Synopses & Reviews
Dramaturgy in Motion innovatively examines the work of the dramaturg in contemporary dance and movement performance. Katherine Profeta, a working dramaturg for more than fifteen years, shifts the focus from asking andldquo;Who is the dramaturg?andrdquo; to andldquo;What does the dramaturg think about?andrdquo;
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Profeta explores five arenas for the dramaturgandrsquo;s attentionandmdash;text and language, research, audience, movement, and interculturalism. Drawing on her extended collaboration with choreographer and visual artist Ralph Lemon, she grounds her thinking in actual rehearsal-room examples and situates practice within theoretical discourse about contemporary dramaturgy. Moving between theory and practice, word and movement, question and answer until these distinctions blur, she develops the foundational concept of dramaturgical labor as a quality of motion.
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Dramaturgy in Motion will be invaluable to practitioners and scholars interested in the processes of creating contemporary dance and movement performanceandmdash;particularly artists wondering what it might be like to collaborate with a dramaturg and dramaturgs wondering what it might be like to collaborate on movement performance. The book will also appeal to those intrigued by the work of Lemon and his collaborators, to which Profeta turns repeatedly to unfold the thorny questions and rich benefits of dramaturgical labor.
Review
andldquo;Composing while Dancing is a treasure trove of dance improvisation information.andrdquo;andmdash; Paul Langland, New York University
Review
andldquo;A welcome addition to the sparse literature of movement improvisation. Through years of her own study, Buckwalter has gathered a cornucopia of improvisational practices from more than two dozen of the most intriguing (and underdocumented) movement artists working today. She then invites you, through the organization of the chapters and through her own energy and interest, to join the dance.andrdquo;andmdash;Kent De Spain, author of Method to the Madness: Movement Improvisation in the Words of Its Practitioners
Review
andldquo;An insightful, much-needed resource for those interested in dance improvisation. Budding young artists in particular will value the epilogue on developing their own practice.andrdquo;andmdash;J. H. Roberts, CHOICE
Review
andldquo;This timely record of practiced-based approaches to restaging modern dance works contributes in valuable ways to the field of dance studies. Incorporating the theoretical, the methodological and the practical, this study highlights the corporeality of the dance in relation to the history of staging, engagement and bodies over time.andrdquo;andmdash;Dr. Sarah Davies Cordova, author of Paris Dances: Textual Choreographies in the Nineteenth-Century French Novel
Review
andldquo;Finally an answer to that vexed question, andlsquo;What is dance dramaturgy?andrsquo; This is a brilliantly nuanced account of a new role in contemporary performance, drawing on an extended collaboration but relevant for the entire field.andrdquo;andmdash;Susan Manning, Northwestern University
Review
andldquo;
Dramaturgy in Motion provides a practical resource, equally valuable for theatre dramaturgs and devisers as it will be for dance dramaturgs and choreographers.andrdquo;andmdash;DD Kugler, Simon Fraser University
Synopsis
Transforming Women s Education traces the history of women s studies at the University of Wisconsin. Drawing on oral histories and archival records, it follows this history from the earliest arguments over women's admission to the university through their acceptance as students on equal terms with men, to the mid-twentieth-century development of special programs for mature women students, and finally, to the development in the 1970s of the new field of women's studies.
As students, teachers, administrators, staff members, activists, and scholars or, in some cases, all of those the women described in this book have been part of the movement that has insisted on their importance as both learners and producers of knowledge.
"
Synopsis
Provocative, moving, powerful, explicit, strong, unapologetic. These are a few words that have been used to describe the groundbreaking Brooklyn-based dance troupe Urban Bush Women. Their unique aesthetic borrows from classical and contemporary dance techniques and theater characterization exercises, incorporates breath and vocalization, and employs space and movement to instill their performances with emotion and purpose. Urban Bush Women concerts are also deeply rooted in community activism, using socially conscious performances in places around the country—from the Kennedy Center, the Lincoln Center, and the Joyce, to community centers and school auditoriums—to inspire audience members to engage in neighborhood change and challenge stereotypes of gender, race, and class.
Nadine George-Graves presents a comprehensive history of Urban Bush Women since their founding in 1984. She analyzes their complex work, drawing on interviews with current and former dancers and her own observation of and participation in Urban Bush Women rehearsals. This illustrated book captures the grace and power of the dancers in motion and provides an absorbing look at an innovative company that continues to raise the bar for socially conscious dance.
Synopsis
Composing while Dancing: An Improviserandrsquo;s Companion examines the world of improvisational dance and the varied approaches to this art form. By introducing the improvisational strategies of twenty-six top contemporary artists of movement improvisation, Melinda Buckwalter offers a practical primer to the dance form. Each chapter focuses on an important aspect of improvisation including spatial relations, the eyes, and the dancing image. Included are sample practices from the artists profiled, exercises for further research, and a glossary of terms. Buckwalter gathers history, methods, interviews, and biographies in one book to showcase the many facets of improvisational dance and create an invaluable reference for dancers and dance educators.
Synopsis
Directing the Dance Legacy of Doris Humphrey looks inside four of Doris Humphreyandrsquo;s major choreographic worksandmdash;Water Study (1928), The Shakers (1931), With My Red Fires (1936), and Passacaglia (1938)andmdash;with an eye to how directorial strategies applied in recent contemporized stagings in the United States and Europe could work across the modern and contemporary dance genre. Author Lesley Main, a seasoned practitioner of Doris Humphrey choreography, stresses to the reader the need to balance respect for classical works from the modern dance repertory with the necessity for fresh directorial strategies, to balance between traditional practices and a creative role for the reconstructor.
and#160;and#160;and#160; Drawing upon her own dance experience, Mainandrsquo;s book addresses an area of dance research and practice that is becoming increasingly pertinent as the dancer-choreographers of the 20th century modern and contemporary dance are no longer alive to attend to the re-stagings of the body of their works. Insightful and thought-provoking, Directing the Dance Legacy of Doris Humphrey calls for the creation of new forms of directorial practice in dance beyond reconstruction. The radical new practices it proposes to replace the old are sure to spark debate and fresh thinking across the dance field.
Synopsis
This groundbreaking book moves beyond the conventional association of dramaturgy with plays to consider the substance and process of dramaturgy for dance and movement performance. Focusing on text and language, research, audience, movement, and interculturalism, the author provides vivid, practical examples from her collaboration with renowned choreographer Ralph Lemon.
About the Author
Katherine Profeta is an assistant professor in the Department of Drama, Theatre and Dance at Queens College of the City University of New York. She has been the dramaturg for choreographer and visual artist Ralph Lemon since 1997, as well as for numerous other choreographers and theater companies. She is also a founding member and choreographer with the theater company Elevator Repair Service.
Table of Contents
Introduction
There is Room for You
The Great Break into a Million Pieces
An Overview
How to Use This Bookandmdash;Getting the Most from your Companion
Composing as Companion?
More Notes on Semantics
You Say Impro, I Say Improv
Chapter 1 Materia Prima
Introduction
Using What's Available: Forti, Dilley, Campbell
Dancing with All You've Got:and#160;Sgorbati, Duck
Going Beyond What You Do:and#160;Martin
Playing with What's Given:and#160;Bull, Reitz, Topf, Overlie, Forsythe
A Closing Thought about Material
Interludeandmdash;So many influences, so little time . . .
Chapter 2 Form:and#160;Dancing Takes Shape
Introduction
Ritual: Anna Halprin
Performance Practice:and#160;Deborah Hay
Ancient Memories:and#160;Eiko and Koma
A New Form of Dance: Steve Paxton
Studying Form:and#160;Richard Bull
From Chaos to Form through Play:and#160;Keith Hennessy
Articulating Forms:and#160;Nina Martin
Fostering Form:and#160;Penny Campbell
Emerging Forms:and#160;Susan Sgorbati
Frames as Forms:and#160;Mary Overlie
The Senses as Composers:and#160;Lisa Nelson
Forming a Dialogue of Spirit, Nature, and Culture:and#160;Suprapto Suryodarmo (Prapto)
Investigating Open Space Improvisation: Barbara Dilley
A Closing Thought about Form
Practices for Further Research
Interludeandmdash;Notes to myself:and#160;andquot;No room for form with love this strong.andquot;and#160;(Rumi)
Chapter 3 Time Machines
Introduction
Aand#160;Chance Encounter:and#160;Katie Duck
Options to Glacial Time:and#160;Nina Martin
Time Warp:and#160;Mary Overlie
Surprise:and#160;Min Tanaka
Shaping Time:and#160;Dana Reitz
Epic:and#160;Nancy Stark Smith
Time to Digest:and#160;Nancy Topf
Through the Looking Glass:and#160;Steve Paxton
Compressing Time: William Forsythe
A Sense of Time:and#160;Barbara Dilley
Back in Time:and#160;Lisa Nelson
Aand#160;Closing Thought about Time
Practices for Further Research
Interludeandmdash;Notes to myself:and#160;Living Backwards
Chapter 4 Spacial Relations
Introduction
Palindrome: Richard Bull
The Grid:and#160;Barbara Dilley
Spherical Space:and#160;Paxton
The Global Underscore:and#160;Nancy Stark Smith
The Hot Spot:and#160;Nina Martin
Listen to the Space:and#160;Dana Reitz
Architecture:and#160;Mary Overlie
Room Writing:and#160;William Forsythe
Exit and Dance:and#160;Katie Duck
Aand#160;Closing Thought about Space
Practices for Further Research
Interludeandmdash;Ma
Chapter 5 The Dancing Image
Introduction
The Red Square: Barbara Dilley
The Single Image Score:and#160;Lisa Nelson
Complete the Form and Neuro:and#160;Nina Martin
Poetic and Anatomical Imagery:and#160;Joan Skinner and Marsha Paludan et al.
Dynamic Anatomy:and#160;Nancy Topf
Becoming Butoh:and#160;Kazuo Ohno
Body Weather:and#160;Min Tanaka
Disappearing:and#160;Mary Overlie
A Closing Thought about the Dancing Image
Practices for Further Research
Interludeandmdash;Invisible Dances with Mary Overlie
Chapter 6 The Possibilities of Music
Introduction
Equals in Process: Judith Dunn and Bill Dixon
Integrated yet Independent:and#160;Penny Campbell
An Emerging Duet:and#160;Susan Sgorbati
A Dialogue of Forms:and#160;Richard Bull
Minimalists:and#160;Nancy Topf and Jon Gibson
Magpie Music Dance:and#160;Katie Duck
The Music in Movement:and#160;Dana Reitz
Carrying the Music:and#160;Kazuo Ohno
86 Aspects:and#160;Nancy Stark Smith and Mike Vargas
A Closing Thought about Music
Practices for Further Research
Interludeandmdash;Notes to myself:and#160;Listening
Chapter 7 The Eyes
Introduction
The Five Eye Practices:and#160;Barbara Dilley
Engaging the Eyes:and#160;Katie Duck
The Kinesthetics of Seeing:and#160;Lisa Nelson
The Eyes as an Image of Depth:and#160;Nancy Topf
Playing the Field: Nina Martin
Peripheral Vision: Steve Paxton
Cleaning the Windows of Perception:and#160;Suprapto Suryodarmo (Prapto)
A Closing Thought about the Eyes
Practices for Further Research
Interludeandmdash;Notes to myself:and#160;Catch It Out of the Corner of my Eye
Chapter 8 Partnering Science
Introduction
Comparative Anatomy of a Moving Body:and#160;Jennifer Monson
Embodying Complexity:and#160;Susan Sgorbati
Physics for the Body:and#160;Steve Paxton
A Research Proposal:and#160;Simone Forti
Aand#160;Closing Thought about Partnering Science
Practices for Further Research
Interludeandmdash;Notes to myself on not knowing
Chapter 9 The Magical Object
Introduction
Taking Instructions from Objects:and#160;Lisa Nelson
Re-reify:and#160;Mary Overlie
Animate Dancing:and#160;Simone Forti
Drawing Dances: Dana Reitz
Wiggle Room: William Forsythe
Bytes:and#160;Pooh Kaye
Objects in Space:and#160;Nancy Topf
Not Only for Yourself:and#160;Min Tanaka
A Closing Thought about Objects
Practices for Further Research
Interludeandndash;The objects begin to speak . . .
Appendices:
Who's Who and What's What in the Improviser's Companion
Dance-Maker Biographical Sketches and Contextual Information
Bibliography
Dance-Maker Selected Bibliographies and Further Reading