The Body Eclectic: Evolving Practices in Dance Training

by Melanie Bales, Rebecca Nettl-Fiol, Glenna Batson, Wendell Beavers

Overview

This rich collection of essays and interviews explores modern-dance technique training from the past 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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780252074899
Publisher:	University of Illinois Press
Publication date:	02/08/2008
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	280
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.25(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Glenna Batson is a movement muse, educator, and mentor who has worked at the intersection of dance, movement science, and somatic education for more than five decades.

 

Table of Contents

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

Editorial Reviews

"Invaluable. . . . A rich resource for personal investigation that not only encourages but also offers a generative framework for developing ones personal agency and artistry during challenging times."—Dance Research Journal

"Rich with anecdotes and a treasure trove of citations and references, this book will give dance teachers, scholars, graduate students, and dancers a fascinating read."—Dance Magazine

"Recommended."—Choice

“A fascinating, timely portrait of a dance landscape that looks dramatically different from the one that existed when modern dance was in the earliest stages of professionalization.”—Dance Chronicle

"The book makes a welcome contribution to the field of dance studies and dance education, and it will be a valuable resource for Technique teachers in general, especially those working with dancers."—AMSAT News

From the Publisher