Welcome to GST 206!
What did/does it mean to be Argentine? … to be Uruguayan? What is it like to dance the tango? This international travel course will journey to Argentina and Uruguay to learn the answers to these questions and more.
The tango is a close form of couples dancing based upon walking that is impressive to watch, fun to dance, and whose basics are easy to learn. The development of the Tango in Argentina and Uruguay parallels a rich development in the arts of the avant-garde. Ideas of identity, social activism, and nationalism that appeared during the late 19th and early 20th centuries have had strong repercussions into the present. The rise of tango can be seen as emblematic of the transformation of Buenos Aires and Montevideo at the turn of the 20th century. Tango blended European, South American, and African rhythms and styles into something unique to the region. As such, it provided new identity for a society in flux. The arts of the avant-garde likewise sought to create a new space—intellectual, socially active, middle class, and urban—that was unique to the region.
In this course students will read, research, visit art museums, watch performances, meet local people, and learn to dance the tango.
Jan Pearce
Draper, Room 304B
CPO 1815
Contact Info:
Email:
pearcej@berea.edu
Ext: 3569
Eileen McKiernan González
Traylor, Room 406
CPO 2162
Contact Info:
Email:
mckiernan-gonzalez@berea.edu
Ext: 3543
