AAST 276 - Advanced Intro to Africana Dance and Choreographic Practices

FC ARHU CD PRAX

4 credits
This course centers technical training in Africana movement languages through the Talawa Technique(TM), focusing on isolation, groundedness, and polyrhythmic control. Students will refine coordination, timing, and spatial awareness using drills and phrasework rooted in African kinetic systems. From this base, we explore how drummed movement vocabulary informs forms such as Afrobeat, Rumba, Samba, Dancehall, and Hip Hop. Emphasis is placed on groove retention, rhythmic layering, and kinetic clarity. Designed for movers seeking physical rigor and embodied depth, the course builds fluency in polycentric motion and the structural intelligence that underpins African and African Diasporic dance traditions. Can be repeated once for credit.

This course is appropriate for new students.
This course is cross-listed with DANC-276