740-360 Musical Theatre in Asia

A pass in 740-105 Music and Ideas or equivalent or permission of the coordinator.

An examination of the relationship between musical practice and other performing art forms such as puppetry, dance, drama and epic story-telling in South, Southeast and North Asia through case studies such as Kathakali, Bharat Natyam, Taiko, Noh, Bunraku, Peking Opera, P'ansori and Ch'angg·uk, Wayang Kulit and Golek, Roi Nuoc.

On completion of this subject students should be able to • understand with some sophistication the integration of musical practices with other performing and visual art forms in selected Asian genres • analyse music and performance by identifying principles common to social organisation, cosmological organisation and musical organisation • undertake independent research on topics related to music outside the Western traditions.

Seminar paper of 1000 words (25%); a weekly journal of research readings (25%); a research essay of 2500 words due at the end of semester (50%).

A reading pack will be available for purchase before the start of semester.