July 2010 – The Montclair State University Dance Division is featured in the July issue of Dance Magazine in an article entitled Across the Floor: Talking About Race at MSU. The article centers on the Dance Division’s recent yearlong exploration of African-American choreography in the world of dance. The question explored was “What is African-American choreography?” The answer came in the form of panel discussions with several luminaries of dance; performances of seminal works from renowned choreographers and the creation of a new way of looking at dance called Danceaturgy created by Dr. Neil Baldwin.
“The original question is essentially unanswerable but it became the stimulus for other conversations and explorations”, said Baldwin about his experience with this year’s topic. Danceaturgy allowed the students the opportunity to draw from their personal experiences and dig deeper into themselves to create a more personal and meaningful experience.
From an academic perspective, Prof. Lori Katterhenry did not want to conform to what is normally a neatly packaged segment on African-American concert dance in many dance history classes. Instead, Katterhenry answered the need to go further with this topic while not isolating the African-American experience out of context. Through danceaturgy and her skillful emphasis on cultural relevance, Katterhenry was able to deepen the knowledge of her students and help them connect.
Click here to download the article from Dance Magazine. (note: scroll down to "Across the Floor: Talking About Race at MSU")
To learn more about danceaturgy and the experiences of participating students, click here.