Module Code - Title:
MD6402
-
CONTEXTUALISING DANCE PERFORMANCE
Year Last Offered:
2025/6
Hours Per Week:
Grading Type:
N
Prerequisite Modules:
Rationale and Purpose of the Module:
This module will introduce students to a range of dance forms through an exploration of performance examples within current cultural contexts and by linking them to their genealogical roots. Drawing on the various analytical lenses covered in semester 1, students will be given an overview of the dance performance field and the socio-political, philosophical and artistic questions that dance performance can address. Covering a broad range of dance forms, students will have the opportunity to undertake a case study into a specific area of dance practice to deepen their engagement with an area of specialist interest. In each case, these will be framed through the wider perspectives offered through the module. Embracing the principles of arts practice, students will be given the opportunity to engage with practical dance sessions, where relevant, to augment this learning and to address questions through the frame of embodiment.
Syllabus:
This module aims to develop knowledge of social and historical influences in the development of dance performance to the current day and to explore how contemporary performance intersects with traditional forms and approaches. The module also aims to raise awareness of the social construction of dance knowledge, dance practices and their historical contexts and a critical approach to source material. The module will explore a range of dance forms, from Contemporary, Ballet, Irish Traditional Dance and Hip Hop among others, to explore how they are currently represented within contemporary performance and hybrid expressions. The module will develop students' independent research, library research/source location skills and critical thinking.
Learning Outcomes:
Cognitive (Knowledge, Understanding, Application, Analysis, Evaluation, Synthesis)
On successful completion of this module, students will be able to: Outline the main historical developments in traditional and contemporary performance dance practices. Describe the development of historical approaches to various dance performance genres. Recognise the interplay of dance, aesthetic and society. Relate dance performance practices in a wider cultural context. Identify the major choreographic movements and discuss key dance works and their stylistic and cultural context within specific dance forms.
Affective (Attitudes and Values)
On successful completion of this module, students will be able to: Demonstrate an engagement with aesthetics of various dance performance practices. Synthesise multiple approaches to dance studies from a number of other academic perspectives. Critically engage with the relationships between dance performance and other art forms
Psychomotor (Physical Skills)
On successful completion of this module, students will be able to: Display an embodied understanding of various approaches to dance performance practice.
How the Module will be Taught and what will be the Learning Experiences of the Students:
This module will be taught through a mixture of lectures, tutorials and performance based laboratories. It will have traditional academic outcomes supplemented by an arts practice approach, giving the subject area an embodied relevance. As such this module has UL graduate attributes at its core, focusing on knowledge based outputs supplemented with a embodied experience rooted in collaborative creative practice. Students will be able to articulate their understanding of dance performance practices in a culturally engaged and responsible manner.
Research Findings Incorporated in to the Syllabus (If Relevant):
Prime Texts:
Farrugia-Kriel,K.& Nunes Jensen, J. eds (2021)
The Oxford Handbook of Contemporary Ballet
, Oxford University Press
O Connor, B. (2013)
The Irish Dancing: Cultural Politics and Identities 1900-2000
, Cork University Press
Foley,C.E. (2013)
Step dancing in Ireland
, Ashgate
Roche,J.& Burridge, S. (2022)
Choreography: The Basics
, Taylor and Francis
Other Relevant Texts:
Butterworth,J. & Wildschut, L. (2018)
Contemporary Choreography: A Critical Reader
, Routledge
Programme(s) in which this Module is Offered:
MAIDSTTFA - IRISH DANCE STUDIES
Semester(s) Module is Offered:
Spring
Module Leader:
orfhlaith.nibhriain@ul.ie