MUS 276 Engaging the Culture: Performing Arts and Society
Performing Arts are a mirror of the culture and the culture mirrors performing arts. In this course, students will examine art forms that use performance as their vehicle for full creative realization. Historic and modern performance works will be studied in relation to the society in which they were produced. Focus will be given to studying the rich and varied Italian performing arts, which originated from artistic and intellectual movements of the 16th century to present day. Explorations will include attendance at performances in some of Rome's performing art centers and musical venues, along with visits to museums. We will look at traditional and non-traditional thought relating to the performing arts, giving attention to artistic objectiveness, aesthetic consideration, and critical evaluation of elements that define "interpretation." Topics for discussion will include: performing arts among the many paradoxes of our historic and modern world; the role of performing arts as an often unnoticed backdrop to human activity; commonalities of the various genres (music, dance, theatre, opera, film, performance art); the Catholic Church as patron to the performing arts; the relationship and interaction between artist, artwork, and audience; 21st-century mass distribution of the performing arts and its growing diversity of choices for consumers.