Drama
110 (Prof. Elam)
Winter Quarter - 5 Units
Tues./Thurs. 3:15 - 6:00 + Thursday
Lunch Lecture,
Instructor: Sekou Sundiata
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Writing
for Performance
This course is designed for
students who are interested
in poetry as a spoken art. It
is based on the idea that most
poems reveal themselves fully
when they are performed. That
performance may be on a public
stage or in the privacy of one’s
home. Whatever the case maybe,
most poems are meant to be sounded-out,
spoken and heard… even
if the hearing takes place in
the studio of the mind. This
course will emphasize poetry
as a written craft that leads
to performance. The writing
comes first.
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Sekou
Sundiata
Sekou Sundiata is a poet who
writes for print, performance,
music and theater. In collaboration
with composer Craig Harris,
he wrote and performed in several
acclaimed theater works. His
latest recording, Long Story
Short, was released on Righteous
Babe Records. He has been a
Sundance Institute Screenwriting
Fellow, a Columbia University
Revson Fellow, a Master Artist-in-Residence
at the Atlantic Center for the
Arts (Florida) and the first
Writer-in-Residence at the New
School University in New York.
A professor at Eugene Lang College,
Sekou was featured in the Bill
Moyers PBS series on poetry,
"The Language of Life."
Mr. Sundiata will be developing
a new work over the next year-and-a-
half on campuses and in communities
in various parts of the country.
The IDA residency at Stanford
next winter (in collaboration
with the Committee on Black
Performing Arts) will be a featured
site for the development of
this new performance work, which
involves group and individual
interviews with a wide range
of Americans on the subjects
of the state of the union and
the national soul.
Teaching Assistant:
Joseles
De La Cruz
Malika
Williams
Relevant
Links:
www.righteousbabe.com |
Students will read, study and discuss
a variety of lyric, dramatic and narrative
poems to understand the ways in which
poets address issues of rhythm, attitude,
persona and composition in making
their poems. Students will also explore
performance ideas related to speech
acts, methods of address, stage presence,
and core identity of the performer.
They will be expected to write and
to memorize original poems. The class
process will include seminars, workshops,
performance presentations, critiques,
and a final performance at the end
of the course.
There will be a section of the course
devoted to writing and thinking about
the meaning of America at home and
in the world. Some of the poetry written
during this period may be drawn from
interviews and public discussions
organized around this theme. The successful
student will have some experience
with writing poems, prose poems and
related texts as well as some experience
or interest in performance.
Prospective students should submit
a writing sample of 2 poems or other
text of 5 pages or less. The poems
will be evaluated for ability, clarity
of thought and expression, attention
to craft. Videotapes, DVDs and recordings
of performances will also be accepted
as work samples. Student Writing Samples
may be emailed to ghclarke@stanford.edu
and other work samples can be dropped
off at the IDA office by Nov. 19,
2004
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