ANTH 210 - Music Theater in World Cultures

Institution:

Williams College

Subject:

Anthropology

Description:

Although the term "music theater" came to prominence in the twentieth-century, expressive forms that synthesize the verbal, plastic, kinesthetic and illusionary arts have existed since antiquity. This is true across cultures worldwide. From Africa to the Americas, Europe, Asia and the Middle East, music, narrative, masquerading, puppetry, costuming, dance and, more recently, electronic media have been integrated in unique ways, giving humankind a crucial apparatus for ritual enactment, religious expression, moral instruction, entertainment and activism. This course surveys a select range of musical-theatrical traditions, including ancient Greek drama, Indian Sanskrit plays, Beijing opera, Japanese Noh theater, Yoruba alarinjo theater, Bollywood and Broadway musicals. We will investigate the role of music theater in society, giving attention to the historical, economic and political contexts that have fostered distinctive genre manifestations. As an EDI course, the overarching aims of the class will be to explore the relationship between ideology and aesthetics, and the role of performance in constructing representations of self and other.

Credits:

3.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Seminar

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.williams.edu

Phone Number:

(413) 597-3131

Regional Accreditation:

New England Association of Schools and Colleges

Calendar System:

Four-one-four plan

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