Simon Fraser University
Engaging the World

Course Outlines

Fall 2024 - CA 324 D100

Approaches to Composition (3)

Class Number: 5385

Delivery Method: In Person

Overview

  • Course Times + Location:

    Sep 4 – Oct 11, 2024: Tue, Thu, 2:30–5:20 p.m.
    GOLDCORP

    Oct 16 – Dec 3, 2024: Tue, Thu, 2:30–5:20 p.m.
    GOLDCORP

  • Prerequisites:

    CA (or FPA) 124, 228W, and 285.

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

Focused on learning different movement based compositional methods used to make new work. Students will apply new compositional ideas, expanding and setting material in space and working with different approaches of music, light and sound. Students will work with peers from production and design and other areas to create specific projects. Students with credit for FPA 324 may not take this course for further credit. Quantitative.

COURSE DETAILS:

In this course students will be introduced to compositional methods drawn from multiple art practices to devise choreography and time-based work that engages embodied practice. Working with expanded notions of dance and choreography, this course invites students to work with tools associated with western contemporary dance making (improvisation, movement generation modalities, score-writing, narratives, sound, lighting) and engage with time-based compositional forms found in vernacular dance, visual art, performance, pop culture, digital art, and sound. Students will work individually and collaboratively to consider the relationship between how the conditions of working affect what is made.

COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

Students will be tasked with weekly assignments to compose projects through:
a) Creating structure through conceptual frameworks.
b) The consideration of rhythm within movement, among bodies, and throughout a work.
c) (Re)-(de)constructing existing compositional forms and choreographic devices.
d) Re-conceiving compositional tools employed by other art forms.
e) Working with multiple temporal considerations including: long and fleeting durations, the fourth dimension imaginary, landbased time, (consumer) time thresholds with social media.
f) Site specific composition and relational scoring.
g) Movement generation modalities including: task-based improvisation, transposition, exquisite corpse, reactivating the archive, typologies and repetition.
h) The choreographic/compositional potential of the inanimate and “object hood”

Grading

  • Participation: Attendance, practical integration of concepts proposed in the class, engagement with working process and practices, participation in group discussions, completion of assignments and readings, generosity, and collaborative spirit. 20%
  • Weekly assignments 40%
  • Readings & Written Assignments 15%
  • Final Project 25%

NOTES:

Students are expected to:

  • Arrive on time for scheduled classes and any group work outside of class. Absence and tardiness will adversely affect the final grade.
  • Notify the instructor in advance of all absences by email. Arriving to class late 3 times equals one absence. 2% of the final grade is reduced for every absence.
  • Complete assignments on time.
  • Participate in group discussions and presentations.
  • Hold each other accountable in the studio to appropriate behaviour.
  • Work with curiosity and care for themselves and their cohort.
  • Nurture an interest in the unknown and the unformed.
  • Cultivate rigour and attention to the specificity of movement and qualitative shifts in sensation.
  • Engage in deep listening, while also developing a practice of verbally articulating the work at hand.
  • Question, receive and integrate feedback into your practice.
  • Participate in the on-going development of a community agreement.

Materials

MATERIALS + SUPPLIES:

  • Appropriate studio clothing
  • A notebook / journal specifically for the class

REQUIRED READING NOTES:

Your personalized Course Material list, including digital and physical textbooks, are available through the SFU Bookstore website by simply entering your Computing ID at: shop.sfu.ca/course-materials/my-personalized-course-materials.

Registrar Notes:

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS

SFU’s Academic Integrity website 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

RELIGIOUS ACCOMMODATION

Students with a faith background who may need accommodations during the term are encouraged to assess their needs as soon as possible and review the Multifaith religious accommodations website. The page outlines ways they begin working toward an accommodation and ensure solutions can be reached in a timely fashion.