Theater and Dance 233: Ballet Lecture: Sex, Power, and National Projects

This one-credit companion lecture course for ballet practicums approaches ballet history with particular attention to the ways national, class, race, gender, and sexuality politics have informed theatrical representations and aesthetics over time. We will view and examine Romantic and Classical story-ballets such as Giselle and Swan Lake, the radical modernism of Ballet Russes, the neo-classical Americanism of George Balanchine, and Cold War diplomacy via ballet. We will then consider the ways that ballet ideologies and institutional practices have been reinforced and challenged. This course meets for 50 minutes, one time a week. This course is taken concurrently with a two-credit ballet practicum.