folkloric styles from diverse world cultures. o Recognize and employ a spectrum of approaches to the design and analysis of music/dance relationships through looking at important and influential collaborations between choreographers and musicians, both historical and contemporary. o Explore the formal processes of musical composition and apply these concepts to dance. 1 o Learn the music styles frequently used in modern dance: impressionist, expressionist, atonal, serial, electronic, minimalist, non-western (“world” or “Ethnic”), folk, jazz, and popular styles. Learning Outcomes: o Correctly identify both complex and simple meters, musical phrasing, and overall form for any given piece of music. o The ability to describe, using appropriate terms, the style, time period, instrumentation, and composer for a given work. o Select music (for dance) with an awareness of the historical and cultural connotations delivered by the music of different styles. o Identify the qualities and social dynamics of Participatory and Presentational music traditions. o Identify and describe important features of the formal organization of pieces of music from a variety of historical and stylistic sources. o Apply several models of the interaction of music and dance in choreographing and in appraising choreography to music. o Know the use of musical concepts and terminology and how they might affect movement. (ex. Legato, marcato, detache, cresendo, etc.). o Identify (aurally) forms of melodic and harmonic sonorities and specific emotions that each might suggest. Course Texts/Materials: Teck, Katherine, ed. Making Music for Modern Dance: Collaboration in the Formative Years of a New American Art. New York: Oxford University Press, 2011. Ross, Alex. The Rest is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century. New York: Picador, 2007. Turino, Thomas. Music as Social Life: The Politics of Participation. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2008. Other course readings, audio, and video files will be provided electronically at: (TBD University Online Course Management Site) A few resources for listening, journal assignments, music searches for choreography, and simple enjoyment can be found at: • New Sounds WNYC - http://www.wnyc.org/shows/newsounds/ • Smithsonian Folkways - http://folkways.si.edu/ • Norton Anthology of Western Music (TBD access through university library) 2 Class Policies: Attendance and Participation Students are expected to actively participate in all class exercises and discussions and should be able to demonstrate their understanding of class readings. Participation is dependent on attendance. Three unexcused absences are allowed without penalty. Every unexcused absence after two will result in a letter grade deduction. Excused absences include medical emergency, family emergency (such as a death in the family), university- sanctioned events, or professional development opportunities (with advanced notification). All excused absences are at the instructor’s discretion. If you have a legitimate conflict with a class meeting or exam, please see me as soon as possible. Tips/rules • If you miss class, it is your responsibility to find out what you missed from classmates and make up material and/or submit assignments on time. Quiz questions will be drawn from the readings and class notes. • If you miss class or if you are late, it is your responsibility to inform the teacher. • Please be on time and participate actively in class; take part in the class discussion and refrain from private conversations. • Please turn off cell phones, beepers, and other such devices at the start of class. If you need such devices for personal obligations, please inform the instructor in advance and put these items on vibrate. • Laptops may be used in class for note taking only. You may not use laptops during class for emailing, instant messaging, or the like, or surfing the web. Failure to comply with this rule will result in not being allowed to use a laptop. • Eating in class is prohibited. Academic Integrity Please see the Code of Student rights, Responsibilities, and Conduct <insert link to university policy here> for full expectations concerning academic integrity and student conduct. Lectures I approach lectures as being as much discussion as exposition. They are meant to expand on and ask critical questions of the assigned readings and listening assignments. Every student has something valuable to contribute to our collective learning (myself included), and lectures are the time to ask questions and offer informed opinions about the readings and the music you have listened to. Journal Entries Students will keep a journal during the course of the semester to document: 1) the learning process, 2) important concepts and thoughts from class readings, and 3) creative exercises and processes explored in class. Students will turn in these journals three times during the semester (at the end of each unit) to allow the instructor the opportunity to give evaluative feedback and make adjustments to meet the classes learning needs. Journals should be 3 typed, but there are no style or length requirements. Entries should evince thoughtfulness on the class readings, lectures, listening, and exercises and connect these ideas to their larger artistic practice and goals. Tip: • The Journal is more for you than for me. • You never know when you may be called on to use this material, as a teacher or as a student in another class. I hope this will become an excellent reference document and a useful creative tool for working through your own artistic concepts Performance Reviews You are required to attend three of the following dance events: <Insert Semester Performances Here> For each performance, write a brief (1-2 pages) description/analysis of how the choreographer used music and critique the effect of the music in collaboration with the choreography. Try to incorporate and interact with ideas and concepts from our class readings in your analysis. The paper is due at the first class meeting after the performance you attend. Quizzes Three quizzes will be administered throughout the semester, at the end of each of the three units of the course. Each quiz will consist of short answer questions, listening identification, and a short essay related to the class readings. Quizzes are open note, but you are expected to take the quiz alone and do your own work. (See academic integrity and code of ethics.) Choreographic Studies Students will work to create short choreographies based on musical elements and styles studied throughout the course, incorporating a variety of approaches: Study #1: Meter and Rhythm Students will individually choreograph a 60-second piece that explores the rhythmic concepts covered in class. This should be choreographed to an excerpt of music that prominently features rhythm. (Suggested music TBD). Study #2: Applying compositional approaches to choreography In small groups (3), students will choose one stylistic period of Western music and create a 60-second choreography based on the compositional strategies/concepts of the time period. For example: The repeating processes of color and talea used in medieval isorhythmic motets could be applied to the choreographic process. 4 Study #3: Selecting music for choreography In groups (4-5), students will collaboratively choreograph a three-minute work. Students will then apply their knowledge of musical styles as wells as concepts and theories about music selection to choose appropriate