Dance has long been considered the poor relative of its sister arts with dancing on the screen seen as even more frivolous than dancing on Broadway. Yet the history of cinema coincides with that of 20th century dance. As film developed as an art form, it intersected with dance to create a new phenomenon—film dance, created expressly with cinematography, framing and editing in mind. We will examine musicals and movies to analyze this subgenre’s conventions as well as dancers’ obsessions with body perfection. In addition, we will also cover a variety of themes: the making of the couple through dance, a satire on Hollywood’s first sound movies, the history of black dance, an autobiography with a nod to Fellini, and, finally, the life (and death) of ballerinas.
This course is offered with the generous support of the Association for Continuing Education.