2019-2020 Undergraduate Catalog 
    
    Mar 29, 2024  
2019-2020 Undergraduate Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

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DAN 3140 - African/Caribbean Dance & Culture


Credit(s): 3

The dances of Africa and the Afro-Caribbean Islands share components true of all dance forms which arise out of polytheistic cultures; they celebrate and acknowledge the complexity of the human psyche and of the forces of nature and also through the human form. Many of these dances are practiced as part of religious celebration and ritual; others are secular. Our exploration of these dances is through the lens of a living mythological system. We delve briefly into the realm of Carl Jung’s collective unconscious and the phenomenon of archetypes, then look at how these archetypes are expressed in mythology, particularly as studied by Joseph Campbell. We then examine myths and archetypes embodied by the dances and experience the actual rhythms and dances, with live drumming accompaniment. Readings by Africans, Afro-Caribbean and Westerners, and films portraying the great diversity within this dance form, deepen our understanding and experience.

Offering Location: Johnson Campus



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