Introduction
Part I: Pathos Formulas. Body-Image and Danced Figuration
1. Dance in the Museum: Body and Memory
2. Patterns of Femininity and the Body-Image of Dance
3. Delirium of Movement and Trance Dance
4. The Dancer as Muse
Part II: Topos Formulas. Dance Movement and Figuration of Space
1. Dance Costume and Movement Space: Spatial Formulas and their
Metamorphoses into Fabric
2. Dance-Text. Transformations of Choreography
3. Aerodance. Futurist Dance and Aviation
4. Writing Dance and Spatial Writing. Between Alphabet and Topos
Formula
5. Interruption Intermediality and Disjunction in the Movement
Concepts of Avant-garde Dance and Theater
Conclusion
Bibliography
Index
A scholar of widespread international recognition, Gabriele Brandstetter is Professor for Theatre and Dance Studies at the Freie Universität Berlin, where she founded and directs the Centre for Movement Studies. She is also co-director of the International Research Center "Interweaving Performance Cultures". She is author of three scholarly books and editor or co-editor of ten scholarly books on dance and movement.
"Poetics of Dance presents a foundational and original way of
thinking about dance while also offering a radical re-evaluation of
early twentieth century modernism across dance, literature,
theater, and the visual arts. Brandstetter's brilliantly conceived
approach to dance analysis foregrounds the intertextual connections
among allied cultural practices in new ways through a theory of
meaning-making based in spatial and psychic patterning. An
invaluable
contribution to the field of dance studies, this work will
significantly expand our understanding of dance as part of culture
and history."-- Susan Leigh Foster, Distinguished Professor,
UCLA
"Gabriele Brandstetter's book is of magnificent scope and depths
moving towards nothing less than a theory of the avantgarde in
early 20th century Europe. Considering the dancer's body as a form
of writing oscillating between memory and metamorphosis, dance
becomes the main site on which the cross cultural transformations
between the past and the present, the mundane and the exotic were
negotiated. The dancer's body thus becomes a symptom for the
fundamental
changes of both the cultural systems and the systems of art that
make up the culture of modernity - touching on topics like ritual,
exotism, and its gender related issues, Brandstetter engages in
a
'lecture corporelle' that reads dance as a series of figurations of
emotions and space, of pathos formulas and topos formulas, that
allow us to re-read the culture of modernity across all disciplines
in its conscious and unconscious manifestations."--Gerald Siegmund,
Professor, University of Giessen
"[T]his is a groundbreaking book...Dense with meaning, this book
provokes thoughtful reflection on the nature and scope of
modernity."--E. McPherson, Montclair State University
"Poetics of Dance broadens our knowledge and understanding of dance
as a key synthetic point in culture and history."--The Arab Journal
of Performance Studies
"Brandstetter makes explicit the connections among literature,
visual arts, drama, and dance, examining in particular the early
modern dance period in Europe, but touching on international
developpments as well. Poetics of Dance helps the student/scholar
trace the lineage between historically structured dance, such as
ballet, and contemporary modern dance." -- Dance Chronicle
"The effectiveness of Brandstetter's research lies in its
methodology, which, in its
strongest moments, provides sudden and sharp insight into thought
structures that
extend far beyond dance ... Brandstetter's analysis works most
effectively when she weaves together multiple strands of argument
across a variety of disciplines and then anchors them in the
fundamental physicality of dance. These moments are supported by
well-chosen archival photos that complement the written
descriptions and make evident the often unexpected connections
being drawn across time and space." --German Studies Review
Ask a Question About this Product More... |