By Reginald Bowens, Marketing Assistant for Summer@Eastman
Pictured: Ballets Russes production of Darius Milhaud’s Le Train Bleu from June 20, 1924 at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris. Stage design: Pablo Picasso and Henri Laurens. Costumes: Coco Chanel. Choreography: Bronislava Nijinska. (Image from Library of Congress)
Hello, Friends!
As we prepare for Summer Session 2024, I had the privilege of speaking with Dr. Anthony LaLena about his upcoming Summer@Eastman online course, Music and Movement! Here’s what he had to say:
Anthony LaLena. Photo credit: Austin Wahl.
What are you looking forward to in your Music and Movement course?
Watching amazing theatrical productions with students. I’m looking forward to ideas they have about how music and movement mutually influence each other, how we might embody movement and sound, or what thoughts they might have about that, and just exploring the rich repertoire of music and dance across genres in 20th and 21st centuries.
What kind of genres will be explored?
We’ll start with some Ballets Russes (the early 20th century). Then we’ll look at ballet in America. Following that, we’ll look at jazz dance, so we’re talking swing dance and the Lindy hop. We’ll talk about performances that made it to TV, like Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers’ tap dancing, and then all sorts of post-World War II dance, whether avant-garde (like John Cage, Merce Cunningham, and Martha Graham), classical American ballet, or other popular dance trends. As long as it’s a spectacle made to be more or less theatrical on stage, we’ll take a look at it. [Sarcastically] I think we might cap the class with Beyoncé in the Super Bowl or something.
Do students need to prepare anything in advance, or should they have any type of experiences that would help them prepare for the course?
No, not necessarily. Assuming all students taking this course will be doctoral students (unless granted permission from me–I’ve had a couple master’s students before), I think they will have enough background in score reading and know enough to succeed in the class.
Will there be a dance component where students have to physically move?
Not officially. We won’t be dancing in class, although I’ll leave it open-ended for final projects!
Speaking of which, what is the final project or culminating activity?
Well, it depends on the student. I want to work with students to craft a project that makes sense to them. So, depending on the student body, I can always change what the final project would look like. With doctoral students, the sort of standard research paper is always a viable option. Although if you are a doctoral student in education, perhaps, you might have the option between a traditional research paper or something that might be useful to you, like lesson planning, or something like that. I did that with master’s students last year. Performance majors? Performance components are definitely possible, such as mini lecture recitals, a research paper, or a conference presentation-style paper. It really depends on what the student is looking for, professionally.
How did you get involved or become interested in this world of music, movement, and dance?
Well, I wouldn’t call myself a dancer, but I’ve always really liked the collaboration of music and dance. I started playing rock, pop, jazz, and other musical styles, and working my way into classical music. One of my first historical interests was music and culture of the early 20th century, like this sort of avant-garde terrace, and the ballet was a big part of that. I was drawn to that, historically and artistically, as someone who’s always been interested in these sort of dance spectacles. So, my interest in music and movement really stems from the Ballets Russes, which is not all that surprising. Oddly enough, I took a Eurhythmics class as an undergrad. It was awesome, and the Ballets Russes were also very interested in Eurhythmics for a certain period. So, music and movement, broadly speaking, stems from that Eurythmics class I took.
Is Eurhythmics related to Dalcroze?
Oh, yes! It’s Dalcroze’s method. It’s very cool. I think taking the Eurythmics class made me a better musician and it got me interested in how we feel phrase structures and interpret music a little differently. Historically, Dalcroze is such a fascinating figure as well. I find it interesting where he’s coming from, in terms of exercise movements of the early 20th century, and how he relates dance and composition. So, my personal interest is for music and movement from the 1910’s and ‘20’s but it goes more broadly. I mean, I’m obsessed with Prince and his music! And that’ll probably be a pretty heavy part in terms of my personal academic interests, I think.
I see your class is offered online. Are there any opening assignments, VoiceThread introductions, or is it synchronous?
I think it’s important that the course be synchronous. We’ll do introductions, of course. You know, maybe some initial reflections on what movement might mean in music, from dance to Eurhythmics and back or somewhere else. We’ll see!
Is there anything else you would like to share that might be useful for someone who’s interested in the class, or on the fence about signing up?
I know I said before that it will be a cross-genre class. So, to someone thinking that this is a ballet class, I would say: “Well, not really.” And, to someone thinking that this is a class about popular dance, I would say: “Well, not really” [chuckle]. I’d like to stress that we’ll look at avant-garde dance, popular dance, ballet, jazz; in other words, different ways in which we can move to music.
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MHS 594 Music and Movement – ONLINE runs June 25-August 1, 2024. Visit the course web page for more information.