CLUBBING 2020

About





The Fall 2020 Graduate Topics in Performance Studies course is “Clubbing” and explores topics such as queer nightlife, subcultural community-building, dance music and movement, collective effervescence, intoxication, and traditions and cultures such as the rave, the cipher, the ballroom, and the dancehall. We read and generate theory and practice at the intersection of performance theory, dance studies, queer theory, anthropology, and critical race studies in a global context. In addition to sharing practices, conducting fieldwork, and writing, we will explore artistic works that draw from experiences of the club. We interface with guest speakers and read creative and scholarly work about clubbing.

Given the current cultural moment in which this course takes place, students ask and archive, what is “clubbing” during COVID. At least once during the semester, students found, documented, and archived an example of clubbing-during-COVID, which can amount to anything from a recurring DJ set on Instagram Live, a dance event at an LA parking lot, a Zoom party, a collective sonic experiment, or more! Together students have compiled the COVID CLUBBING ARCHIVE.



This website features work by MA & MFA students at the California Institute of the Arts, created for the course DAIC-510A-01R "CLUBBING" Graduate Topics in Performance Studies, Fall 2020, taught by Ariel Osterweis, PhD, faculty for The Sharon Disney Lund School of Dance. Website by A.C. Smith.