The introductory course is aimed at breaking down divisions that separate dance from the wider academic sphere. It focuses on dance as a practice within the larger rubric of cultural and artistic production, as a medium that can be used to represent wider cultural practices, and as a means toward reconnecting with our bodies. In the Intro. She described learning various dance styles or techniques, such as modern or jazz, as a process similar to that of learning various languages. Dance 111 focuses not on achieving technical skills but on learning how to transform the body into a vehicle of expression, Dragon said.
Students learn how to make their bodies capable of expressing the various languages of dance.
Through observation, self reflection, readings, discussions and problem solving students learn to access a kinesthetic knowledge in order to create a language through movement. Our soft tissues contain our memories. Her students expressed similar feelings. About 60 percent of what we say to each other as people is non-verbal. At the beginning of the semester, the students in both classes were divided into small groups of around six or seven people.