The Place of Dance: A Somatic Guide to Dancing and Dance Making

Contents

Contents Preface xv Introduction xvii About This Book xxi part 1 moving day 1 Basic Concepts Dance is both universal and highly personal. 3 To Do: Orientation 4 To Dance: Familiar-Voice Dancing 5 To Write: Personal Orientation 5 About the Tonic System 5 Studio Notes: Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen 6 day 2 Attitudes People have complex views about the dancing body. 7 To Do: Finding Your Calcaneus 9 To Dance: Opposite-Voice Dancing 10 To Write: Why Dance? 10 Studio Notes: David Dorfman 11 day 3 Flow Flow is our oceanic heritage. 13 To Do: Rolling and Pouring 14 To Do: Spherical Awareness 15 To Dance: Plumb-Line Falls 16 To Write: Letting Words Flow 16 Studio Notes: Kathleen Hermesdorf 17 day 4 Fire Sometimes we need fire. 19 Bone Marrow 20 To Do: Vessel Breath 21 To Dance: Dancing through the Body Systems 22 To Write: Fire and You 23 Studio Notes: Caryn McHose 24 day 5 Getting Started You can only dance where you are. 25 To Do: Three Long Walks 27 To Dance: Presentations 28 To Write: Creative Conditions 29 Studio Notes: Penny Campbell 30 day 6 Training and Technique We train for the unknown. 31 What I Look for in a Performer (Tamar Rogoff) 32 To Do: Hip Reflex 34 To Dance: Light-Touch Duets 34 To Write: Identify Your Strengths and Weaknesses 35 Studio Notes: Jeanine Durning 36 Contents • ix x • Contents day 7 Embracing Mystery Dancing involves surrender. 37 To Do: Breathing Spot 39 To Do: Three-Part Breath 39 To Dance: Refreshing What’s Needed 40 To Write: What’s Your Experience of Mystery? 40 Studio Notes: Suprapto Suryodarmo 41 Being Seen, Being Moved: Authentic Movement and Performance, Part I 42 day 8 Looking Back, Moving Forward Dance history comes in several forms. 45 To Do: Releasing the Jaw 59 To Dance: Dance One Artist’s Dance 60 To Write: Your Dance Story 60 Studio Notes: Nancy Stark Smith 61 Studio Notes: Teena Marie Custer 63 part 2 making day 9 Improvising Improvising can be experienced on a continuum. 67 To Do: Freeing the Girdles 69 To Dance: Dance Your Partner 70 To Write: Improvisational Mind 71 Studio Notes: Lisa Gonzales, Pamela Vail, and Michael Chorney 72 day 10 Composing Composition is arranging. 75 To Do: Four Movement Qualities 77 To Dance: Framing 79 To Dance: Composing with a Group 79 To Do and Write: Dance-a-Day Notebook 80 Studio Notes: Jim Coleman 81 day 11 Choreographing Choreography involves the why of a thing. 83 To Do: Contra-lateral Yield and Push 84 To Dance: Building Trios 85 To Write and Do: Concept-Driven Dance 85 Studio Notes: David Dorfman 86 Studio Notes: John Elder 88 day 12 Visceral Movement How do you know whether you’re moving or still? 89 To Do: Pelvic Floor 91 To Dance: The Antidote-to-the-Antidote Dance 92 To Write: Artist’s Statement 93 Studio Notes: Bebe Miller 94 day 13 Rehearsing The most stunning dancing happens in rehearsals. 95 To Do: Ball of Energy 99 To Dance: Body-Parts Duets 100 To Dance: Declarations 101 To Write: Reviewing Rehearsing 102 Studio Notes: Peter Schmitz 103 Contents • xi day 14 Sound and Music Ears are always open. 105 To Do: Resonance 108 To Dance: Dancing Twelve 109 To Dance: DJ Time 109 To Write: Music Journal 110 Studio Notes: Michael Chorney 111 day 15 Space and Place Space shapes the body, and the body shapes space. 113 To Do: Parallel Lines in the Sand 117 To Dance: Space Plan 117 To Write and Do: Gestalt Dance 118 Studio Notes: Chris Aiken 119 day 16 Endings Don’t abandon your ending. 121 To Do: Practicing Ending 122 To Dance: Calling End 122 To Write: Ending? 123 Studio Notes: Robert Swinston, on Merce Cunningham 124 part 3 collaborating day 17 Words and Feedback Language shapes a way of thinking. 129 WIGO 131 Reinterpreting Butterflies 131 To Do: Watching and Writing 133 Watching a Dance 133 To Dance: Dance-Back 134 To Speak: Talking about Dancing 134 To Write: Performance Response 135 Studio Notes: Kate Trammell 136 Studio Notes: Deborah Jowitt 137 day 18 Touch and Partnering Touch and partnering involve a yield toward center. 139 To Do: Layers of Touch 141 To Dance: Landscapes 142 To Write: Touching and Being Touched 142 Studio Notes: Terry Creach 143 day 19 Vision Vision links past with future...