Sankofa & memoria: Archiving - Finding your history in order to go forward
Course Description
Summary
In this course, we will be uncovering, re-positioning, and affirming historical legacies and traditions that stand the risk of being lost forever, and explore how to use them to fight discrimination, racism and hate today. We will do so using Sankofa, a quest for knowledge through critical examination, patient investigation, and learning from the past and Memoria, a process of knowing the past that helps us to think critically about our history and which were the forces that triggered war, racism, apartheid, civil war, dictatorship or political oppression.
Using these two traditions, one coming from Africa and the other one from Latin America, we will focus on how specific dance practices intersect with systems of race, ethnicity, and national identity. We will see how African Dance and American Black Modern Dance are deeply connected. We will focus further on how dance expresses and intervenes in systems of power and oppression, including nation, race, gender, and class. We will explore how globalization across geographic, political, commercial, and digital domains has shaped the evolution of dance practice, performance, and community.
We will explore what is our cultural, historical and group responsibility,
- in the sense of belonging to a group that was responsible for colonization and oppression
- in the sense of belonging to a group that was colonized and oppressed with the aid of people from the same group
How much of that (colonization/oppression) is still happening?
What can you do personally?
What can you do as a member of a group?
Prerequisites
To apply for this course, you must be student from the second year forward
please prepare the following materials and submit them to kaolackndiaye@bennington.edu , and andreagalindo@bennington.edu by May 14 for priority consideration:
Submit a letter articulating your previous experience with performance. Here are a few points to consider including in your letter:
- A brief description of any dance or movement training you have received.
- Any public action studies or human rights projects you have been involved in, including the roles you played and your contributions.
- Your personal interest in this course and what you hope to gain from it. How do you envision enhancing your performance skills through this program?
If you have any questions or require further assistance with your application materials, please feel free to reach out. I look forward to seeing your creative expressions and your application!
Cross List
- Advancement of Public Action
- Art History
- Black Studies
- Peace Studies
- Society, Culture, & Thought