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WGS.591

Traditions in American Concert Dance: Gender and Autobiography

Undergraduate · Historical course

Spring 2008

This course explores the forms, contents, and context of world traditions in dance that played a crucial role in shaping American concert dance. For example, we will identify dances from an African American vernacular tradition that were transferred from the social space to the concert stage. We will explore the artistic lives of such American dance artists as Katherine Dunham, Pearl Primus, and Alvin Ailey along with Isadora Duncan, Martha Graham, George Balanchine, and Merce Cunningham as American dance innovators. Of particular importance to our investigation will be the construction of gender and autobiography that lie at the heart of concert dance practice, and the ways in which these qualities have been choreographed by American artists.

Readings

  • Jonas, Gerald. Dancing . New York, NY: Harry Abrams, 1998. ISBN: 9780810927919.
    Listed reading
  • Needham, Maureen. I See America Dancing: Selected Readings, 1685-2000 . Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 2002. ISBN: 9780252026935.
    Listed reading
  • Brown, Carol. “Re-tracing Our Steps: The Possibilities for Feminist Dance Histories.” In Dance History: An Introduction . Edited by Janet Adshead-Lansdale and June Layson. New York, NY: Routledge, 1994, pp. 198-216. ISBN: 9780415090308.
    Listed reading
  • Carter, A. Dance Studies Reader . London, England: Routledge, 1998, pp. 125-134. ISBN: 9780415164467.
    Listed reading
  • Daly, Ann. “The Balanchine Woman: Of Hummingbirds and Channel Swimmers.” TDR 31 (1987).
    Listed reading
  • DeFrantz, Thomas. “Simmering Passivity: The Black Male Body in Concert Dance.” In Moving Words: Re-Writing Dance . Edited by Gay Morris. London, England: Routledge, 1996, pp. 106-121. ISBN: 9780415125437.
    Listed reading
  • Dils, Ann, and Ann Cooper Albright. Moving History/Dancing Culture: A Dance Studies Reader . Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 2001, pp. 256-270. ISBN: 9780819564139.
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  • Foster, Susan. “The Ballerina’s Phallic Pointe.” In Corporealities: Bodies, Knowledge, Culture, and Power . Edited by Susan Foster. New York, NY: Routledge, 1995, pp. 1-24. ISBN: 9780415121385.
    Listed reading
  • Gottschild, Brenda Dixon. “Barefoot and Hot, Sneakered and Cool: Africanist Subtexts in Modern and Postmodern Dance.” In Digging the Africanist Presence in American Performance: Dance and Other Contexts . Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1996, pp. 47-58. ISBN: 9780313296840.
    Listed reading
  • Humphrey, Doris. “An Introduction to Choreography.” In The Art of Making Dances . New York, NY: Grove Press, 1962, pp. 15-41. ISBN: 9780802130730.
    Listed reading
  • Jowitt, Deborah. “A Private View of Dance Criticism.” In The Dance Has Many Faces . Edited by Walter Sorell, 3rd Revised Edition. Chicago, IL: Chicago Review Press, 1992, pp. 202-209. ISBN: 9781556521249.
    Listed reading
  • Kealiinohomoku, Joann. “An Anthropologist Looks at Ballet as a Form of Ethnic Dance.” In What Is Dance?: Readings in Theory and Criticism . Edited by Marshall Cohen and Roger Copeland. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1983, pp. 533-549. ISBN: 9780195031973.
    Listed reading
  • Novak, Cynthia. “Ballet, Gender and Cultural Politics.” In Dance, Gender and Culture . Edited by Helen Thomas. New York, NY: St. Martin’s Press, 1993. ISBN: 9780333513743.
    Listed reading
  • Stuckey, P. Sterling. “Christian Conversion and the Challenge of Dance.” In Dancing Many Drums . Edited by Thomas DeFrantz. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press, 2001. ISBN: 9780299173104.
    Listed reading
  • Thompson, Robert Farris. “Dance and Culture, An Aesthetic of the Cool: West Africa Dance.” African Forum 2 (Fall 1996): 85-102.
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  • Ward, Andrew H. “Dancing in the Dark: Rationalism and the Neglect of Social Dance.” In Dance, Sex, and Gender . Edited by Judith Lynne Hanna. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1988, pp. 16-33. ISBN: 9780226315515.
    Listed reading
  • “ Dancing .” Directed by Orlando Bagwell and Geoff Dunlop. Produced by Susan Bellows. Washington, DC: PBS, 1993. ↗
    Listed reading
  • Ailey, Alvin. “Revelations.” Performed by Alvin Ailey, James Truitte, Minnie Marshall, Thelma Hill, and the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater. In Lamp Unto My Feet . Directed by Martin Carr. Produced by Pamela Ilott. New York, NY: WCBS-TV. March 4, 1962.
    Listed reading
  • ———. “Revelations.” Performed by the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Produced and directed by Thomas Grimm. Chicago, IL: Home Vision, 1986.
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  • Humphrey, Doris. “New Dance.” Performed by Linda Tarnay, Peter Woodin, and the American Dance Festival Repertory Company. New London, CT: Ted Steeg Productions, June 30, 1972.
    Listed reading
  • Jones, Bill T. “Fever Swamp.” Performed by Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. In Three by Three . Directed by Patricia Birch. Produced by Ellis B. Haizlip & Catherine Tatge. Washington, DC: PBS Great Performances in America/Dance in America, September 3, 1985.
    Listed reading
  • Rainier, Yvonne. “Trio A.” In Great Performances: Dance in America . Directed by Merrill Brockway. Produced by Merrill Brockway and Carl Charlson. Washington, DC: PBS, May 21, 1980.
    Listed reading
  • Tharp, Twyla. The Catherine Wheel . Originally released 1983. West Long Branch, NJ: Kultur Video, 2005.
    Listed reading
  • Cunningham, Merce. Story . Performed by Merce Cunningham Dance Company. Directed by Hakki Seppala. Produced by the Finnish Broadcasting Company. Filmed in Helsinki, Finland, 1964. New York, NY: Cunningham Dance Foundation, 1980.
    Listed reading
  • Balanchine, George. “Agon.” Performed by the New York City Ballet. In Balanchine Celebration , part II. Directed by Matthew Diamond. Produced by Judy Kinberg. New York, NY: Nonesuch, 1996.
    Listed reading
  • ———. “Jewels.” Performed by the Paris National Opera Ballet. Heathfield, UK: Opus Arte, 2006.
    Listed reading
  • ———. “Prodigal Son.” Performed by the New York City Ballet. In Choreography by Balanchine . New York, NY: Nonesuch, 2004.
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  • Dance Black America . Directed by Chris Hegedus, D. A. Pennebaker, and David Dawkins. Pennington, NJ: Dance Horizons Video, 1990.
    Listed reading
  • Zollar, Jawole Willa Jo. “ Batty Moves .” Performed by Urban Bush Women. UBW, 1995. ↗
    Listed reading
Sources