Simon Fraser University
Engaging the World

Course Outlines

Spring 2022 - CA 251 D100

Acting IV: Text as Action (3)

Class Number: 7680

Delivery Method: In Person

Overview

  • Course Times + Location:

    Jan 10 – Apr 11, 2022: Tue, Thu, 11:30 a.m.–2:20 p.m.
    GOLDCORP

  • Prerequisites:

    CA (or FPA) 250 and 254. Corequisite: CA (or FPA) 255.

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

The fourth Performance acting course. Work focuses on various forms of action developed through an expanded notion of text. Students with credit for FPA 251 may not take this course for further credit.

COURSE DETAILS:

A lower division studio course [Environment track]. CA 251 is an invitation to come into critical relationship with what has been choreographed around us in relationship to architecture, urban planning, topography and governance, and in turn what has been choreographed within us throughout individual and shared histories, cultures and the many spoken and unspoken social codes of conduct. This course explores the various bodily orientations and unconscious physical engagements cultivated by the built and social structures that shape our quotidian spaces. Students will observe and engage with the social choreographies of the everyday considering the ways we travel through public spaces together, how we individually and collectively cede or take space, and the relationship between population density and time of day. In the devising processes in this class students will create both invisible and visible performance in the public realm and write shareable performance scores concerned with the movement of the city.

The course work includes:
Development of a co-authored community agreement
Readings and response writing
Score devising assignments
Final project
-Writing:an initial project proposal and a text to accompany completed project
-The development of 2 iterations of the work
-Final presentation of the project

COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

Each student is encouraged to:
-work with curiosity and care for themselves and their cohort
-nurture an interest in the unknown and the unformed
-cultivate rigour and attention to embodied action
-arrive with a willingness to maintain a consistent presence in the space
-engage in deep listening, while also developing a practice of verbally articulating the work at hand -question, receive and integrate feedback into your practice
-work simultaneously to make space and take space
-use your experience and knowledge of your discipline but not be limited by it - be willing to expand the scope of what that can be.

Grading

  • Participation/practical integration of concepts proposed in the class, engagement with working process and practices 30%
  • Writing assignments 20%
  • Score devising assignments 20%
  • Final project 30%

Materials

RECOMMENDED READING:

  • Book of Recommendations, Michael Klien, Steve Valk and Michael Gormley
  • Moving together, 22 Ways - Justine A. Chambers, Alana Gerecke
  • Sidewalk Choreographies - The Politics of Moving Along in Battery Opera’s Lives
  • Were Around Me, Alan Gerecke Choreopolice and Choreopolitics, Andre Lepecki

Registrar Notes:

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS

SFU’s Academic Integrity web site http://www.sfu.ca/students/academicintegrity.html is filled with information on what is meant by academic dishonesty, where you can find resources to help with your studies and the consequences of cheating.  Check out the site for more information and videos that help explain the issues in plain English.

Each student is responsible for his or her conduct as it affects the University community.  Academic dishonesty, in whatever form, is ultimately destructive of the values of the University. Furthermore, it is unfair and discouraging to the majority of students who pursue their studies honestly. Scholarly integrity is required of all members of the University. http://www.sfu.ca/policies/gazette/student/s10-01.html

TEACHING AT SFU IN SPRING 2022

Teaching at SFU in spring 2022 will involve primarily in-person instruction, with safety plans in place.  Some courses will still be offered through remote methods, and if so, this will be clearly identified in the schedule of classes.  You will also know at enrollment whether remote course components will be “live” (synchronous) or at your own pace (asynchronous).

Enrolling in a course acknowledges that you are able to attend in whatever format is required.  You should not enroll in a course that is in-person if you are not able to return to campus, and should be aware that remote study may entail different modes of learning, interaction with your instructor, and ways of getting feedback on your work than may be the case for in-person classes.

Students with hidden or visible disabilities who may need class or exam accommodations, including in the context of remote learning, are advised to register with the SFU Centre for Accessible Learning (caladmin@sfu.ca or 778-782-3112) as early as possible in order to prepare for the spring 2022 term.