Dancing Through History

by Cass, Joan

• ISBN13: 9780132043892
• ISBN10: 0132043890
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1993-03-23
• Publisher: Pearson

Summary

Setting dance within a cultural context that is both understandable and interesting, this insightful reference captures the true art form of dance and traces the activity of dance as it existed down through the ages and all over the world.Beginning with the origins of dance and moving on to what takes place on Western dance stages today, this volume offers a sweeping overview of primitive, ethnic, and folk dance forms ... examines the major branches of Western dance art including ballet from its inception in 16th century Europe, modern dance, jazz, avant-garde, and the international eclectic contemporary scene ... tracks the repertory, technical training of performers, and creative theory of the many traditions that unify this art form ... includes discussions of significant dancers, their contributions, and the performers that inspired them; the background of period styles; pertinent ideas of major choreographers; capsule biographies of outstanding dance artists; effects of music and design on choreography; national characteristics of dance; the psychology of performers; and coverage on such concepts as Classic, Romantic, and Avant-garde to clarify trends and invoke thought on the Dance Art and society ... and makes many comparisons to current day events.Suitable for anyone involved or interested in dance history.

Table of Contents

Preface
World Overview: The Dance of Life
Prologue: A Historical Sense of Direction
Tribal Rites	p. 1
The Life of Stone Age Man	p. 1
Dance in Tribal Societies	p. 9
Forms of Ritual Dance	p. 9
Tribal Culture and the Modern World	p. 14
Asian Ceremonies	p. 20
Oriental Dance, Past and Present	p. 20
Early Mediterranean Civilizations	p. 30
Our Dancing Ancestors	p. 30
Folk Dance Development in Medieval Europe and Today	p. 38
The Church versus Secular Dance	p. 38
European Ballet Tours
Noble Beginnings	p. 50
Aristocratic Entertainment 1300 to 1600	p. 50
Court Spectacles	p. 63
France, England, Italy, from the 1530s to 1640s	p. 63
The Sun King Dances	p. 75
French Royal Ballet from 1650 to 1700s	p. 75
Entrechats and Revolutions	p. 84
Professional Ballet 1714 to 1789	p. 84
Historical Paradoxes	p. 95
Art and Society in France from 1789 to 1820	p. 95
Romantic Ballet	p. 101
The Taglioni Influence	p. 101
Exotic Voyages	p. 116
The Impact of Fanny Elssler	p. 116
Giselle	p. 122
Timeless Romantic Ballet	p. 122
Travelogue	p. 132
From Bournonville in Denmark to Coppelia in France	p. 132
Russian Imperial Heights	p. 142
The Age of Petipa	p. 142
Experiments in Entertainment	p. 159
Sergei Diaghilev and the Ballet Russes	p. 159
International Regrouping	p. 180
European Ballet from 1929 to 1945	p. 180
British Taste and Manners	p. 186
Ballet in England from 1910 to the Present	p. 186
Reprise	p. 204
European Ballet After Four Hundred Years	p. 204
Dance in America
In The Beginning	p. 210
American Dance up to the 1900s	p. 210
Modern Dance Creations	p. 224
Isadora Duncan and Forerunners	p. 224
Denishawn	p. 236
From Sacred Dance to Jacob's Pillow	p. 236
German Detour	p. 246
European Modern Dance	p. 246
Towering Genius of Psychodrama	p. 254
Martha Graham	p. 254
Humanists	p. 270
Humphrey Weidman	p. 270
Impressive Figures	p. 284
Tamiris, Horton and Lewitzky	p. 284
Mid-Century Modern Dance	p. 292
Anna Sokolow and Jose Limon	p. 292
Afro-American Dancers	p. 301
Jazz Beat	p. 301
Revival of American Ballet	p. 315
New York City Ballet, from the 1930s to the Present	p. 315
The Many Styles of American Ballet	p. 324
American Ballet from the 1930s to the Present	p. 324
Bodies in Motion	p. 341
Merce Cunningham and Alwin Nikolais	p. 341
Movement Abstractions and Beyond	p. 355
Major Figures of the Avant-Garde	p. 355
Epilogue: The Judgment of History	p. 367
Bibliography	p. 372
Index	p. 376
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.