Dance Company Research Articles

직업무용단 무용수의 신뢰연결망 구조와 자원교환

This research aimed at investigating reliability connection network structure of professional dance company dancer and social resource exchange form, also, investigating the relation between activity centrality, medium centrality, self connection network size, the variables of reliability connection network and informational, sociable, and material resource exchange.BR This research randomly extracted total 3 dance companies, selecting 1 dance company dividing into Seoul, Gyeonggi and Chungcheong area based on the professional dance company dancers currently in 2016 from the whole nation. Number of the samples collected per the region was total 73, 30 from Seoul, 30 from Gyeonggi and 23 from Chungcheong.BR This research conducted a survey using name generator questionnaire(NGQ: Name Generator Questionnaire). NGQ measures the degree of closeness with each nominate d person, and this research investigated trusted person in order of priority. NGQ was composed to answer maximum 3 persons. Validity of questionnaire was verified through experts’ discussion. Data process was analyzed with reliability connection network utilizing NetMiner 4.2.BR Results from the above research method and procedure are as follows.BR First, reliability network structure of professional dance company dancers appeared to be composed of subordinate group or odd ones, which appeared to be apart from star type network as islands, showing polarization, accordingly, a few dancers were trusted by majority of dancers. Popularity of dancers who belonged to the hub was determined by the factors such as trustworthy, good, and good dancing, etc.BR Second, professional dance company dancers exchanged informational, sociable, and material resource in reliability network. That is, dancers exchanged informational resources in order of dance information knowledge, dance technique, life information, employment and business, goods purchase, reservation of medical treatment and check up, car accident handling, job opportunity, bank advance, legal conflict, and politics, etc. In respect of sociable resource, they exchanged in order of spending leisure together, shopping together, traveling together, going on vacation together. Also, dancers exchanged material resource in order of gift, dance props, food, household items, dance performance invitation, and money (family events), etc.BR Third, professional dance company dancers’ reliability network structure had a relation with social resource exchange as below. In respect of informational resource, correlation appeared in order of introverted activity centrality, self network size, and medium centrality in respect of informational resource, while it appeared in order of medium centrality, introverted activity centrality, self network size, and outgoing activity centrality in respect of sociable resource, and in respect of material resource, it appeared in order of introverted activity centrality, and medium centrality.BR

Abstractions of Whiteness in Downtown Los Angeles: Ate9’s Kelev Lavan

Ate9 Dance Company’s Kelev Lavan raised questions about the politics of individualism and the neutrality of whiteness in art, during a period of acute social tension surrounding police violence against people of color in the US. Issues of technique, aesthetics, and the invisibilization of identity politics are explored in the context of this site-specific performance.

Dancing Art and Politics Behind the Iron Curtain: Martha Graham's 1962 Tours to Yugoslavia and Poland

ABSTRACTThis article presents new information about the appearances of the Martha Graham Dance Company during its 1962 State Department–sponsored tour behind the Iron Curtain. The Graham company's multilayered performances in Eastern Europe occurred in a complicated international context. This research clarifies not only which Communist countries Graham and her company actually visited, but also the choices, logistics, and negotiations involved in this tour. While reflecting on the methods and aims related to the ideological construction of “others” on both sides of the Iron Curtain, the article explores the complex relationship between Graham and the State Department.

Cybersonic arts: adventures in American new music

Composer, performer, instrument builder, teacher, and writer Gordon Mumma has left an indelible mark on the American contemporary music scene. A prolific composer and innovative French horn player, Mumma is recognized for integrating advanced electronic processes into musical structures, an approach he has termed Cybersonics. Musicologist Michelle Fillion curates a collection of Mumma's writings, presenting revised versions of his classic pieces as well as many unpublished works from every stage of his storied career. Here, through words and astonishing photos, is Mumma's chronicle of seminal events in the musical world of the twentieth century: his cofounding the Cooperative Studio for Electronic Music; his role in organizing the historic ONCE Festivals of Contemporary Music; performances with the Sonic Arts Union; and working alongside John Cage and David Tudor as a composer-musician with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company. In addition, Mumma describes his collaborations with composers, performers, dancers, and visual artists ranging from Robert Ashley and Pauline Oliveros to Marcel Duchamp and Robert Rauschenberg. Candid and insightful, Cybersonic Arts is the eye-opening account of a broad artistic community by an active participant and observer.

La musicalidad como parte de la cognición distribuida en danza

Musicality in dance does not need music. ?How is musicality apparent in the dance studio, and to what extent is a social construct? We define musicality as a social skill. We analize how dancers share their artistic judgement when narrating the choreographical tasks that take place when rehearsing a new piece. Our claim for this paper is that musicality is part of a vocabulary of motives as artistic justification. As a social skill, musicality relies on two other social skills, listening and fisicality. To capture the variability of the phenomenon, we have observed what happens when the choreographer gives instructions and directs a rehearsal within a cognitive ethnography of a British neoclasical dance company. We selected from the general corpus of data 11 interviews to the company members, which we analized with grounded theory principles. Our findings show how our unit of analysis must be the interaction among dancers in a self-regulated coupling. Thus, we show how musicality is a social hability that can only work in a network of social skills, together with fisicality and listening. It is, in all, the local product of distributed cognition in the dance studio.

Injuries in a Professional Ballet Dance Company: A 10-year Retrospective Study.

Ballet dancers are high-performance athletes who are particularly susceptible to a wide variety of musculoskeletal injuries. However, they are relatively understudied, and data on their injury rates are lacking. This retrospective study features the largest aggregate data on professional ballet dancers to date and aims to identify the most common diagnoses and areas of injury in this unique population to better direct preventative and clinical practices. The study encompassed a 10-year period from January 2000 to December 2010 of dancers from a single company. Data regarding the dancers' age, gender, location of injury, and diagnosis were collected from workers' compensation claims, company records, and medical records maintained by the treating doctors. These were analyzed to determine metrics on injury incidence, frequency, and diagnosis. Over the 10-year span, 574 injuries occurred. There were approximately 52 dancers per year for a total of 153 who danced at least one complete season during the study period. The average age was 27, and 53% were female. Given turnover with retirement and replacements, the total number of dancer-years was 520, indicating an injury incidence per annum of 1.10 (574 injuries per 520 dancer-years). The most common locations of injury were foot and ankle and the lumbar spine, with the three most common diagnoses making up greater than a third (37%) of the total. As the current largest study in professional ballet, the findings set the benchmark metrics for musculoskeletal injury to the foot, ankle, and lumbar spine sites. Future studies should aim to identify injury risk factors and modalities for prevention of these injuries.

‘Mōhiti E’: Empowering (Trans) Indigenous Performance

How might a collaborative performance staged across indigenous cultures – in this case Māori and Native American – be seen to create a shared wairua that leads to mārama? For this Symposium, Valance Smith (Ngāpuhi/Waikato) will compose a waiata as the starting point for a hoop dance choreographed and performed by Eddie Madril (Pascua Yaqui) from the Sewan American Indian Dance company. Waiata is, at its simplest, song. It is a vessel for a kaupapa, in the lyrics and also in its music, an embodiment of the singer’s mauri that, in the ideal, resonates in the listener. Hoop dancing has many purposes. It describes the complexities of life, expresses many aspects of the scientific nature of the world through the art form, and invokes the meaning behind the cycle of all living things. In bringing together two distinctive performance languages and cultures, we will be looking for common ground, exploring possible synergies and seeking an experience of the metaphysical in the physicality of our song and dance that can be translated back into a deeper understanding of the potential power of (trans) indigenous performance. How might such a shared, cross-cultural performance not only inform the way we think about the particular practices involved, but also challenge our assumptions about what it means, both in theory and in practice, to perform as Māori and as Native American?

Film still: ‘The Artistic Impulse to Document’ in Tacita Dean’s Craneway Event

This article explores Tacita Dean’s film, Craneway Event, made in collaboration with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company. The article suggests a turn towards ‘the artistic impulse to document’ as a method for reconsidering curatorial practices of display.

Should You Watch Dance Documentaries? Only if you want to be inspired and informed about the dance world

Should you watch dance documentaries? Only if you want to be inspired and informed about the dance world As you graze through the good, the bad, and the ugly dance clips on YouTube, consider the benefits of watching Paul Taylor’s company in Dancemaker—it’s one of the ways you find out about the past and your possible future by Savannah Reach Should dance documentaries be required for dance majors to watch? Some students say that documentaries are useful in learning about choreographers and leading figures in the dance field. Others think they are boring and a waste of time when there are numerous “popular” choreographers available on YouTube. After considering it, I strongly believe that documentaries should be required for dance majors to watch. In particular, I am advocating for Dancemaker, which is a tribute to Paul Taylor. One of the prominent artists of the 20 th and 21 st Centuries, Taylor has choreographed over 140 dances and helped shape the art of modern dance in America. Taylor is an important figure in the dance world, and Dancemaker gives a unique insight into his significance. Documentaries can be long and students might not understand how they relate to what they want to do in the future. They would rather spend hours on YouTube watching the coolest competition kids or the newest tricks to achieve over-splits. These students struggle to find the reasons documentaries are required in class and lack motivation to watch them. What they don’t understand is that dance documentaries can provide a deeper understanding of choreographers, such as Paul Taylor, Martha Graham, and Pina Bausch. By watching their choreography, students can learn what has been successful in the past and compare it to their own work. Even though YouTube provides a vast amount of options for the dance student, the quality of videos on YouTube is often bad, with amateurs posting as many dance videos as professionals. It can take hours searching through mediocre dancing to find an inspirational video. Plus, there are annoying ads on YouTube and multiple distractions of other videos popping up on the side. Documentaries provide a well-developed story with potential to catch the eye of aspiring professional dancers for long enough to follow the narrative arc. It creates an outlet for students to understand another dance culture, follow a dance company on tour, or see a dance style they have never heard of before. These perspectives are important for the dancers to become well-rounded individuals in the art of dance so they can not only dance, but can also have meaningful, intelligent conversations about their field. For serious dancers, Dancemaker shows what makes Paul Taylor the recipient of nearly every honor and award given to artists in the United States. The details are shown throughout the documentary, which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. If students are interested in creating dance for film, this documentary is a perfect source to learn about techniques such as transitions, camera angles, and interview methods. The documentary also gives students insight on what is required to be in a dance company or to run one. It follows rehearsals, traveling on tour, auditions, and the choreographic process. Taylor’s money management team is also filmed to give an idea of the funding fluctuations that affect dance productions and salaries.

MALE DANCERS OF SABAR—STARS OF A FEMALE TRADITION

This article discusses the role of male dancers within the Senegalese sabar tradition. The most common context for sabar dancing is social dance events that are dominated by non-professional female dancers. However, since the independence of Senegal in 1960 sabar dancing has also been developed as a stage art in folkloric dance companies known as ballets in West Africa. Later sabar also began to be performed by dancers and dance groups on stage with mbalax bands. Both of these newer forms of sabar dancing take the form of pre-planned choreographies performed by both male and female dancers; but, many of the best known sabar dancers today are men. Developments caused by the professionalisation of sabar dancing and analyses of the changes that have occurred in the style of dancing to emphasise the masculinity of the male dancers as opposed to the ideas of femininity traditionally attached to sabar dancing are discussed.

Dancing National Ideologies: The Athens Festival in the Cold War

The international Athens Festival was prominent in shaping a cosmopolitan identity and openness within Greek society. During its first decade (1955–1966), the Festival also functioned as a significant form of cultural diplomacy. Audiences were exposed to elite dance companies from nations such as the U.S., which functioned ideologically and diplomatically. Our presentation interrogates the construction of a dance field in Greece and the shaping of aesthetic values, contextualized within socio-cultural tensions. Research exposes imperatives of a rising superpower consolidating its position, revealing multiple types of influence on Greece and other nations in a battle of political wills with the USSR.

Boycotting Bodies: The Politics of Practice and Performance

Gaga, the movement language developed by Israeli choreographer Ohad Naharin, is often claimed to be apolitical by marketing materials and participants alike. The Batsheva Dance Company is also led by Naharin and highly influenced by Gaga. Unlike Gaga, however, Batsheva is highly politicized because of frequent protests by pro-Palestinian activists. In this presentation, I explore the many complicated layers of Gaga practice to show the multiple ways in which dancing bodies can be politicized. The case of the cultural boycott movement is used to complicate the relationships between practice and performance and how they are understood as political.

The Price of Everything and the Value of Nothing: “Scholarly Activity” and Creative Collaborations on Dance in the Days of Austerity in Greece

This paper initially exposes the resistance and reluctance of the Greek state to systematically support dance by means of long-term planning/institutionalization. Despite its establishment, during the 1970s, as an independent discipline studied at professional dance schools and under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Culture, dance has never really gained its rightful status in the Greek academia, nor has it ever been approached with the intention of truly comprehending and appreciating its nature. Further, the paper critically discusses government planning for dance education and funding for Greek dance companies. Finally, the author explains how the Greek dance community eventually has, on its own initiative, developed the necessary infrastructure in order to maintain and promote dance, both in education and in production. The Greek dance community—practitioners for the most part, plus a small number of researchers/academics—has implicitly influenced the existing state structures and cultural centers, and applied what in the current art/educational context is termed Scholarly Activity and Creative Collaborations. These ad hoc but regular actions might nevertheless prove to be the right choice for the sustainability of dance as an art form in Greece, within the current financial, political, cultural, and social predicament.

Could You Do the Freelance Dance?

Could you do the Freelance Dance? When creative autonomy offers an authentic, fulfilling career, your dream of joining one particular company may not be the only way forward by Katie Summers My childhood Saturdays were spent in a stuffy dance studio with Trader Joe’s salads and soft-serve ice-cream from the Costco across the street. My weeks were filled with ballet classes, rehearsals, and homework. Every spare second I had was spent in front of the computer, watching endless videos of my most beloved companies. I would watch online versions of company class or profiles entitled “The Life of a Ballerina.” I was fascinated with the company— you know, the one my instructors constantly referenced, the one that seemed to be the paramount picture of success. I remember movie nights with friends watching Center Stage, that 90s film full of fabulous cliches of cigarette-smoking, pointe-shoe-hammering ballerinas, and being certain that my future self would be a distressed girl begging artistic directors to take a chance on me. Transitioning to college, my technical and artistic focus shifted as I began to learn about the sparse number of contemporary/ modern companies across the United States. I looked closely at a world previously unknown to me and began to wonder what would possibly suit me. Then, after my freshman year, I attended American Dance Festival’s Six Week School— an enthralling place that radically altered how I perceive life as a professional dance artist. I remember being in a Q&A session with Stuart Singer and Jesse Zaritt, two contemporary/modern freelance dancers who were flourishing in their careers. They spoke about the progression of their careers, from company member to a life of artistic autonomy. Stuart Singer, upon leaving SUNY Purchase his sophomore year, joined the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company. He spent four years there until deciding a major shift was needed. In a magazine interview, he said, “I wanted a range of experiences…. I think I perceived on some level that this long-term commitment to one choreographer wasn’t how I wanted to build my career” (Burke). Zaritt had also joined a high profile company, dancing with Shen Wei Dance Arts for about five years before leaving to pursue a freelance career full-time (Shuster). Both men talked about how keen they were on their immensely fulfilling careers because they now possessed the autonomy to make distinct artistic decisions which consistently led them to a place of artistic satisfaction. Zaritt spoke of how much he adored working with his peers, as opposed to an older generation, because he was able to be a part of something new, something precious, unsustained, and revolutionary. Never before had I heard of artists pursuing dance in such a way. This single session left me with a perception of freedom that changed my idea about the successful- professional- dancer paradigm and left me with knowledge of a greater artistic liberty. No longer did I hold a view that kept me confined to a particular career path. It’s as if dams were bursting open as I came to realize how many rivers could flow from one career decision. My path formed into something uniquely mine, something precious and life-giving. Something endless and feasible. Something unfinished yet solid, unbreakable. After this moment in time, I became aware of the wide pool of dancers and choreographers who know little about freelance dance art. Most dancers I know see a freelancer as an artist who hasn't “made it” yet—a dancer who is proceeding from job to job, scraping by, doing her best to get a gig. It must be noted that, in a few cases, this is a truism. However, as I’ve

Classic Meets Africa – Festival Pela Interculturalidade. A Cultura De Todos Para Todos

This work was developed in the scope of the curricular unit of Intercultural Studies. It consists in the analysis of an intercultural project, chosen by me, according to some concepts covered in this subject. On the past 17th January, in Auditorio Municipal de Gondomar, I had the opportunity to attend a concert called Classic meets Africa, which is a festival for interculturality. Its first presentation took place at the Auditorio Municipal de Gaia, on 12 December 2015. The concert was opened by the Bonjoia Youth Orchestra, to the sound of violins, violas, cellos, transverse flutes, saxophones, clarinets, trumpets, piano and percussion. Next, the Allatantou dance company came on stage, and to the sound of the djambe and other traditional African precursor instruments, they performed some African dances. The curtains closed and two microphones were placed, Ana Maria Pinto and Ze Beato, the two elements of the group Xinganje & Kaviula, started to interpret their songs with their soul.1 The show culminated with the junction of classical music and African rhythms and dances. As a spectator I can say that it is impossible to remain indifferent to the energy that this festival generates on stage. In this sense, I tried to analyse all the interculturality involved in a different and almost unthinkable project of bringing together two such disparate cultures.

Staging Ghana: Artistry and Nationalism in State Dance Ensembles

Paul Schauert, Staging Ghana: Artistry and Nationalism in State Dance Ensembles. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2016. 364 + xx pages. This is an ethnographic study of the two Ghanaian national dance ensembles—the Ghana Dance Ensemble (GDE) and its offshoot the National Dance Company (NDC

Um espartilho para dançar: processos criativos para o figurino do espetáculo Valsa nº 30, Téssera Companhia de Dança da UFPR

Este artigo tem como objetivo descrever algumas práticas a respeito dos processos de criação de figurinos para espetáculos da Téssera Companhia de Dança, da UFPR. Para isso, utilizamos entrevistas narrativas extensas realizadas com uma das coreógrafas da companhia, imagens dos figurinos e pesquisa bibliográfica. Como resultado foi possível perceber que, na Téssera, se compreende o figurino como elemento de comunicação e composição de personagens. Sua principal função é compor a obra, e sua confecção é realizada em paralelo à produção do espetáculo.

American Modernism: Reimagining Martha Graham's Lost Imperial Gesture (1935)

This article explores the process of reimagining Martha Graham's 1935 “lost” work, Imperial Gesture, into a complete work for performance. The solo was last performed by Graham in 1938 and constitutes the first political solo of her career. With no musical score, no notation score, and scant archival evidence, Graham dancer, régisseur, and contemporary choreographer Kim Jones pieced together the fragments left behind. Beginning in 2011, Jones assembled a team of artists in order to reimagine Imperial Gesture for the Martha Graham Dance Company. This article discusses how Jones found primary and secondary sources including thirty-two, unpublished, photographic images by Barbara Morgan; a space diagram by set designer Arch Lauterer; a poem, “Imperial Gesture for Martha Graham,” by John Malcolm Brinnin; and numerous critical reviews from the 1930s. Jones was inspired to imagine and express Graham's sense of activism and social justice within this “lost” work. The dance is a portrait of the undoing of an arrogant despot. Although mainstream critics had little to say about Imperial Gesture, arts critics for Communist and Leftist publications reviewed Imperial Gesture as an example of politically charged art that argued against fascism. The process of reimagining opens up the possibility for a deeper investigation of Graham's work as both publicly and personally political. Additionally, the creative act of reimagining her lost work adds new repertory to the Martha Graham Dance Company for a new generation of Graham dancers and new audiences. In so doing, it also opens a path for a new historiography of Graham's work and legacy.

How to Dance After Auschwitz? Ethics and Aesthetics of Representation in John Cranko's Song of My People—Forest People—Sea

John Cranko's only ballet for the Batsheva Dance Company in Israel, Ami-Yam, Ami-Ya'ar (Song of My People—Forest People—Sea, 1971) is described in a program note as “A Nation and Man Move in Parallel Cycles from Death to Regeneration.” It has remained unique in Cranko's choreographic corpus and in the Batsheva repertoire. Based on recently discovered film evidence, I reread Cranko's largely forgotten project and discuss its problematic and controversial reception in Israel and abroad, in light of Adorno's statement that “writing poetry after Auschwitz is barbarism.” I situate it as a landmark in tackling the Holocaust in dance in Israel as of 1971. I problematize the ethics and aesthetics of representation in Cranko's ballet on the grounds of Giorgio Agamben's discussion of testimony and in reference to Jacques Derrida's reading of Paul Celan.

A Choreographer's Approach to Opera

My first professional commission as a choreographer was not for a dance company but for an opera company, for the Bregenz Festival in Austria. In 1988, while I was still a student at London Contemporary Dance School, I was approached to choreograph Camille Saint-Saëns's Samson et Dalila; the commission also included giving ‘movement’ to the chorus (a group of 120 singers) and directing the dancers when they were not dancing. The dancers were a classical company from Sofia, Bulgaria, a company of thirty none of whom spoke English.