This course is broken up into three sections that negotiate the politics of physical performance and dance both from a local and African perspective and from a global perspective.  Section one explores the politics of the body in performance from Artaud, Grotowski, and the 20^th century modernist impulse to find ‘new ways’ of thinking about theatre and performance, to the emergence of physical theatre both locally and globally.  The second section examines key debates around, and practitioners of, African contemporary dance in South Africa and Africa.  Section three engages 20^th century modernism and dance in Europe and America, culminating in a dance drama based on Rudolph Laban’s ideas and philosophies.