Dance Books

Book SynopsisDominic Johnson is Senior Lecturer in Drama at Queen Mary, University of London. He is Assistant Editor of Contemporary Theatre Review and is the author of Glorious Catastrophe: Jack Smith, Performance and Visual Culture and Theatre and the Visual.

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Book SynopsisAnthony Frost is Director of the University of East Anglia Studio and Course Director for Scriptwriting and Performance at the University of East Anglia, UK. He has devised and co-written a number of full-length plays, and taught in Germany and America. His previous publications include the edited volume Theatre Theories (2000). Ralph Yarrow is Professor Emeritus of Drama and Comparative Literature at the University of East Anglia, UK. He has directed over 60 productions, acted in many others and conducted workshops in the UK, Germany, India and South Africa. His publications include Indian Theatre and Lecoq in Britain (edited with Franc Chamberlain).Trade Review'A much more wide-ranging and inclusive book than any I have used in teaching improvisation.' - Dr Barbara McKean, University of Arizona, USATable of ContentsAcknowledgements Introduction and Preface to the Third Edition PART I: WHO? MAJOR PRACTITIONERS OF IMPROVISATION Improvisation in training, rehearsal practice and writing (Europe and the UK) The improv scene (USA) Improvisation in the creation of new modes of performance Improvisations for change: 'Paratheatre', participation and performance work beyond the stage PART II: WHAT? THE PRACTICE OF IMPROVISATION: IMPROVISATION EXERCISES Preparation Working together Moving towards performance Improvisation for Scene-Building PART III: WHY? THE MEANINGS OF IMPROVISATION: TOWARDS A POETICS Enriching the communication of meaning Meaning and performance Notes Bibliography Index.

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Book SynopsisTen international dramaturg-scholars advance proposals that reset notions of agency in contemporary dance creation. Dramaturgy becomes driven by artistic inquiry, distributed among collaborating artists, embedded in improvisation tasks, or weaved through audience engagement, and the dramaturg becomes a facilitator of dramaturgical awareness.Trade Review“The book is a dynamic and engaging ‘performance lab’ for dramaturgs, dancers, and choreographers interested in the field of dance dramaturgy. … There is little doubt that Hansen and Callison have curated an anthology that will be a touchstone for our field.” (Jess Applebaum, Dance Research Journal, Vol. 49 (3), December, 2017)“The collection includes nine compelling essays and an overview from Hansen that serves to outline the (fuzzy, porous, kinetic) contours of dance dramaturgy in the twenty-first century. The essays describe the dance dramaturg using various theoretical and practical models practiced by the authors. Dance Dramaturgy, like most essay collections, necessarily offers breadth, touching down rather than diving deep into its subject … . This study offers much to consider for scholars, practitioners, and educators alike.” (Ariel Nereson, Theatre Journal, Vol. 69 (1), March, 2017)Table of Contents1. Introduction; Pil HansenPART I: AGENCY2. Propensity: Pragmatics and Functions of Dramaturgy in Contemporary Dance; Bojana Bauer3. Errancy as Work: Seven Strewn Notes for Dance Dramaturgy; André Lepecki4. Thinking No-One's Thought; Maaike BleekerPART II: AWARENESS5. Distributed Dramaturgies: Navigating with Boundary Objects; Freya Vass-Rhee6. Improvisation Practices and Dramaturgical Consciousness: A workshop; Vida L. Midgelow7. The Dramaturgy of Performance Generating Systems; Pil HansenPART III: ENGAGEMENT8. Field Notes: In the Studio with Ralph Lemon and Donald Byrd; Katherine Profeta and Thomas F. DeFrantz9. Dance Dramaturgy as a Process of Learning: koosil-ja's mech[a]OUTPUT; Nanako Nakajima with performing koosil-ja10. Dance Presenting and Dramaturgy; Bonnie BrooksIndex

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Book SynopsisJon Davison has been a clown, teacher, director, actor and writer for the last 30 years. He trained at the École Philippe Gaulier (London) and Fool Time Circus School (Bristol). He holds an MA in Practice as Research from the University of Kent and was an AHRC-funded Creative Fellow at Central School of Speech and Drama in London, investigating Clown/Actor Training, where he is now Visiting Lecturer in Clowning. He performs internationally as a clown with the company 'Companyia d'Idiotes', and was a co-founder in 2006 of the Escola de Clown de Barcelona, where he developed the first ever Clown Theory and History unit, and where he is now co-Director of Studies, responsible for the design and development of full-time training programmes. He is the author of Clown: Readings in Theatre Practice.

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