Dance Studies

The Language of Dance

by Karen Bennett

Textos Pretextos 11: Coreo-grafias, Lisbon, 2008. 56-67

Dance, like most other art forms, is not intrinsically representational. In fact, the expressive, ritualistic or... more Dance, like most other art forms, is not intrinsically representational. In fact, the expressive, ritualistic or aesthetic dimensions have often had primacy over the referential over the course of its variegated history, and in much modern and contemporary dance, the representational element is sometimes deliberately suppressed as part of a reaction against the romantic ballet tradition. However, the fact that dance events have so frequently been conceived on the back of literary works in Western culture indicates that some level of semanticization of movement is not only possible but also widely recognised. Indeed, some dances are so closely bound to a preceding literary work that they may be considered as “intersemiotic translations” (Jakobson 1992), i.e. rewritings of a verbal text in a kinetic sign system. This is particularly the case with ballet, as we see here. There have been a number of theories put forward as to how dance represents elements from the outside world. The earliest analyses assumed that it acquired its signifying potential from the way in which human beings physically relate to each other and to their environment in everyday life, thereby positing something inherently ‘natural’ and universal about the kinesthetic code. More recent commentators, on the other hand, emphasise the importance of culture in determining not only the semiotic significance of particular movements but also the way in which those movements are conventionalised into genres. The aim of this paper is to examine the semiotic code that is the Western dance tradition in order to try to isolate some of the ‘signs’ that may be mobilised by choreographers and performers for the purpose of intersemiotic translation. These are exemplified with reference to different ballet versions of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.

Breaking expectations: Imagined affinities in mediated youth cultures

by Mary Fogarty

Continuum: Journal of Media & Cultural Studies

Volume 26, Issue 3, 2012
Special Issue: Mediated Youth Cultures
Editors: Andy Bennett & Brady Robards

This article examines the mediated encounters experienced by participants in hip hop and funk dance styles especially... more This article examines the mediated encounters experienced by participants in hip hop and funk dance styles especially breaking or b-boying/b-girling. It introduces the concept of imagined affinities to describe the spectrum of these encounters, which are enacted through mediated texts, or by travels through new places. Using interviews with dancers as a guide, I argue that artefacts made, distributed and circulated by dancers help to produce perceptions of commonalities between them. The nature of the process of rapid mediatisation, which has taken place during the past few decades, and its subsequent impact on breaking or b-boying/b-girling, are considered here through a concerted effort to historicize shifts in practice and experience. I examine the historical moment when homemade videotapes began to proliferate in the cultural practices of breaking, providing a source for the values and codes of hip hop culture. At that time, dancers on tour, who created the videos, celebrated the local contexts of other dancers from around the world while simultaneously showing a determination to appreciate breaking through its own practices and formats, even as these practices were becoming rapidly transformed and expanded through international networks.

ECOS DO JAZZ-BAND: ILUSTRAÇÕES PORTUGUESAS (1922-1930)

by Manuel Pedro Ferreira

in: A Dança e a Música nas Artes Plásticas do Século XX, coord. Margarida Acciaiuoli e Paulo Ferreira de Castro, Lisboa: Edições Colibri / IHA / CESEM, 2012, pp. 75-105

The jazz-band in the 1920s through the eyes of Portuguese artists and writers: dance context, musical style, choice of... more The jazz-band in the 1920s through the eyes of Portuguese artists and writers: dance context, musical style, choice of instruments and race stereotypes. The change in the perception and representation of jazz identity, c. 1925. Artistic strategies and social critique in the drawings of Bernardo Marques: from Art-Deco to Grosz-influenced Expressionism.

“Retna Pamudya”; Javanese Female Solo Dance in the Era of Independence

by Michi Tomioka

read a paper in Asian Theatre Working Group,　International Federation for Theatre Research (IFTR)　in 16-17 March, 2010. at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

De-Ritualization of Javanese Court Dance through Establishment of Teaching Method

by Michi Tomioka

Read a paper in International School for Graduate School of Literature and Sciences, Osaka City University in September 2010

Establishment of Tradition by Criticism of Tradition: the case of the Surakarta Style of Javanese Dance

by Michi Tomioka

in Japanese

Urban Research.VOl.12. pp. 50-64.
published in March 2010 by Osaka City University Urban Culture Research Center, Osaka: Japan

　Ramayana Ballet, a dance theater for tourists, was started in 1961 at Prambanan
Temple and has become an... more 　Ramayana Ballet, a dance theater for tourists, was started in 1961 at Prambanan
Temple and has become an Indonesian representative theater. It was choreographed
by R.T.Kusumokesowo, a dance master of the Surakarta Court. However his choreography
was criticized by Gendhon Humardani at the Seminar on National Dance
Theater of Ramayana 1970. It was the beginning of dance criticism in Indonesia, and
Humardani has had an important role in developing Javanese dance since then.
Humardani made severe comments on Kusumokesowo's choreography, especially on
the following 3 points: 1. dance forms representative and external; 2. pendhopo
(Javanese traditional hall) - oriented sense of space; and 3. art direction attaching too
much emphasis to the story. All of these show Humardani appreciated the Western
modern performing arts. It is true Ramayana Ballet produced a new genre named sendratari
(a dance theater) as well as many new character forms, but it still maintained a
conservative sense derived from the Javanese court dance. From the criticism of
Humardani, “the (out‒of‒date) Javanese tradition” has emerged behind “the (up-todate)
Western modernity.”
Humardani got the Western modern-oriented viewpoint from his study abroad in the
U.K and the U.S.A from 1959 to 1961. His viewpoint of the Ramayana Ballet criticism was
already obtained in 1961 when he wrote a criticism on a ballet performance in London.
　Humardani innovated dance both in the PKJT (Central Java Art Center) project and
the ASKI (Indonesian Art Academy), to realize his dance theory. Humardani played an
important role to bring a modern perspective into Javanese dance.
Keywords : tradition, Javanese dance, modern, Ramayana Ballet, Humardani

Establishment of Tradition by Criticism of Tradition: the case of the Surakarta Style of Javanese Dance

by Michi Tomioka

in Japanese

Urban Research.VOl.12. pp. 50-64.
published in March 2010 by Osaka City University Urban Culture Research Center, Osaka: Japan

　Ramayana Ballet, a dance theater for tourists, was started in 1961 at Prambanan
Temple and has become an... more 　Ramayana Ballet, a dance theater for tourists, was started in 1961 at Prambanan
Temple and has become an Indonesian representative theater. It was choreographed
by R.T.Kusumokesowo, a dance master of the Surakarta Court. However his choreography
was criticized by Gendhon Humardani at the Seminar on National Dance
Theater of Ramayana 1970. It was the beginning of dance criticism in Indonesia, and
Humardani has had an important role in developing Javanese dance since then.
Humardani made severe comments on Kusumokesowo's choreography, especially on
the following 3 points: 1. dance forms representative and external; 2. pendhopo
(Javanese traditional hall) - oriented sense of space; and 3. art direction attaching too
much emphasis to the story. All of these show Humardani appreciated the Western
modern performing arts. It is true Ramayana Ballet produced a new genre named sendratari
(a dance theater) as well as many new character forms, but it still maintained a
conservative sense derived from the Javanese court dance. From the criticism of
Humardani, “the (out‒of‒date) Javanese tradition” has emerged behind “the (up-todate)
Western modernity.”
Humardani got the Western modern-oriented viewpoint from his study abroad in the
U.K and the U.S.A from 1959 to 1961. His viewpoint of the Ramayana Ballet criticism was
already obtained in 1961 when he wrote a criticism on a ballet performance in London.
　Humardani innovated dance both in the PKJT (Central Java Art Center) project and
the ASKI (Indonesian Art Academy), to realize his dance theory. Humardani played an
important role to bring a modern perspective into Javanese dance.
Keywords : tradition, Javanese dance, modern, Ramayana Ballet, Humardani

Tradition and Contemporary in Javanese Dance: Lecture & Workshop by Silvester Pamardi

by Michi Tomioka

in Japanese

Art Research Vol.2 (pp.15-19) published in March 2002  by Ritsumeikan Art Research Center, Kyoto: Japan　

Choreography of Javanese Court Dance ~on Srimpi and Bedhaya of the Surakarta Court style~

by Michi Tomioka

paper for the Midwest Chapter Conference, Society of Ethnomusicology (MIDSEM) 2008 held at Eastern Michigan University on 29-30th March 2008

*Attachment 1 is not included here for technical reason.

Regarding study of Javanese Court dances: Srimpi and bedhaya, it has been usual for Indonesian researchers as well as... more Regarding study of Javanese Court dances: Srimpi and bedhaya, it has been usual for Indonesian researchers as well as foreigners to take up one of the compositions to make observations on its ceremonial context or its song text. In this paper, taking up 10 srimpi and two bedhaya of the Surakarta Court style in full version which I’ve mastered under the late Mrs. Sri Sutjiati Djoko Soehardjo, I analyze choreographic patterns of each genre and extract the essential concept of choreography.

To conclude, srimpi by four females is a dance of symmetrical turn with keeping balance among four, while bedhaya by nine (or seven) females is a dance of treading the floor back and forth in line(s). Both concepts of choreography lies in the unity of musical structure, dance movement and dance formation. For example, every dancer only repeat a laras movement to one direction in the first part of music called merong, and never face each other until it enters the second part called inggah.

Such findings show how elaborate the collaborations were between dancers and musicians in the Court, and the importance to approach Court dances from artistic aspects as well. Court dances have experienced contraction into 1/2 or 1/4, with little attention to the essential concept mentioned above since the 1970s. 

Thus many full versions of the Surakarta Court dances have no longer been inherited until now, consequently this paper will contribute much knowledge for further study of Javanese Arts.

Umkehr der Zeit. Tanz, Lebensalter und die zweitbeste Verfassung in Platons Nomoi

by Manuel Schölles

in: D. Koch / I. Männlein-Robert / N. Weidtmann (ed.), Platon und die Mousiké, Antike-Studien Band 2, Tübingen 2012, 136–154.

Book Review: "Situating Early Dance in its Historical Context: Dance, Spectacle, and the Body Politick, 1250-1750.”

by Emily Winerock

Dance Chronicle vol. 35, no. 1 (2012): 119-125.

Book review of Dance, Spectacle, and the Body Politick, 1250-1750, edited by Jennifer Nevile (2008). Book review of Dance, Spectacle, and the Body Politick, 1250-1750, edited by Jennifer Nevile (2008).

Martha@Martha: A seance with Richard Move

by Selby Wynn Schwartz

Embodying understanding: Drawing as research in sport and exercise

by Hannah Gravestock

2012 British Psychological Society Annual Conference

As researchers in theatre and scenography embrace drawing as a means to facilitate new encounters with the performing... more As researchers in theatre and scenography embrace drawing as a means to facilitate new encounters with the performing body in order to reveal and create new knowledge, drawing as a research approach in sport and exercise science has yet to be examined.

In this paper I discuss how drawing, if applied effectively, has the potential to enhance research methods in the field of sport and exercise science.

Focusing on drawings of the performing body I created in response to a range of theatre performances, from ballet to circus, I discuss the external visualisation of an internal thought process.

I outline the strengths and weaknesses of using this approach within training practices, and contextualise this dialogue using Jacques Lecoq’s understanding and application of drawing as mime at Le Laboratoire d’Etude du Mouvement (LEM).

I conclude by suggesting how, through the provision of training in drawing as research both the researcher and participant can examine the performing sporting body and apply this knowledge to the creation and development of sporting performances.

Tradition, Innovation, Fusion: Local articulations of global scapes of girl dance

by anna hickey-moody

Choreorights: A look into Choreography and Ownership in the Filipino Streetdance Community

by Jared Jonathan Luna

Popping and Other Dis/Appearing Acts

by Naomi Elizabeth Bragin

MITOTE: A Manifesto For Avant-Garde Dance Written In Indigenous Knowledge

by Cuauhtemoc Peranda

Applying an Indigenous perspective to conventional ‘western’ scholarship, this paper proposes a dance praxis entitled... more Applying an Indigenous perspective to conventional ‘western’ scholarship, this paper proposes a dance praxis entitled Mitote, which seeks to produce an Indigenous dance process of decolonization for Indigenous liberation and empowerment. This document serves as a starting point for the evolution of contemporary Indigenous dance work that respects Indigenous land and protocols of cultural production, yet is innovative, avant-garde, and modern. Under the premise that modern dance is intimately related to traditional Indigenous dance, this project proposes a process for the decolonization of contemporary modern dance. Ultimately, it provides a means to lift the ideology of “the Natives as the static past” and place them into the present and innovative future. Held as a living, growing, and developing research document cataloguing this author’s own artistic process, this paper is only a short beginning of a life’s work, practice, research, and creation.

How Performance Thinks Conference Pack

by Laura Cull

The conference pack for How Performance Thinks
An international, two-day conference co-organized by
the PSi Performance and Philosophy working group
and Kingston University’s practice.research.unit
April 13th-14th 2012

The London Studio Centre, London

Unimaginable bodies: Intellectual disability, performance and becomings

by anna hickey-moody

Intervista a Hubert Godard

by Armando Menicacci

Article written with Emanuele Quinz published in : Armando Menicacci, Emanuele Quinz, La scene digitale. Nuovi media per la danza, Venezia, Marsilio, 2001, pp. 371-381