Improvised Dance: (In)Corporeal Knowledges PDF
Preview Improvised Dance: (In)Corporeal Knowledges
IMPROVISED DANCE This book elucidates the technical aspects of improvised dance performance and reframes the notion of labour in the practice from one that is either based on compositionally formal logic or a mysterious impulse, to one that addresses the (in)corporeal dimensions of practice. Mobilising the languages and conceptual frameworks of theories of affect, embodied cognition, somatics, and dance, this book illustrates the work of spe- cialist improvisers who occupy divergent positions within the complex field of improvised dance. It offers an alternative narrative of the history and current prac- tice of Western improvised dance centred on the epistemology of its (in)corporeal knowledges, which are elusive yet vital to the refinement of expertise. Written for both a disciplinary-specific and interdisciplinary audience, this book will interest dance scholars, students, and practising artists. Nalina Wait is a dance artist and pracademic currently lecturing at the Aus- tralian College of Physical Education. She is of Irish settler descent and lives on Gadigal Country in Eora, Sydney. Her interests are the practice and performance of dance improvisation, somatics, and the cultivation of somatic intelligence. IMPROVISED DANCE (In)Corporeal Knowledges Nalina Wait Designed cover image: Nalina Wait in Sue Healey’s The Curiosities, 2009. Photo by Heidrun Löhr. First published 2023 by Routledge 4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2023 Nalina Wait The right of Nalina Wait to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Wait, Nalina, author. Title: Improvised dance : (in)corporeal knowledges / Nalina Wait. Description: First Edition. | New York : Routledge, 2023. | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2022053067 (print) | LCCN 2022053068 (ebook) | ISBN 9781032438276 (Hardcover) | ISBN 9781032438283 (Paperback) | ISBN 9781003369011 (eBook) Subjects: LCSH: Improvisation in dance. Classification: LCC GV1781.2 .W35 2023 (print) | LCC GV1781.2 (ebook) | DDC 792.8--dc23/eng/20230109 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022053067 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022053068 ISBN: 978-1-032-43827-6 (hbk) ISBN: 978-1-032-43828-3 (pbk) ISBN: 978-1-003-36901-1 (ebk) DOI: 10.4324/9781003369011 Typeset in Bembo by KnowledgeWorks Global Ltd. For Mary and George, and Lizzie. CONTENTS List of Figures x Credit List xi Acknowledgements xii 1 Western Improvised Dance: Practices, Pedagogies, and Language 1 Introduction 1 What is improvised performance in contemporary dance? 2 The rise of improvisation 4 An overview of improvisation theory 6 Theorising forces through a lineage of practice 7 Documenting corporeal knowledges 10 Asserting improvisational (in)corporeal knowledges 12 Dancing subject-object 16 Philosophical interiority via affect theory 19 Contingency methods 20 2 Dewey and the Pre-History of Western Improvisation 39 Introduction 39 H’Doubler, Dewey, and alternative science at Columbia 42 H’Doubler’s Deweyan approach to dance pedagogy 43 Natural movement 44 Feeling tones of physical origin 46 Affective phase of movement 48 Dewey and Ethics 50 viii Contents Alternative sciences, institutional recognition, and divergence 51 Halprin 53 3 Embodied Consciousness 64 Introduction 64 Embodied consciousness 66 Thinking-through-the-body 69 The body’s mind 77 Conclusion 83 4 Resonance of Affect and Immanent Evaluation 90 Introduction 90 Affect and improvisation 93 Training and habit 100 Style and tone 102 Immanent evaluation 106 Science, affect, and sympathetic resonance 108 Conclusion 110 5 The Aesthetics of an Ethics of Being 116 Introduction 116 Spinoza’s Ethics 120 Eva Karczag: moving and allowing one’s self to be moved 126 Ethical actions 133 6 Cultivating Movement Systems 142 Introduction 142 The “Forsythe aesthetic” 145 Post-control choreography 148 Riley Watts: pattern-seeking 153 Complex relational situation 157 Nicole Peisl: polarities supporting a field of tension 159 Circulation of affective forces 163 7 Prohibitive and Emancipative Self-Surveillance 170 Introduction 170 Self-observation 172 Ideokinesis 174 Emancipative and prohibitive self-surveillance 175 Contents ix Anatomical truth 179 Dissolving binaries to innovate improvisation 184 Listening to body-mind and composing improvisation 186 Authentic Movement 190 Conclusion 194 Glossary 202 Index 216
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