South African Performance Genealogies

This course explores the genealogies of South African performance practice (theatre and dance) up until the end of formal apartheid and the introduction of a constitutional democracy in the country in 1994. The course aims to introduce students to the origins and historical developments of this performance practice and the critical analytical tools with which to understand these complex developments. The course is divided into two parts: one part focusing on theatre practice and one part focusing on dance practice but emphasis will be placed on the inevitable overlaps between the two as they manifest in an African context. The course includes a fieldwork component in the form of compulsory group theatre visits.

DP requirements: Attendance at 80% of lectures and 100% of tutorials and theatre visits and satisfactory presentation of all assignments is compulsory for DP certificate purposes.

Assessment: (i) Coursework, which includes essays, oral presentations and reviews, counts 60% of the final mark. A portion of this work will be submitted to the external examiner. (ii) Two-hour, 15 minute examination counts 40% of the final mark. A sub-minimum of 50% must be achieved in each of (i) and (ii). For students in diploma programmes, a sub-minimum of 40% must be achieved in each of (i) and (ii).

The University of Cape Town awards credits based on the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) to determine course and contact hour recommendations per course. 1 NQF credit represents roughly 10 notional hours of work which includes study time, assignments and examinations. Notional hours may very per courses depending on the course level and modality therefore, CEA recommends using NQF credits as a basis to determine U.S. equivalencies (1 NQF=.222 semester credits)