Elliot Gordon Mercer is a visiting assistant professor of dance. His research centers on the formation of dance archives and creation of choreographic legacy plans. His current book project examines the work of postmodern choreographers Anna Halprin, Yvonne Rainer, Lucinda Childs, and Laura Dean. In collaboration with the San Francisco Museum of Performance + Design, Mercer is also editing a retrospective publication on Anna Halprin’s career work in dance scoring.
Mercer's choreographic work engages a minimalist approach to dance while seeking to reveal slippages within minimalism’s presumption of detached neutrality. Focusing on the subjectivity of gesture and legibility of queerness in performance, his work pursues a choreographic approach of queer minimalism.
Mercer is an authorized transmitter of Yvonne Rainer’s iconic postmodern dance work "Trio A" (1966).
Areas of Expertise
Dance studies, queer performance, modern and contemporary art
Education
2014 — Master of Arts from Northwestern University
2010 — Master of Arts from New York University
2009 — Bachelor of Arts from St. Mary's College of Californ
Courses Recently Taught
DANC 105
Introduction to the Dance
DANC 105
This course is designed to introduce dance as a performing art form, historically as well as in practice and to explore how dance as a cultural phenomenon helps shape and is shaped by cultural values. The course will track the development of dance as a performing art in Europe and in the U.S. from the Renaissance to the 1950s, by identifying important stylistic trends and the works of major contributors to the field, such as the Ballets Russes, Martha Graham and Katherine Dunham. While we will focus on Western concert dance as a performing art, we also will study some dance phenomena cross-culturally in order to broaden our understanding of the function dance serves and its relationship to cultural beliefs and to the history of ideas. The study of dance history provides a lens for exploring the world, its people and their cultures. Assignments include written work and short movement studies composed by students to explore various aspects of the choreographic process and to embody significant trends in the evolution of dancemaking. Required for the major and minor. No prerequisite. Offered every fall.
DANC 209
Intermediate Ballet Technique
DANC 209
This course furthers the work of the beginning-level course with a more in-depth application of the ballet vocabulary and style. This counts toward the technique requirement for the major and minor. Prerequisite: DANC 109 or equivalent or permission of instructor. Generally offered every semester.
DANC 215
Contemporary Dance History
DANC 215
This course investigates the development of dance as a performing art in the 20th and 21st centuries. It examines major trends that influence dancemaking including technology, globalization and collaboration by observing the work of principal artists. This course investigates aesthetic points of view, beliefs and assumptions inherent in dance practice, dance criticism and history writing. This counts toward the theory requirement for the major and minor. Prerequisite: DANC 105. Generally offered every other spring.
DANC 291
ST: The Art Manifesto
DANC 291
DANC 291
PENDING CPC APPROVAL
DANC 291
DANC 391
PENDING CPC APPROVAL
DANC 391