Moving History/Dancing Cultures: A Dance History Reader PDF
Preview Moving History/Dancing Cultures: A Dance History Reader
moving history / dancing cultures moving history / dancing cultures A D A N C E H I S T O R Y R E A D E R Edited by ann dils & ann cooper albright Wesleyan University Press / Middletown, Connecticut Published by Wesleyan University Press, Middletown, CT 06459 www.wesleyan.edu/wespress © 2001 by Wesleyan University Press All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 isbn for the paperback edition: 978–0–8195–6413–9 Design & composition by Chris Crochetière, B. Williams & Associates, Durham, North Carolina Title page photo: Ruth St. Denis in Radha (1906). Reprinted courtesy of the Dance Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations. Wesleyan University Press is a member of the Green Press Initiative. The paper used in this book meets their minimum requirements for recycled paper. library of congress cataloging-in-publication data Moving history, dancing cultures : a dance history reader / Ann Dils & Ann Cooper Albright, [editors]. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn 0-8195-6412-5 (cloth : alk. paper) — isbn 0-8195-6413-3 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Dance—History. I. Dils, Ann. II. Albright, Ann Cooper. gv1601 .m86 2001 792.8'09—dc21 2001023549 Cover photograph: Companhia Clara Andermatt, Uma Historia Da Duvida (A History of Doubt), choreographer, Clara Andermatt, photo by Jorge Goncalves P icture this: as the summer wanes, dance teachers across the nation are bent over the photocopier frantically trying to assemble packets for their dance history classes. In an effort to avoid the perennial ques- tion of whether to photocopy or not to photocopy (or at least to reduce the quantity of copying), the editors of this reader have tried to assemble a collection of arti- cles and essays that will serve a variety of undergradu- ate dance history courses. Our goal was to make some- thing useful—to make a book that stimulated teachers and students alike. We wanted to make a reader that would show students that dance too was an intellectual discipline (see, it’s available in the textbook section), one that would guide them into new ways of thinking creatively about what they were engaged in practicing. Obviously, any project this extensive required the support, help, and advice of many people. The begin- nings of this collection lie in the countless conversa- tions we have had with dance teachers over the past six years about the need for an undergraduate reader. We appreciate the generous advice and shared syllabi of the many scholars who helped shape this project. Thanks to the participants of the Congress on Research in Dance conference who filled out our questionnaire and responded with enthusiasm to the idea of this reader. Thanks also go to members of the Dance History Teachers Discussion Group and e-mail discussion list, marvelously facilitated by Tricia Henry Young and sponsored by the Florida State University Department of Dance, and to scholars who shared their ideas at CORD and Society of Dance History Scholars confer- ences. Their kindness helped us face the daunting task of selecting the readings. This project, however, would have remained in the realm of the theoretical if we had not had the support of Suzanna Tamminen, editor-in-chief of Wesleyan University Press. Over the years that she has been at Wesleyan, Suzanna has worked tirelessly to create a dance series that is both intellectually stimulating and accessible to readers throughout the dance field. Her enthusiasm for this project reflects her commitment to expanding dance literacy within all levels of higher ed- ucation. In addition to our editor’s support, we wish to acknowledge the importance of Rachel Wheeler’s con- tribution. As an editorial assistant, Rachel worked many hours paving the way for this project to go to press by researching and obtaining the various permis- sions needed. Thanks to the Dean’s Office at Oberlin College and the Ohio Arts Council for supporting this reader in various ways. Thanks also to faculty of the Depart- ment of Dance, School of Health and Human Perfor- mance, University of North Carolina at Greensboro (Susan W. Stinson, chair, and Robert Christina, dean); and to the Research Grants Committee and the Office of Research Services, University of North Carolina at Greensboro (Beverly Maddox-Britt, director), for their support of this project. Ann Dils thanks students in the Department of Dance, University of North Caro- lina at Greensboro, for their many contributions. Stephanie Barkley, Julie Boulton, Amanda Kinzer, Julie Mayo, Karen Mozingo, Jennifer Oldham, Douglas Risner, Melissa J. Saint Amour, Amy Jo Smith, and Lauren Tepper were especially helpful in preparing this volume. Ann Cooper Albright would like to acknowl- edge the assistance of Carolyn Husted, Jason Miller, v acknowledgments vi \ Moving History / Dancing Cultures and Abby Rasminsky, as well as the intellectual contri- butions of students in her dance history classes at Oberlin College. Finally, the editors want to thank their families for putting up with crazy schedules and absent moms. Jahan, Mitra, and Cully Salehi were especially patient with the process, as were Cyrus Cooper Newlin and Isabel Albright Newlin. A very special acknowledg- ment goes to Thomas Newlin, whose intellectual and emotional support has reached out to catch the pieces in so many different areas. These people are the ground for our various flights of plain and fancy. vii List of Illustrations x Ann Dils and Ann Cooper Albright First Steps: Moving into the Study of Dance History xiii PART I—Thinking about Dance History: Theories and Practices Ann Dils and Ann Cooper Albright The Pleasures of Studying Dance History Deborah Jowitt Beyond Description: Writing beneath the Surface Joan Acocella Imagining Dance Millicent Hodson Searching for Nijinsky’s Sacre Deidre Sklar Five Premises for a Culturally Sensitive Approach to Dance Joann Kealiinohomoku An Anthropologist Looks at Ballet as a Form of Ethnic Dance Ramsay Burt The Trouble with the Male Dancer . . . Ann Cooper Albright Strategic Abilities: Negotiating the Disabled Body in Dance Sally Ann Ness Dancing in the Field: Notes from Memory Further Readings PART II—World Dance Traditions Ann Dils and Ann Cooper Albright Looking at World Dance Erika Bourguignon Trance and Ecstatic Dance Avanthi Meduri Bharatha Natyam—What Are You? Lisa Doolittle and Medicine of the Brave: A Look at the Changing Role of Dance in Native Heather Elton Culture from the Buffalo Days to the Modern Powwow Shawna Helland The Belly Dance: Ancient Ritual to Cabaret Performance Karin van Nieuwkerk Changing Images and Shifting Identities: Female Performers in Egypt Kariamu Welsh Asante Commonalties in African Dance: An Aesthetic Foundation Z. S. Strother Invention and Reinvention in the Traditional Arts Barbara Browning Headspin: Capoeira’s Ironic Inversions Lee Kyong-hee Epitome of Korean Folk Dance Judy Van Zile The Many Faces of Korean Dance contents REDACTED REDACTED viii \ Contents Mark Franko Writing Dancing, 1573 Catherine Turocy Beyond La Danse Noble: Conventions in Choreography and Dance Performance at the Time of Rameau’s Hippolyte et Aricie Lynn Garafola The Travesty Dancer in Nineteenth-Century Ballet Susan Allene Manning and Melissa Benson Interrupted Continuities: Modern Dance in Germany Further Readings PART III—America Dancing Ann Dils and Ann Cooper Albright Historical Moments: Rethinking the Past Sharyn R. Udall The Irresistible Other: Hopi Ritual Drama and Euro-American Audiences Marian Hannah Winter Juba and American Minstrelsy Jane Desmond Dancing Out the Difference: Cultural Imperialism and Ruth St. Denis’s Radha of 1906 Julie Malnig Two-Stepping to Glory: Social Dance and the Rhetoric of Social Mobility Ann Daly The Natural Body Deborah Jowitt Form as the Image of Human Perfectibility and Natural Order Marcia B. Siegel The Harsh and Splendid Heroines of Martha Graham Ellen Graff The Dance Is a Weapon Nancy Reynolds In His Image: Diaghilev and Lincoln Kirstein Brenda Dixon Gottschild Stripping the Emperor: The Africanist Presence in American Concert Dance Thomas DeFrantz Simmering Passivity: The Black Male Body in Concert Dance Sally Banes Choreographic Methods of the Judson Dance Theater Deborah Jowitt Chance Heroes Further Readings PART IV—Contemporary Dance: Global Contexts Ann Dils and Ann Cooper Albright Moving Contexts Bonnie Sue Stein Butoh: “Twenty Years Ago We Were Crazy, Dirty, and Mad” Kathleen Foreman Dancing on the Endangered List: Aesthetics and Politics of Indigenous Dance in the Philippines Ananya Chatterjea Chandralekha: Negotiating the Female Body and Movement in Cultural/Political Signification REDACTED REDACTED REDACTED Contents / ix Uttara Coorlawala Ananya and Chandralekha—A Response to “Chandralekha: Negotiating the Female Body and Movement in Cultural/Political Signification” Cynthia Jean Cohen Bull Looking at Movement as Culture: Contact Improvisation to Disco Peter Ryan 10,000 Jams Later: Contact Improvisation in Canada 1974–95 Steve Paxton Improvisation Is a Word for Something That Can’t Keep a Name Susan Leigh Foster Simply(?) the Doing of It, Like Two Arms Going Round and Round Ann Cooper Albright Embodying History: Epic Narrative and Cultural Identity in African American Dance Richard Povall A Little Technology Is a Dangerous Thing Lisa Marie Naugle Technique/Technology/Technique Ann Dils Absent/Presence Further Readings About the Contributors Permissions Index . Mark Dendy as “Martha, the Priestess” in Dream Analysis xii . Merrill Ashley dancing Square Dance . Drawings of dances from Le Sacre du Printemps . Sketches of “Augurs of Spring—Dance of the Maidens” from Le Sacre du Printemps . Sketch of one of Roerich’s costumes for the original production of Le Sacre du Printemps . Notation of floor patterns from Le Sacre du Printemps . “The unpleasant thing about a danseuse is that she sometimes brings along a male dancer.” . Ann Cooper Albright performing a dance about disability . Avanthi Meduri performing “Woman looking at herself in a mirror” . Indian boy at Kainai Indian Days . Headpiece for the mask Gindongo (gi)tshi? . Gambetshi Kivule performs the mask Gindongo (gi)tshi? . Mukedi of Ngunda performs Matala, the modern young man, at the “Festival de Gungu” . The nun’s dance, symbolizing the Korean traditional concept of harmony between heaven and earth . The nun’s dance, encompassing the full range of sentiments innate in human beings . A geometrical figure from “Chorea nympharum” in Le Balet des Polonais . The New York Baroque Dance Company in El Sarao de Venus a and b. Dream Figure and Space Shape from Mary Wigman’s Visions cycle . Valeska Gert . The Green Table a and b. Aerial shot of the Olympic stadium, Berlin; view of dancers on the field . Pina Bausch’s He Takes Her by the Hand and Leads Her into the Castle, the Others Follow . Snake Dance of the Moquis Pueblo of Hualpi by Alexander F. Harmer . Walpi Snake Dance by William P. Henderson illustrations REDACTED REDACTED REDACTED REDACTED REDACTED Illustrations / xi . Ruth St. Denis in Radha . Irene Castle in a typical dance dress of the period . American social dancing, a and b. Reclining figure from the East Pediment of the Parthenon; Isadora Duncan . Dances of Women . Dionysiaques . Color Harmony . Drawings of dance by Elizabeth Selden . Soloists of the Workers Dance League . Earl “Snake Hips” Tucker a and b. Kazuo Ohno, in his tribute to the dancer La Argentina . Drag Walk from Sri by Chandralekha . Chandralekha . Contact improvisers warming up . Disco dancers . Urban Bush Women in Bones and Ash: A Gilda Story . Still from Ghostcatching, by Bill T. Jones, Paul Kaiser, and Shelley Eshkar REDACTED REDACTED REDACTED . Mark Dendy as “Martha, the Priestess” in Dream Analysis. Photo by Phyllis Graber Jensen. C horeographer Mark Dendy makes dance histori- ans smile. A seriously tongue-in-cheek dance his- tory buff, his dances mine the riches of early modern and social dance forms. Sometimes these works are personal histories, sometimes they are parodies, but al- ways they relay the importance of moving history from the books to the stage. One of his most recent works, I’m Going to My Room to Be Cool Now, and I Don’t Want to Be Disturbed, is a pop-inspired, semiautobiographi- cal dance suite about coming of age in the s. Set to songs by artists such as Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Ike and Tina Turner, and Patti Smith, the dance presents social dancing as a safe way to experiment with differ- ent identities. It is a place to play with the expression of sexuality, to act out frustrations and feelings, and to try out new (hipper?) ways of being. Dendy also pre- sents dancing as transformative. Dancing can give you hope in a hopeless situation, it can help you find com- munity, it can be fun, doing it well can make you—as it has made Dendy and his dancers—a star. Dendy’s I’m Going to My Room . . . combines histor- ical revisioning with a remarkable eye for intriguing movement and fashion detail. If this dance and other Dendy dances (such as Dream Analysis, featuring dual drag Martha Grahams and dual Vaslav Nijinskys, and his recent remake of Swan Lake for a German ballet company) weren’t enough to demonstrate his commit- ment to history, he is also engaging and articulate about his affection for and artistic debt to dance his- tory. In a talk after the June , performance of I’m Going to My Room . . . at the American Dance Festival, Dendy remarked that his most important choreographic inspiration arrived via Graham’s film, A Dancer’s World, shown in a dance history class at the North Carolina School for the Arts. As a teenager, he loved Graham’s divadom. She was a woman in female drag, and her unflinching stare, combined with her overblown, deadly serious discussion about dancers as chosen people—as acrobats of God—inspired both his spiritual reverence and his sweet yet campy imperson- ation of her grandiose style. For Dendy, dancing is a kind of contemporary ritual. It is a spiritual opportu- nity to share energy, join in a sense of communitas, and to connect to one’s movement ancestors. He is also acutely aware of critical issues surrounding the display of dancing bodies and the ways in which meaning gets constructed on the stage. Thus, Dendy’s dances rarely simply repeat history; rather, they recast figures from dance history in order to speak to a contemporary sensibility. As an example of (re)embodying history, Dendy’s recent work is remarkable—indeed, memorable—for its demonstration of how history reverberates, how it can be artistically and intellectually engaging to dancers now. Dendy personalizes his dance legacies, making them a vital part of his current performance life. In addition to validating and celebrating the use of the past as a source of inspiration and movement mate- rial, Dendy makes clear to his audience how these events sit with him, live with him, provide a way of xiii First Steps: Moving into the Study of Dance History xiv \ Moving History / Dancing Cultures knowing himself. Any historian would recognize this interconnectedness of past and present. Although their style and chosen media may differ from Dendy’s, the writers in this volume share with Mark Dendy a personal commitment to the subject of dance history and a fervent belief that studying dances from other times and cultures can enrich and enliven our own dance practices and artistic visions. As we re- searched, edited, and prepared the contents of this book, we looked to shape a dance history reader that would demonstrate how the study of dance can be both intellectually and physically inspiring for today’s students. Like Dendy, we are enthusiastic about the creative potential embedded in historical inquiry. While we come to dance from different intellectual and physical perspectives, each of us has had deeply significant and transformative experiences researching, writing, and living other movement histories. To be caught up in a desire to learn more about a particular dancing culture or historical period is one of the most satisfying physical sensations available to dancers. Yes, physical—for dance, even as a historical study, is al- ways first a physical activity. For this reason, we have endeavored to create a text that speaks to both the bod- ies and the minds of undergraduate dancers. Mark Dendy may dance at the most energized edge of dance history thought and practice, but his work underscores several points important to this volume: . Dance historians are a diverse group of artists, jour- nalists, and academics involved in the study of dance as a cultural as well as an aesthetic practice. This means that we have enlarged our interpreta- tion of historical discourse to encompass studies that approach dance from a variety of disciplines, including anthropology, ethnography, the study of art and architecture, literary and cultural studies, feminist theory, and performance studies. . Dance history is not a historical record set in stone or even in print, but an evolving discussion about the past that can take on many shapes (performed, written, personal testimony, or public manifesto) and can happen as memoir, biography, dance criti- cism, ethnography, and research compilation, as well as cultural or critical histories. . The study of the past, whether that means studying a dance form from a thousand years ago, a choreog- rapher working a hundred years ago, or a dance concert seen last week, is simultaneously of and about past and present. We encourage a passionate approach to the production of knowledge, for the strength of our understanding of the past relies upon the commitment with which we engage the present. Our sense of dance history as a field of in- quiry changes as scholars bring new aspects of dance history to our attention and as current issues in the dance world create an interest in different as- pects of the past. . The ultimate reward of dance history is that it is useful. This does not mean that we “use” the past, unfairly plundering or misinterpreting past lives and events and misrepresenting history in order to validate our own agendas. Dance historians study the past to illuminate people’s lives, explicate past dance practices, and understand the complex inter- connections between bodies, movement, and other social practices that are a result of specific cultural beliefs and epistemological frameworks. Dancing is a way of knowing the world. History helps us rec- ognize that fact. For dancers, the usefulness of the past is that it pro- vides us with inspiring legacies, helps us to clarify our own choreographic visions, gives us a sense of continuity and belonging, and allows us to see our field with a tempered, critical eye. Indeed, the study of dance history can help us see how movement both reflects and shapes important questions within many cultures about identity, the making of community, aesthetic beauty, the physical training of bodies, economic productivity, and the dis- tribution of power within social groups.
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