The Body Eclectic

by Bales, Melanie

• ISBN13: 9780252032622
• ISBN10: 0252032624
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-02-08
• Publisher: Univ of Illinois Pr

Summary

This rich collection of essays and interviews explores modern-dance technique training from the last fifty years. Focusing on the culture of dance, editors Melanie Bales and Rebecca Nettl-Fiol examine choreographic process and style, dancer agency and participation in the creative process, and changes in the role and purpose of training. Bringing recent writings on dance into dialogue with dance practice, The Body Eclectic: Evolving Practices in Dance Training asks readers to consider the relationship between training practices and choreographic style and content. The contributors explore how technique training both guides and reflects the art of dance. Contributors include Melanie Bales, Glenna Batson, Wendell Beavers, Veronica Dittman, Natalie Gilbert, Josh Monten, Martha Myers, and Rebecca Nettl-Fiol. Dance professionals interviewed include David Dorfman, Ralph Lemon, Bebe Miller, Tere Ors"Connor, and Shelley Washington.

Author Biography

Melanie Bales is an associate professor of dance at Ohio State University. An expert in Laban Movement Analysis, she is also a performer and choreographer.  Rebecca Nettl-Fiol is an associate professor of dance at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, a choreographer, and an Alexander Technique specialist.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Deconstruction and Bricolage, and Other Themes of the Post-Judson Era	p. 1
Bricolage
A Dancing Dialectic	p. 10
A New York Dancer	p. 22
Training as the Medium Through Which	p. 28
A Dance-Musician's Perspective: An Interview with Natalie Gilbert	p. 43
Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed	p. 52
Ballet for the Post-Judson Dancer	p. 68
Deconstruction
Somatics: An Interview with Martha Myers	p. 89
First It Was Dancing	p. 101
Re-Locating Technique	p. 126
Teaching Alignment	p. 134
Falling, Releasing, and Post-Judson Dance	p. 153
Training stories
Training Stories
Chris Aiken	p. 170
David Dorfman	p. 176
Kathleen Fisher	p. 184
Karen Graham	p. 188
Mark Haim	p. 193
Angie Hauser	p. 197
Sara Hook	p. 205
Irene Hultman	p. 210
Stephen Koester	p. 215
Ralph Lemon	p. 219
Bebe Miller	p. 224
Tere O'Connor	p. 229
Cynthia Oliver	p. 231
Janet Panetta	p. 236
Kraig Patterson	p. 240
Shelley Washington	p. 245
Contributors	p. 251
Index	p. 255
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