Sinopsis

The explosive growth of dance studies over the past devade has led to controversies on a host of fundamental issues, from how dance is to be analyzed and interpreted to dance's place in culture and history. The contributors in Moving Words take up these issues, their diverse views reflecting the conceptual clashes of a field in dynamic transition. At the same time, the authors examine the broader questions of gender, class, ethnicity, nationalism, and cultural exchange within the context of bodily practice. Essays address topics such as the representation of the black male body on the concert stage, gender performativity and subversion in Mark Morri's dances, race and gender in Martha Graham's American Document, and historical revisions of the 'oriental' dance. Throughout the book, contributors consider ethnographic, feminist, cultural, and literary theory in relationship to penetrating analyses of the body in motion. Moving Words gives historians, critics, and performance studies essential insights into the key issues of dance and society, while at the same time documenting critical thought in the making.