Contemporary dance Books

Book Synopsis In most forms of dancing, performers carry out their steps with a distance that keeps them from colliding with each other. Dancer Steve Paxton in the 1970s considered this distance a territory for investigation. His study of intentional contact resulted in a public performance in 1972 in a Soho gallery, and the name contact improvisation was coined for the form of unrehearsed dance he introduced. Rather than copyrighting it, Paxton allowed it to evolve and spread. In this book the author draws upon her own experience and research to explain the art of contact improvisation, in which dance partners propel movement by physical contact. They roll, fall, spiral, leap, and slip along the contours and momentum of moving bodies. The text begins with a history, then describes the elements that define this form of dance. Subsequent chapters explore how contact improvisation relates to self and identity; how class, race, gender, culture and physiology influence dance; how dance pr

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Book Synopsis The Nazis burned books and banned much modern art. However, few people know the fascinating story of German modern dance, which was the great exception. Modern expressive dance found favor with the regime and especially with the infamous Dr. Joseph Goebbels, the Minister of Propaganda. How modern artists collaborated with Nazism reveals an important aspect of modernism, uncovers the bizarre bureaucracy which controlled culture and tells the histories of great figures who became enthusiastic Nazis and lied about it later. The book offers three perspectives: the dancer Lilian Karina writes her very vivid personal story of dancing in interwar Germany; the dance historian Marion Kant gives a systematic account of the interaction of modern dance and the totalitarian state, and a documentary appendix provides a glimpse into the twisted reality created by Nazi racism, pedantic bureaucrats and artistic ambition.Trade Review “This book points the way for the next steps of further research … [It] will be a seminal work in facilitating the analysis of understanding the roles of dance and body under fascism.” • H-Net Reviews “…a bristling book … Rarely have we been invited to read polemical history charged with both emotional intensity and – thankfully – voluminous documentation … Reading along with rapt attention, I can’t decide which is more surprising: the blistering clarity and conviction of Kant’s claims and their documantation, or the fuzzy preoccupation with self that Hitler’s dancers seemed to embody during this period.” • Dance Critics Association Newsletter “This is a welcome publication … [It] provides a valuable insight into the period for English-speaking readers … The authors provide much new information and pose some serious questions … essential read.” • Dance Theatre Journal Praise for the German edition: “This book will change a lot in dance history. And it will indeed be a painful awakening for the idol worshippers who forgive artists all sins and place them above all moral responsibility.” • Judisk Kroenika “This books is indispensable because of its many important documents.” • Ballettanz “Highly recommended … The most important publication on dance in the Third Reich.” • Tanzwissenschaft “An important contribution to the discussion [on Nazism and dance] - obligatory reading on the history of dance - that makes parts of this book as gripping as a thriller.” • Der Tanz der DingeTable of Contents Translator's Foreword Jonathan Steinberg Preface Marion Kant PART I RECOLLECTIONS Lilian Karina Introduction How this work came about Have artists an interest in political and social circumstances? The Faces of my Past Chapter 1. A Historical Overview of the Labanist Period Pre Labanism: The Rise of the Culture of the Body (1900-1920) The Era of Labanism at its Peak: the Development of "New Dance," Modern and Stage Dance (1920s-1937) Opposition to Labanism – Realistic Dance Theater Chapter 2. Art and Culture under National Socialism The New Legislation The Doctrines of Race and Inheritance The Invention of the Jewish Race: from Wagner to Rosenberg Chapter 3. Sectarianism and Dance The Historical Path of Racial Hygiene Sects, Cults and Secret Societies The New Magicians of Dance: Steiner, Klamt, Duncan, Laban The Search for a Dance "True to Type" ["arteigen"] Chapter 4. The Fates of Emigrants Evgenia Eduardova and Josef Lewitan Victor Gsovsky Kurt Jooss Sascha Leontieff Aurél von Milloss Lia Schubert Chapter 5. The Situation in Scandinavia The Association of Swedish Dance Pedagogues Gertrude Engelhardt Elsa Lindenberg Edgar Frank Lilian Karina Chapter 6. Laban's Downfall and Post-Labansim Post-Labanism PART II: "DANCE IS A RACE QUESTION." THE DANCE POLITICS OF THE REICH MINISTRY OF POPULAR ENLIGHTENMENT AND PROPAGANDA Marion Kant Introduction The State of Dance Research Dance in Germany in 1930 Chapter 7. The Reich Ministry for Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda The Foundation of the Reich Chamber of Culture Rivalries about Culture and Art The Propaganda Ministry and the Reich Theater Chamber Chapter 8. The Nazi Redirection of Dance The Plan for a Nazi Dance Policy Chapter 9. Ministerial Dance Politicos – Rudolf von Laban and Otto von Keudell The Dance Festivals of 1934 and 1935 Chapter 10. The German Dance Theater and The German Master Workshops Regulations for the Conduct of the Dance Examinations The Olympic Games The Temporary Finale Chapter 11. The Next Stage The Laban Case The Wigman Case Chapter 12. After Laban's Fall From German Dance to German Ballet A Ban on Dance Total Dance Post Script PART III: THE NAZI ATTEMPT TO SUPPRESS JAZZ AND SWING: A CASE STUDY Marion Kant PART IV: DANCE UNDER THE NAZIS: DOCUMENTARY APPENDIX Selected and Edited by Marion Kant Appendix: The Administrative Structure of the Reich Ministry of Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda and the Reich Culture Chambers Chronology References Abbreviations and Glossary Sources Archives and Collections Bibliography Index Name entries Subject entries

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Book SynopsisBefore Mark Morris became the most successful and influential choreographer alive (The New York Times), he was a six year-old in Seattle cramming his feet into Tupperware glasses so that he could practice walking on pointe. Moving to New York at nineteen, he arrived to one of the great booms of dance in America. . Morris was flat broke but found a group of likeminded artists that danced together, travelled together, slept together. This collective, led by Morris's fiercely original vision, became the famed Mark Morris Dance Group.Suddenly, Morris was making a fast ascent. Celebrated by The New Yorker's critic as one of the great young talents, an androgynous beauty in the vein of Michelangelo's David, he and his company had arrived. Collaborations with the likes of Mikhail Baryshnikov, Yo-Yo Ma, Lou Harrison, and Howard Hodgkin followed. And so did controversy: from the circus of his tenure at La Monnaie in Belgium to his work on the biggest flop in Broadw

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Book SynopsisOn Site: Methods for Site-Specific Performance Creation is a practical book for artists and students at all levels who create or are learning to create making sited dance works. Author Stephan Koplowitz covers specific, hands-on strategies for an array of issues to consider before, during, and after embarking upon a project, including site selection, procuring permits, designing the audience experience, researching and exploring a site for inspiration and content, differences in urban and natural environments, definitions of key production roles, building effective collaborations with artists, and techniques to generate site-inspired production elements such as sound/music, costumes, lighting, and media. He also offers helpful chapters on project budgeting, contract negotiation, fundraising, marketing, documentation, and assessment. Based on the author''s career spanning over 30 years of site-specific creation, the book also includes the voices of over 24 other artists, producers, and writers who share their perspectives and experiences on the many topics covered. A guide designed to make site work practical, intentional, and attainable, On Site will become a well-worn reference for anyone interested in the creative process and discovering the power of site-specific works.Trade ReviewIn this comprehensive, wonderfully organized volume, ... shares his extensive knowledge of a multi-faceted genre, and he does so with elegant logic, along with a spirit of generosity and care. * Ann Murphy, Wendy Perron *On Site is no dry or abstruse tome. It's an homage, first and foremost, to performance in non-traditional spaces, and it is a stunning template that takes the reader step by step through the processes, beginning wide—with site visits—to constructing structures, gathering partners, participants, pr, money, budgets, tech, costumes, documentation and, at the end, designing and making assessments....And on a practical note, On Site is a good reason, if one is needed, for educators to build a class around creating site-specific work. It could even invite collaboration across disciplines, perhaps outside the arts. * Ann Murphy, Notable Dance Books *The definitive new textbook on site-based work. He meticulously covers the logistics and artistic mindset needed for site-specific projects. Koplowitz lovingly shares his process from decades in the field, including staging large-scale site-specific works around the globe. * Jill Randall, Dance Teacher *With the range of voices and approaches he discusses, Koplowitz is able to touch on the numerous ideas and creative practices involved in the form and utilize his extensive knowledge and experience. * Laura Stein, thINKingDance.net *Among a wealth of practical advice for site work creation are Koplowitz's stimulating ideas for site selection and designing events for them, researching site histories and communities, and collaborations with associate artists. * Jonathan Stein, thINKingDance.net *Koplowitz's On Site is a fantastic book for seasoned veterans, novice collaborators, and all those in between. Call the book an encyclopedic how-to textbook; call it a thoughtful methodological study; call it a thorough guidebook; call it a template. It qualifies as any or all of those. Organized in seven parts, the 19 chapters are marked by Koplowitz's candid, clear prose, which communicates the confidence and the humility one would expect from an artist with more than three decades of experience on which to draw...This excellent volume will be an invaluable tool for those interested in the vast stage, film, and site repertoire Koplowitz has amassed during his career. * Choice *On Site well poised to become a foundational practical text for future site-specific choreographers and directors. It offers concise information on potential pitfalls and ethical considerations for the artist. In addition, Koplowitz includes many philosophical and thoughtful asides on important contemporary subjects such as land use in colonized Indigenous territory, capacious notions of accessibility, and reflections on the democratizing and politically engaged effects of site work. * KT Shorb, Theatre Topics *On Site is an invaluable resource to artists wishing to round out their practice of site-specific work, to educators wanting to impart these skills to their students, and to scholars wishing to investigate further the creative research and methods required in engaging in site specificity. * KT Shorb (They/Them), Macalester College *Table of ContentsPreface Introduction: Motivations and Definitions 1. How Do We Start? Chapter 1 What Motivates Site Selection Chapter 2 Permissions, Permits and Insurance Chapter 3 Designing the Event, Staging the Audience Chapter 4 The Site as Inspiration for Your Work 3. Fueling Your Vision Chapter 5 Staffing Key Production Roles Chapter 6 Negotiating Fee and Contract Chapter 7 Planning Your Planning Budget Chapter 8 Fundraising for Your Artistic Plan: A Short Primer 4. Creating/Generating Content Chapter 9 Staging, Placing Your Work in a Site (one method) Chapter 10 Site Content and Process Chapter 11 Collaboration and Collaborative Elements 5. Creative and Production Challenges Chapter 12 Rehearsal Process Chapter 13 Rehearsal Safety Chapter 14 Creating for Physically Integrated Casts and Accessibility 6. More Challenges from the Real World Chapter 15 Working with a Set Budget after Fundraising Chapter 16 Promoting and Marketing the Work Chapter 17 Documentation Chapter 18 Assessment 7. Epilogue Chapter 19 Last, Last Thoughts Appendix Acknowledgements Index About the Author

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewAn immensely rich resource for scholars and general audiences who are curious about mind-body communication, different types of dance movement, somatics, embodied learning, kineaesthesia and empathy, and the therapeutic potential of movement. * Hiie Saumaa, Dance Research Journal *Karkou (Edge Hill Univ., UK), together with a team of contributors from a range of backgrounds, presents a comprehensive survey of current dance and well-being scholarship. ... Readers are presented with an authoritative and richly interdisciplinary review of the current research and scholarly exploration of dance and well-beingâincorporating perspectives from psychology and neuroscience as well. ... It is especially welcome to find such depth of detail and scholarship in one place. ... Summing Up: Highly recommended. Graduate students through faculty and professionals. * CHOICE *Table of ContentsIntroduction Vicky Karkou, Sue Oliver and Sophia Lycouris Section A: Dance and the Body Vicky Karkou and Sue Oliver 1. The Dancing Queen: Explanatory Mechanisms of the 'Feel-Good-Effect' in Dance Corinne Jola and Luis Calmeiro 2. Dance in the Body, the Mind, and the Brain: Neurocognitive Research inspired by Dancers and their Audience Bettina Bläsing 3. Subjective and Neurophysiological Perspectives on Emotion Perception from Dance Marie-Helene Grosbras, Matthew Reason, Haodan Tan, Rosie Kay, and Frank Pollick 4. Evidence-based BIODANZA Programmes for Children (TANZPRO-Biodanza) in Schools and Kindergartens: Some Effects on Psychology, Physiology, Hormones and the Immune System Marcus Stück and Alejandra Villegas 5. Dancing to Resist, Reduce and Escape Stress Judith Lynne Hanna 6. Body Memory and its Recuperation through Movement Heidrun Panhofer 7. Listening to the Moving Body: Movement approaches in Body Psychotherapy Laura-Hope Steckler 8. Authentic Movement as a Practice for Wellbeing Jane Bacon 9. Authentic Movement and the Relationship of Embodied Spirituality to Health and Wellbeing Zoe Avstreih 10. Reimagining Our Relationship to the Dancing Body Andrea Olsen Section B. Dance within Performative Contexts Sophia Lycouris and Vicky Karkou With contribution from Taira Restar on her work with Anna Halprin 11. A Greater Fullness of Life: Wellbeing in Early Modern Dance Michael Huxley and Ramsay Burt 12. Therapeutic Performance: When Private Moves to Public Thania Acarón 13. Portals of Conscious Transformation: from Authentic Movement to Performance Marcia Plevin 14. Butoh Dance, Noguchi Taiso and Healing Paola Esposito and Toshiharu Kasai 15. Flow in the Dancing Body: An Intersubjective Experience Louise Douse 16. Common Embrace: Wellbeing in Rosemary Lee's Choreography of Inclusive Dancing Communities Doran George 17. Wellbeing and the Aging Dancer Jan Bolwell 18. Being in Pieces: Integrating Dance, Identity and Mental Health Mark Edward and Fiona Bannon 19. Writing Body Stories June Gersten Roberts 20. (Im)possible Performatives: Embodying the Politics of Loss Beatrice Allegranti Section C. Dance in Education Sue Oliver and Vicky Karkou With contributions from Julie Joseph, Jo Bungay-Orr, and Foteini Athanasiadou 21. Provoking Change: Dance Pedagogy and Curriculum Design Ann Kipling Brown 22. Pedagogies of Dance Teaching and Dance Leading Jayne Stevens 23. Creative Dance in Schools: A Snapshot of Two European Contexts Sue Oliver, Monika Konold, and Christina Larek 24. Moving Systems: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Enhance Learning and Avoid Dropping-out Claire Schaub-Moore 25. Dance/Movement and Embodied Knowing with Adolescents Nancy Beardall 26. Movement Therapy Programme with Children with Mild Learning Difficulties in Primary Schools in Saudi Arabia: Links between Motion and Emotion Abdulazeem Alotaibi, Vassiliki Karkou, Marietta L van der Linden, and Lindesay Irvine 27. Dance Movement Therapy, Student Learning and Wellbeing in Special Education Sue Mullane and Kim Dunphy 28. The Wellbeing of Students in Dance Movement Therapy Masters Programs Hilda Wengrower 29. Cultivating the 'Felt Sense' of Wellbeing - How we Know we are Well Anna Fiona Keogh and Joan Davis Section D. Dance in the Community Sue Oliver and Vicky Karkou With contributions from Carolyn Fresquez and Barbara Erber 30. Free to Dance: Community Dance with Adolescent Girls in Scotland Anna Kenrick, Carolyn Lappin, and Sue Oliver 31. Methods of Promoting Gender Development in Young Children Through Developmental Dance Rhythms: A Kestenberg Movement Profile (KMP) Dance/Movement Therapy Approach Susan Loman 32. Together We Move: Creating a Laban-style Movement Choir Cynthia Pratt 33. Touching Disability Culture: Dancing Tiresias Petra Kuppers choreographing an essay with contributions from Lisa Steichmann, Jonny Gray, Melanie Yergeau, Aimee Meredith Cox, Nora Simonhjell, Neil Marcus, Elizabeth Currans, Amber DiPietra, and Stephanie Heit 34. 'Building Relations': A Methodological Consideration of Dance and Wellbeing in Psychosocial Work with War-affected Refugee Children and Their Families Allison Singer 35. Reconstructing the World of Survivors of Torture for Political Reasons through Dance/Movement Therapy Maralia Reca 36. Haunted by Meaning: Dance as Aesthetic Activism Sherry B. Shapiro 37. Cultural Adaptations of Dance Movement Psychotherapy Experiences: From a UK Higher education Context to a Transdisciplinary Water Resource Management Research Practice Athiná Copteros, Vicky Karkou, and Tally Palmer 38. Capoeira in the Community: The Social Arena for the Development of Wellbeing André Luiz Teixeira Reis and Sue Oliver 39. The 5Rhythms® Movement Practice: Journey to Wellbeing, Empowerment and Transformation Mati Vargas-Gibson, Sarena Wolfaard, and Emma Roberts Section E. Dance in Health Care Contexts Vicky Karkou and Sue Oliver With a contribution from Chan Nga Shan and Ania Zubala 40. Dance Movement Therapy in Health Care: Should we Dance across the Floor of the Ward? Iris Bräuninger and Gonzalo Bacigalupe 41. Dance as Art in Hospital Diane Amans 42. The BodyMind Approach(tm): Supporting the wellbeing of patients with chronic medically unexplained symptoms in primary health care in England Helen Payne 43. Dance Therapy-Primitive Expression Contributes to Wellbeing Alexia Margariti, Periklis Ktonas, Thomas Paparrigopoulos, and Grigoris Vaslamatzis 44. Dance: An Aesthetic Experience to Foster Wellbeing for Vulnerable Mothers and Infants Elizabeth Loughlin 45. Dance Therapy and the Possibility of Wellbeing with People with Dementia Heather Hill 46. Emotions in Motion: Depression in Dance-Movement and Dance-Movement in Treatment of Depression Marko Punkanen, Suvi Saarikallio, Outi Leinonen, Anita Forsblom, Kristo Kulju, and Geoff Luck 47. (Dis-)Embodiment in Schizophrenia: Effects of Mirroring on Self-Experience, Empathy and Wellbeing Sabine C. Koch, Janna Kelbel, Astrid Kolter, Heribert Sattel, and Thomas Fuchs 48. Dance/Movement Therapy and Breast Cancer Care: A Wellbeing Approach Ilene Serlin, Nancy Goldov, and Erika Hansen 49. Attending to the Heart beat in Dance Movement Psychotherapy: Improvements in Mood and Quality of Life for Patients with Coronary Heart Disease Mariam Mchitarian, Joseph Moutiris, and Vicky Karkou Conclusion Vicky Karkou and Sue Oliver

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Book SynopsisThe Natural Body in Somatics Training looks at what happens in the dance studio as dancers learn physical skills and in doing so also assimilate aesthetic, ethical, and political values. It takes us backstage so as to show how dancers come to share certain beliefs and opinions and thereby come to form communityTrade ReviewThe Natural Body is a long overdue and much needed investigation into the emergence and historical development of the broad category of practices known as "Somatics". George's insights into Somatics as a simultaneous disciplining and liberatory physical practice, choreographic tool, and pedagogical intervention will be illuminating and important for artists and scholars alike. * Clare Croft, Associate Professor of Dance & American Studies, University of Michigan *Doran George brings a wealth of theoretical, kinaesthetic, and political thought to the impact of Somatics in contemporary dance. They do crucial work in undoing assumptions of Somatic training regimens and their influence on choreographic process. Through well-researched interviews and analysis, George does the long overdue work of de-naturalizing notions of individual autonomy and democracy in dance training and relationships between choreographer/dancer and performer/spectator. In highlighting how race, gender, and sexuality have been eclipsed by the force of Somatics within a contemporary transnational context, this book opens expansive, radical spaces for political and historical bodies to move in new ways. A groundbreaking book that will have a profound impact on the field. * Jennifer Monson, Professor of Dance, University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign *This book would be of interest to those who want to understand the beginnings of somatics, its connections to dance, and how it spread beyond the US. * Sandra Minton, Journal Of Dance Education *Table of ContentsEditor's Note Introduction: In Search of the Natural Body Chapter 1. Renewable Originality: The Natural Body & Late Twentieth Century Social Change Chapter 2. Contradictory Dissidence: Somatics and American Expansionism Chapter 3: Somatics Bodies on the Concert Stage: Processing, Inventing, and Displaying Conclusion: Understanding the Focus on Natural Authenticity Endnotes Appendix: Brief Biographies of Some Key Somatics Practitioners Bibliography

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Book SynopsisTed Shawn (1891-1972), is the self-proclaimed Father of American Dance who helped to transform dance from a national pastime into theatrical art. In the process, he made dancing an acceptable profession for men and taught several generations of dancers, some of whom went on to become legendary choreographers and performers in their own right, most notably his protégées Martha Graham, Louise Brooks, Doris Humphrey, and Charles Weidman. Shawn tried for many years and with great frustration to tell the story of his life''s work in terms of its social and artistic value, but struggled, owing to the fact that he was homosexual, a fact known only within his inner circle of friends. Unwilling to disturb the meticulously narrated account of his paternal exceptionalism, he remained closeted, but scrupulously archived his journals, correspondence, programs, photographs, and motion pictures of his dances, anticipating that the full significance of his life, writing, and dances would reveal itself in time. Ted Shawn: His Life, Writings, and Dances is the first critical biography of the dance legend, offering an in-depth look into Shawn''s pioneering role in the formation of the first American modern dance company and school, the first all-male dance company, and Jacob''s Pillow, the internationally renowned dance festival and school located in the Berkshires. The book explores Shawn''s writings and dances in relation to emerging discourses of modernism, eugenics and social evolution, revealing an untold story about the ways that Shawn''s homosexuality informed his choreographic vision. The book also elucidates the influences of contemporary writers who were leading a radical movement to depathologize homosexuality, such as the British eugenicist Havelock Ellis and sexologist Alfred Kinsey, and conversely, how their revolutionary ideas about sexuality were shaped by Shawn''s modernism.Trade ReviewImpeccably researched, incredibly detailed and super approachable, Scolieri's addition to the existing scholarship on Ted Shawn (1891-1972) is real and thorough. * Heather Desaulniers, CriticalDance *What a thrill to see Paul A. Scolieri's extensive research brought to life in this magnificent overview of Shawn's life and career! The historical context, contemporary perspective, and personal insights make this book both a revelation and an indispensable resource for anyone interested in learning more about the beginnings of dance in America. * Norton Owen, Director of Preservation, Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival *Queering the father of American Dance, Paul A. Scolieri masterfully reanimates the life of Ted Shawn from a new perspective in this layered reading of a trailblazer. Revealing Shawn as a difficult and restless artist, Scolieri plumbs archives and images to show how Shawn courted notoriety yet hid his own homosexuality under a veil of homophobia even as he steadily authored a hypermasculine identity for the male dancer. Scolieri excavates Shawn's archives skillfully, illuminating him as a difficult yet pivotal figure in early contemporary American dance history. By tracing confluences between Shawn's gendered aesthetics, eugenic paradigms and emergent sexuality studies, as well as his work as an amateur ethnographic collector of men's dances, Scolieri reveals Shawn's prototype of a male dancer as the product of these layers and shadowed by cultural borrowing and a sensual imagination. * Janice Ross, Professor of Theatre & Performance Studies, Stanford University *Paul Scolieri's newest book Ted Shawn, His Life, Writings and Dances is an outstanding example of rigorous scholarship and compelling narrative. * Laura Pettibone Wright, Journal Of Dance Education *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Abbreviations in Notes List of Images Chronology Introduction: Firsts and Foremost 1. The Making of Personality Fraternities, 1891-1912 Old World Dancing Masters in a Modern World, 1912-1914 2. An Interesting Experiment in Eugenics Strange Marriage, 1914-1915 Birth of a Dancing Nation, 1915-1917 Drills and Demonstrations, 1917-1918 Afternoon of a Shawn, 1918-1922 Unconscious Eugenics, 1922 3. Tales of a Terpsichorean Traveler A Dancing Geography Lesson, October 1922-April 1923 Castles in Spain, April-May 1923 "Sheiking" in the Desert, May-June 1923 A Dance King and His Empire, July 1923-August 1925 America's Unofficial Ambassadors, August 1925-November 1926 4. America's Greatest Male Dancer A Greater Denishawn, December 1926-October 1929 American Prometheus, 1929-1931 The Price of Pioneering, July 1930-March 1933 5. Seven Magic Years Adventures with Dances, 1933-1936 Modernism on Main Street, 1936-1939 Farewell, Sacred Legion, 1939-1940 6. Jacob's Pillar War and the Artist, 1940-1945 Dancing for Kinsey, 1945-1948 Pillow of Stone, 1947-1971 Death of Adonis, 1972

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Book SynopsisAlvin Ailey (1931–1989) was a choreographic giant in the modern dance world and a champion of African-American talent and culture. His interracial Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater provided opportunities to black dancers and choreographers when no one else would. His acclaimed “Revelations” remains one of the most performed modern dance pieces in the twentieth century. But he led a tortured life, filled with insecurity and self-loathing. Raised in poverty in rural Texas by his single mother, he managed to find success early in his career, but by the 1970s his creativity had waned. He turned to drugs, alcohol, and gay bars and suffered a nervous breakdown in 1980. He was secretive about his private life, including his homosexuality, and, unbeknownst to most at the time, died from AIDS-related complications at age 58.Now, for the first time, the complete story of Ailey's life and work is revealed in this biography. Based on his personal journals and hundreds of interviews with those who knew him, including Mikhail Baryshnikov, Judith Jamison, Lena Horne, Katherine Dunham, Sidney Poitier, and Dustin Hoffman, Alvin Ailey is a moving story of a man who wove his life and culture into his dance.Table of Contents* Busy As Soon As He Was Born * A Light And Shadowed Paradise * Love And Need And Growing Up * Approaching Center * Hard Times But The Best Times * Studio Days * Filling Lester Hortons Shoes * Coming Of Age In New York * The First Concept * Songs of Trouble, Songs of Love * Revelations * A New York Family * Back To Acting, On To Asia * Hot And Perfect * Prophets With Little Honor * Back On The Road Again * Threw All Dance Clothes Into Wastebasket * Back In Business, Several Times * African Odyssey * Budgets, Boards And Two Good-Byes * An Anger In The Air * Climbing * Family Matters * The Board Arrives * Daddy Wore Khaki Pants * Ellingtonia * None But My Calling * Breakdown * A Formal Feeling * Kansas CityAnd Beyond * Up And Down, Again * So Easy To Break, And Yet So Strong * Afterword

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Book SynopsisWritten by a dancer who travelled and worked in Cuba from the 1970s to the present, this provides an inside look at daily life in Cuba. From watching the great Alicia Alonso, to describing the economic trials of the 1990s Special Period, the author uses history, humor, personal experience, rich description and extensive interviews to reveal contemporary life and dance in Cuba.

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Book SynopsisAs stage and screen artists explore new means to enhance their craft, a new wave of interest in expressive movement and physical improvisation has developed. And in order to bring authenticity and believability to a character, it has become increasingly vital for actors to be aware of movement and physical acting. Stage and screen artists must now call upon physical presence, movement on stage, non-verbal interactions, and gestures to fully convey themselves. In Bringing the Body to the Stage and Screen, Annette Lust provides stage and screen artists with a program of physical and related expressive exercises that can empower their art with more creativity. In this book, Lust provides a general introduction to movement, including definitions and differences between movement on the stage and screen, how to conduct a class or learn on one's own, and choosing a movement style. Throughout the book and in the appendixes, Lust incorporates learning programs that cover the use of basic physical and expressive exercises for the entire body. In addition, she provides original solo and group pantomimes; improvisational exercises; examples of plays, fiction, poetry, and songs that may be interpreted with movement; a list of training centers in America and Europe; and an extensive bibliography and videography. With 15 interviews and essays by prominent stage and screen actors, mimes, clowns, dancers, and puppeteers who describe the importance of movement in their art and illustrated with dozens of photos of renowned world companies and artists, Bringing the Body to the Stage and Screen will be a valuable resource for theater teachers and students, as well as anyone engaged in the performing arts.Trade ReviewAuthor Annette Lust has created a volume that may come to be considered a bible of physical theater. The book could take its place in any library of the classics of theater instruction. Information is sorted carefully and folded neatly to fit into a compact tome of under 400 pages—and all of it is packed with gems....The author has laid out a valuable course in the physical theater art form. She presents a history of acting styles that are the precursors to the modern methodologies of the theater of the body....Yet Bringing the Body to the Stage and Screen: Expressive Movement for Performers is far from a purely academic or theoretical book of observations about a way of acting. The author provides the opportunity for a total immersion experience of the craft. There are warm-up routines and a wide range of exercises to engage the actors’ bodies and minds....Nothing about Bringing the Body to the Stage and Screen is hasty or superficial. Author Lust offers the essences of the work in every page. She shows herself to be a teacher in the best sense of the word, a scholar who has the ability to turn her research into practical advice, and a writer whose clear, concise descriptions add significantly to the overall value of her book. * New York Journal of Books *A dense, fascinating and useful book on the key element in performance. This new book...is a trove of information and examples—including exercises, improvisation techniques, original pantomimes, nonverbal acting, mime and physical theater methods, as well as chapters and an appendix on teaching movement and creating a movement education program, plus appendices on resources (schools, festivals, publications, DVDs ...)....Bringing the Body to the Stage and Screen constitutes a generous contribution to the teaching, production and appreciation of the performing arts, both in live performance and those captured on tape and film. * Westside Observer (California) *Lust's extensive knowledge of mime, acting, and pantomime--as presented in her much-lauded From the Greek Mimes to Marcel Marceau and Beyond (CH, Dec'00, 38-2085)--serves as solid background for the present title. Here, Lust (emer., Dominican Univ. of California) expands on her thesis that physical movement is the basis for expressing feelings/emotions required in these arts and that varied movement is necessary for artistic expression in all modes of theater performance. She proposes a training program drawn from theater, mime, pantomime, improvisation, and stage and screen stylized movement--offering a treasure trove of exercises for beginning to intermediate students to introduce them to (or expand their repertoire of) movement skills. The goal is to provide experiences that elicit expressive movement to creatively build on in the future. In part 3 Lust offers essays by and interviews with internationally renowned artists from varied theater forms. These discuss how expressive movement is valued and employed in art practices. In his essay, Dan Kamin explains how Charlie Chaplin mesmerized film audiences with his movement technique; others describe the use of movement in puppetry, mime, acting, film, and clown performance. Appendixes give a wealth of resources (training centers, publications, festivals, DVDs). Summing Up: Highly recommended. * CHOICE *

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Book SynopsisDiaspora studies continue to expand in range and scope and remain fertile terrain for investigating multiple techniques of myth creation in dance performance, history as performance, dramatic narrative, and staged rituals in the field. Similarly, research in postcoloniality, gender/sexuality, intercultural, and literary studies, among others, all engage and feature core components of performance and myth in articulating and understanding their fields. This sharing of similar components also demonstrates the interrelatedness of these fields.In Myth Performance in the African Diasporas: Ritual, Theatre, and Dance, the authors contend that performance traditions across artistic disciplines reveal a sharedif sometimes variedjourney among diasporic artists to reconnect with their African ancestors. The volume begins with a historical and aesthetic overview of how dramatists, choreographers, and performance artists have approached the task of interpreting African myth. The individual chapters reveal how specific artists, dramatists, and choreographers have interpreted African myth and what performative approaches and traditions they have used. Focusing on theatre practitioners from the nineteenth century through the present, the authors examine performative traditions from Canada, the United States, the Caribbean, and Latin America. Drawing upon research in theatre, dance, and literary texts, Myth Performance in the African Diasporas will be crucial to academics interested in African performance viewed through the prism of myth making and spiritual/ritualistic stagings. Besides those interested in diasporic studies, this book will also be useful to scholars and students of history, drama, theatre, and dance.Trade ReviewAccording to Kuwabong's introduction, myths 'are neither true nor false narratives, but [in this book] new revelations of the inner relationships of African Diaspora people with their non-African environments.' The three authors offer two chapters each on wide-ranging topics: historical dramas designed to counter Western imperialism; the presence of òrisà worship in dance; the reimagining of the female African body through the African American gaze; the codification of 'soul' in African-derived dance culture; trickster figures in Caribbean and Brazilian drama that engage myth performance through drama and dance; and mythic return journeys to the motherland that complicate rather than romanticize the relationship between the motherland and her distant children. Olsen's conclusion offers valuable contextualization of this 'series of journeys by writers and artists who strive to understand and embody mythical and historical figures from their reconstructed memory of the past in present Africa.' The strengths of the volume include its working across artistic disciplines; continual connection of identity, practice, and praxis in the diaspora to the motherland; and solid theorizing. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above. * CHOICE *The essays relating to dance . . . offer compelling arguments for connecting specific African, here Yoruba, aesthetics with that of African American patterns. . . .On the whole, this collection is an enlightening and well-edited exploration into twenty-first-century diasporic critical praxis, where performance and myth in older and more contemporary subjects are combined into an effective whole. * Research in African Literatures *

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Book SynopsisWhen World War II was over, a young bomber pilot with an itch for movement and action hung up his cap and learned another way to fly. Onstage with Martha Graham is the story of Stuart Hodes, a versatile and influential dancer who got his start with Martha Graham, an icon of modern dance.Table of Contents Foreword Preface 1. Airborne 2. Moves 3. Dance Lessons 4. The Green Tours 5. TKO'd in Paris and London 6. Drink the Sky 7. With Watchers 8. The Grand Tour 9. Asia 10. A Dancing Fool 11. Post-Martha Syndrome Afterword Acknowledgments Index

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Book SynopsisA premiere choreographer's compelling argument for the agency of the body in creative processes.

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Book SynopsisRenowned Korean American modern-dance choreographer Dana Tai Soon Burgess shares his deeply personal hyphenated world and how his multifaceted background drives his prolific art-making. This insightful journey delves into an artist’s process that is inspired by the intersection of varying cultural perspectives, stories, and experiences.Trade ReviewA deft weaving of the author's experience with self-discovery as he realizes a life as a dancer and artist."--El Palacio"Burgess makes art with movement. His memoir illuminates how he has navigated his hyphenated world as a gay Asian American man and his metamorphosis as an artist. Finding strength in diversity, his artmaking brings multiculturalism, social justice, and equity to the forefront in the universal language of dance. His voice is honest, open, and important."--George Takei "Dana Tai Soon Burgess has written a memoir as intimate, delicate, and, ultimately, beautiful as the dances he creates. Anyone interested in how an artist develops should read this book."--Michael M. Kaiser, president emeritus of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts "Dana Tai Soon Burgess is a spellbinding storyteller in words no less than movement. With this memoir, he entrances readers as he has so long entranced audiences, with scene after scene of an extraordinary and transformative life."--Susan Choi, author of Trust Exercise: A Novel"An inspiring journey of an Asian American artist's transformation from truly humble beginnings to become one of the most distinct voices in American modern dance. Dana Tai Soon Burgess shares the experiences that shaped him as a performer and choreographer, from his encounters with famous artists to his creative challenges, writing with grace, humor, and insight."--Laurel Victoria Gray, founder of the award-winning Silk Road Dance Company"With wonder, appreciation, and self-deprecating humor, choreographer Dana Tai Soon Burgess recalls how he became a dancer and founded his distinctively Asian American dance company. The book describes how dance, evoked by the flight of the monarch butterfly, can serve as the key to a fully lived life; the migrations of the monarchs symbolize the movement, transformation, and beauty of a life in the arts and a lifetime of learning and teaching."--Patricia P. Chu, author of Where I Have Never Been: Migration, Melancholia, and Memory in Asian American Narratives of Return

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Book SynopsisThe Hawkins dance technique embodies the philosophy that dance should integrate the body, mind, and soul while always following scientific principles. This system of dance trainingâan approach that continues to influence dancers around the worldâis examined through a variety of illustrations. Photographs of dancers illustrate the technique in action. Drawings demonstrate the relationship between movements of the body and everyday objects, such as the similarities between a spiral action of the spine and a barberâs pole or winding staircase. This vibrant text examines Hawkinsâs originality, philosophical thinking, and teaching methods.

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