Introduction to the Study of Dance Scholarship 1

Subject guarantor:

Dorota GREMLICOVÁ

Name of lecturer(s):

Dorota GREMLICOVÁ

Learning outcomes of the course unit:

The aim of the course is to create a basic overview of the subject, historical development, research topics and starting points for dance research, its institutional foundation in the world and the Czech Republic, the main figures in the field and in literature.

Mode of study:

Presentation, discussion, text analyses.

Prerequisites and co-requisites:

No requirements. A good bearing in dance and its contemporary situation in the world and the Czech Republic.

Recommended optional programme components:

No elective requirements.

Course contents:

The presentation contians the detailled characteristics of dance research as s particular arts-research discipline with a special collection of source material, complex issues in its availability and corresponding value, special list of research questions and research methods. The existing dance research institutions in the Czech Republic and abroad are reviewed, the main sources of information, areas of currently and frequently dealt with topics. The presentation further summarizes the characteristics of individual subdisciplines in dance research, their particular topics and methods. An important part of the presentation covers the development of theory reviews of dance in European culture, changes in ideological discussion linked to dance which is demonstrated in some dance manifestations and their period interpretation (dance as a part of the design of a hall, discussions of waltzes, the role of dance in the evolution of humankind, dance as a theatre art at the turn of the 19th to 20th century, etc.). This presentation should create an idea of the forming of the social value of dance in the European context and the place defined by dance in European culture.

Recommended or required reading:

Boas, Franziska ed.: The Function of Dance in Human Society, New York 1972.

Castiglione, Baldassare: Dvořan, Praha 1978.

Copeland, Roger; Cohen, Marshall eds.: What is Dance?, Oxford University Press 1983.

Gremlicová, Dorota: Alfred Waldau. K dějinám českých dějin tance. In Historické studium tance v českém prostředí, Praha 2002.

Hanna, Judith Lynne: Is Dance Music - Resemblances and Relationship. In The World of Music (Journal of the International Institute for Comparative Music Studies and Documantation), Vol. 24, 1982, s. 57-71.

Mauss, Marcel: Les Techniques du Corps. In Journal de Psychologie, 32, 1935, č. 3-4, s. 271-293.

Spencer, Herbert: Essays: Scientific, Political and Speculative, I, II, London 1901.

Waldau, Alfred: Geschichte des böhmischen Nationaltanzes, Prag 1861.

Planned learning activities and teaching methods:

Lecture

Assessment methods and criteria:

Credit is awarded based on:

participation in lectures

assigned readings

During the semester independent readings and participation in lectures (discussions) are required. The overall grading is comprised of these elements.

The conditions for successfull completion of the course: independent study of texts and participation in lectures.

Course web page:

Note:

none

Schedule for winter semester 2012/2013:

The schedule has not yet been prepared

Schedule for summer semester 2012/2013:

The schedule has not yet been prepared

The subject is a part of the following study plans:

• Obor Taneční věda (Bc) (compulsory subject of the main qualification)