| Description |
xi, 274 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm |
| Contents |
THE ESSAYS: 1. Helen Tamiris and Her Teaching of Choreography -- 2. A Method of Teaching Choreography -- 3. Choreography and the Specific Image -- 4. Improvisation as a Tool for Choreography -- 5. "Rules" for Choreography in No Particular Order -- 6. The Play of Metaphor -- 7. Modern Dance Choreography-Ballet Choreography -- 8. Choreography for the Solo Dancer, Choreography for a Group: The Problems and Differences -- 9. Abstract Dance versus What? -- 10. Music -- 11. Words and Song Lyrics -- 12. Virtuosity -- 13. Direction -- 14. The Stage: The Costumes, The Lights, The Sets, The Sound -- 15. Choreography for the Theatre, Musical Comedy and Opera -- 16. Mindsets -- 17. The Criticism of Choreography -- 18. Anecdotal Material -- 19. The Ethics of Aesthetics -- THE WORKBOOK: 1. Warming Up -- 2. The Rhythm Series -- 3. Uncovering Sources of Movement: The First Steps -- 4. Metaphor -- 5. Sense Memory Sources -- 6. Sources of Movement Material -- 7. Finding Gold in "Bad" Habits -- 8. Music Sources of Movement -- 9. Words and Movement -- 10. More -- Notes -- Index |
| Summary |
"The world outside has burst into the studio," writes the influential dancer, teacher, and choreographer Daniel Nagrin. Many dancers want passionately to confront concrete, difficult subjects. But their formalistic training hasn't prepared them for what they need to say. This book, the first on choreography approached through content rather than structure, is designed with them in mind. Spiced with wit and strong opinions, Choreography and the Specific Image explores, in nineteen far-ranging essays, the art of choreography through the life's work of an important artist. A career of performance, creativity, and teaching spanning five decades, Nagrin reveals the philosophy and strategy of his work with Helen Tamiris, a founder of modern American dance, and of Workgroup, his maverick improvisation company of the 1970s. During an era when many dancers were working with movement as abstraction, Nagrin turned instead toward movement as metaphor, in the belief that dance should be about something. In Choreography and the Specific Image, Nagrin shares with the next generation of dancers just how that turn was accomplished. In a workbook following the essays, Nagrin lays out a wealth of clear, effective exercises to guide dancers toward such constructive self-discovery. Unlike all other choreography books, Nagrin addresses the concerns of both modern and commercial (show dance) choreographers |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index |
| Subject |
Choreography.
|
|
Dance -- Philosophy.
|
| LC no. |
2001002663 |
| ISBN |
0822941473 (cased) |
|
0822957507 (paperback) |
|
