Reading Dancing: Bodies and Subjects in Contemporary American Dance (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780520063334)

Winner of the Dance Perspectives Foundation de la Torre Bueno Prize

Recent approaches to dance composition, seen in the works of Merce Cunningham and the Judson Church performances of the early 1960s, suggest the possibility for a new theory of choreographic meaning. Borrowing from contemporary semiotics and post-structuralist criticism, Reading Dancing outlines four distinct models for representation in dance which are illustrated, first, through an analysis of the works of contemporary choreographers Deborah Hay, George Balanchine, Martha Graham, and Merce Cunningham, and then through reference to historical examples beginning with court ballets of the Renaissance. The comparison of these four approaches to representation affirms the unparalleled diversity of choreographic methods in American dance, and also suggests a critical perspective from which to reflect on dance making and viewing.

Author: Susan Leigh Foster
ISBN-10: 0520063333
ISBN-13: 9780520063334
Publisher: University of California Press
Language: English
Published: 04/22/1988
Pages: 336
Format: Paperback
Weight: 1.25lbs
Size: 8.20h x 8.20w x 1.00d