Synopses & Reviews
Molissa Fenley, one of the most influential artists of postmodern dance, has had a lasting impact on performance. In dance, she has explored extreme effort and duration in highly crafted patterns and performed with an explosive, joyous energy that infused her work with endurance, balance, and life force. She challenged modern dance orthodoxy and redefined the character of a womanand#8217;s moving body in the late twentieth century, bringing postmodernized ritual to the stage.
Rhythm Fieldand#160;is a vivid and probing portrait of Fenleyand#8217;s four-decade career, written by her fellow artists. The collection functions as a multifaceted look into one womanand#8217;s complex performing arts legacy. The result is itself an aesthetic undertaking that investigates the ways in which Fenley straddles dance traditions, art genres, and gender norms and has been a model to the field. The collection offers several scholarly analyses of the choreographerand#8217;s work, and is, above all, a vibrant record from the field.and#160;Rhythm Fieldand#160;sits at a necessary midpoint between criticism and scholarship.
About the Author
Ann Murphyandnbsp;is assistant professor and chair of the Mills College Dance Department, as well as a dance critic for theandnbsp;San Jose Mercury and Contra Costa Times.Molissa Fenley
Table of Contents
A Chronology of Molissa Fenley's Works and#160; Foreword -
Philip Glass and#160; Watching a Friend Becoming -
Bill T. Jones and#160; Walking with Molissa Fenley -
Ann Murphy and#160; An Interview with Peter Boal -
Ann Murphy and#160; Intuition and Magic -
Molissa Fenley and#160; The Sovereign Soloist: States of Exceptional Labour and
State of Darkness -
Richard Move and#160; Poems -
Bob Holman and#160; A Conversation with Tere O'Connor -
Molissa Fenley and#160; Visual Dance -
Paz Tanjuaquioand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; The Chair, and Other Pieces - David Moodey
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;Mix - Elizabeth Streb
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Dance and the Nature of Mind - Rande Brown and#160; Epilogue: The Composite View - Stephen Greco and#160; Notes on Contributors