Susan Leigh Foster: How dance functions in our lives

Works In Progress

English - April 07, 2021 21:00 - 23 minutes - 16.5 MB
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When Susan Leigh Foster gets in front of an audience, she doesn’t spend much time standing behind a podium or pointing at slides. The choreographer and scholar dances freely around the stage, her movements underlining and sometimes building on her words.

"I needed to provide the audience with an example of what I was talking about, and also an example of why it's so difficult to talk about," she said. “I also wanted to offer them the opportunity to reflect on the fact that all lectures are performances, and the best lecturers are people who know that.”

At the 129th Faculty Research Lecture, titled “What Dancing Does,” Foster, distinguished professor in the Department of World Arts and Cultures/Dance, will describe some of the ways dance functions in our individual lives and within society. The talk will be held at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, April 14.

She joined Works In Progress for a preview.