NEW ~ This course will offer a glimpse of dance in India through interviews with artists who practice traditional performing arts, videos and readings, and in-depth exploration through technique and practice in the codified form of Bharata-Nrityam. Indian dances are becoming more and more visible in our communities around the US, whether at a community’s cultural festival, college campus dance competition, a friend’s classical dance debut, or fanfare on TV shows such as So You Think You Can Dance or New Girl. But what are the origins, meanings, and community traditions behind these numerous dance forms? How can we become more aware and conscientious of our gaze and understanding, when we experience them? This course is meant for dance educators who are ready to explore approaches to critical consideration of and generating an interest to pursue further study in dances of India. At the same time, the exploration of Bharata-Nrityam technique will make room for embodiment of these understandings and open new approaches to creative processes in participants’ own dance practices.

Book required: None

How do OPDI Online Courses for dance teachers work?

Our “online” courses are guided by a professor and include a co-hort of students (other dance teachers) with whom you will collaborate. They also include graded assignments, feedback, final grades, and Professional Development Credits (PDCs). Our OPDI online courses require on average between 6 to 8 hours of work each week, but it all depends on your learning style. It could be less or could be more. You can also register as an Audit student and do as much or as little work as you want and will not receive a grade.

We utilize the Sakai online learning platform to deliver the course materials and instruction. Our courses are asynchronous, so there are no required meeting dates or times but we do have a Course Start and Course End date; however, our courses offer at least 2 optional live Q&A-Feedback zoom sessions during the course to enhance opportunities for connection with other students and the professor. Every week of the course there are assignments that you will need to complete with due dates listed in the course outline / syllabus.

Assignments can be done at any time during the week prior to the due date and may include reading, watching videos, posting answers to prompts on a discussion board, writing an essay, reading and responding to other students' posts on the discussion board, taking a cell phone video of yourself completing a particular movement, taking a quiz, or completing a final project. The professor provides written feedback and grades and you get to connect with other students (who are actually dance teachers) via our discussion board and the optional live Q&A feedback sessions.