Course Description
Summary
Music composition for dance takes a retrospective look at seminal twentieth-century compositions composed for dance. Composers such as Debussy, Ravel, Stravinsky, Ellington, Cage, and Copland revolutionized musical form, tonality, and rhythm, creating landmark compositions for iconic dance companies and choreographers, such as the Ballets Russes, Martha Graham, Katherine Dunham, Alvin Ailey, Joffrey Ballet and George Balanchine to name a few. We will examine these collaborations, and others in hope of revealing a deeper understanding of their work. Classroom work consist of researching dance and composition terminology, viewing and analyzing musical scores, viewing choreography on film, in the studio and onstage, weekly biographical readings, and projects consisting of composing a work in collaboration with a choreographer or composer to be presented in music workshop, in the dance studio or Deane Carriage Barn.
