Description
Book Synopsis
This is the definitive resource for understanding and practicing the influential dance technique developed by two pioneers of modern dance, Alwin Nikolais and Murray Louis.
The Nikolais/Louis Dance Technique is presented in a week-to-week classroom manual, providing an indispensable tool for teachers and students of this widely studied movement practice. Theoretical background for further reading is set off from the manual for those interested in deeper study. Their philosophy and methodology span a broad readership and offer an important addition to dance literature and American cultural history.
Table of Contents
Biography of Alwin Nikolais, Biography of Murray Louis, Introduction, SECTION I Definitions, Basic Dance, Vision of a New Technique , Decentralization , Grain , Gravity and Verticality, The Psyche, Stasis, Dynamics and Energies, Sensory Perception, Movement Range, Three Conditions of Energy, SECTION II Creating Improvisation and Composition, Defining Improvisation, Gestalt, Nature and Art , The Language of Criticism, Composition, SECTION III The Class Manual, Introduction to the Classes, The Body as an Instrument, The Dimensional Concept, Alignment, The Stretches, Up and Down Vertical The Plié, Across the Floor, Week 1 Locomotion and Dimensions, Week 2— Isolating Body Parts (Isolations), Week 3— Body Parts (Continued), Week 4 Levels, Week 5 The Joints and Joint Action, Week 6 Rotary Action, Week 7 Grain and Density , Week 8— Gravity and Upward Willpower, Week 9— Swing, Centripetal, and Centrifugal Momentum, Week 10 Undercurves, Week 11 Overcurves and Mirror Action, Major Principles of Dance (The Big Four), Week 12 Space Volume and Peripheral, Week 13 Time, Week 14 Shape, Motion, Week 15— Motion, Week 16— Abstraction, Week 17— Review Technique, Week 18 Realism to Abstraction, Week 19 Diagonals, Week 20 Circles, Week 21 Falls, Week 22 Suspension Points, Week 23 Percussion and Prop Extension, Week 24 Lyricism, Adjuncts to Choreographic and Performing Skills, Week 25 The Showing: Performance, Consonance and Summation, A Brief Review
