THEA 009D. East Asian Performing Arts on the Intercultural Stage

DANC 019
In the wake of American anti-Chinese sentiment surrounding the COVID-19 global pandemic as well as political turmoil in Hong Kong and Taiwan, it is important to ask: What does “Chinese” signify? The label of Chinese has often been ascribed to bodily features and behaviors as grounds for social exclusion or inclusion, both in the US and in Asia. This course considers embodied Chinese performance from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Asian America in order to examine plural notions of Chineseness. As a hybrid course, taught in the seminar room and the dance studio, students will learn Chinese classical dance, Han folk dance, ethnic minority folk dance, and martial arts forms. As we explore the fundamental movements of these forms, we will also investigate the role they have played in China’s nation-building projects and have functioned in diaspora to create feelings of community belonging. Moreover, we will consider how these symbols of Chineseness get produced and consumed in global markets. In addition, reading analyses of historical Yellow Face performance and viewing videos of Asian American performances-ranging from Vaudeville, to Broadway musicals, to contemporary dance-students will investigate how dance provides a lens for thinking through the ways in which Chineseness is represented, stereotyped, and even contested. Assignments will include an ethnographic assignment of Chinatown and a final research paper.
Fall 2025. Gerdes. Zhao.

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