You have got to see this!
http://www.dancersamongus.com/

Or just go here:
http://www.dancersamongus.com/photos

Ahhhhh!!!!

Complaint of Isadora Duncan's Scarf

  by Charles Jensen

My only glory was in beauty,
how I reached from her slender neck
toward the sky, ravaged by wind

the way a rough lover handles
you: dizzying, powerful,
unpredictable, but with joy,

joy in touching you,
joy in seeing you disheveled. The cool
night air ran its lips on my silk skin

to make me dance. I danced,
long and lean, with perfect
extension and seamless flow.

I had no bones. Not one bit of me
was firm or harsh. I was air
itself. I was becoming

pure performance. I could
see the tire's eye watching me.
The car at the sidewalk with its

inflexible frame—it hated
my freedom, my lift, my flight.
The car, gravity's great love,

envied me. The wind, for a moment,
set me down with ballet grace.
I lit upon the cold steel spokes

striking out from the wheel
like the arms of great Kali. She
tangled me, and when the car

drove off the wheel pulled me
tighter. I wound around its neck
the only way a scarf knows how,

pulling my whole silk body
and everything that anchored me
into the mouth of never.

Thanks to Kat for sharing this with me in October of 2012

Dance description sets the scene

This week we discussed pieces of literature that utilize dance as a tool for expression of the social setting, emotional relationship between characters, and turning point of conflict, among others. I found it most interesting to realize how crucial the presentation and description of the dances are to communicating the author’s intended interpretation of the dance's purpose in the writing. Gustave Flaubert provides an intense description of a dance between a married Madame Bovary and her dance partner in Madame Bovary. This moment in the literature draws the reader in, offering the reader a clear understanding that the dance is not friendly movement between two people, but a metaphoric breaking of a social barrier, leading to adultery and destruction. I am curious to explore how different presentation and description of identical dances communicated via literature may change a reader's interpretation of the dance.

Can We Escape History?

In class on Tuesday, we discussed the resurgence of classical and courtly themes among the various philosophies of dancing masters, which I found particularly fascinating.  Each choreographer had to contend with these and many other pre-established "rules" of dance when forming their own conceptions.  Accepting, rejecting, or modifying these bits of history seemed, to me, to be based upon individual preference, which lead me to wonder if we truly ever see purely "new" forms of dance.  Even though Isadora Duncan rejected the accepted styles of her time, she still drew inspiration from classical Greek art.  The philosophies we read were almost like patchwork, and though the combinations were unique, the sources had been present for much longer.  I think it is interesting to consider whether we experience wholly new interpretations of dance, or if it is more accurate to say that the perceptions are different, but the foundations are perhaps not entirely unfamiliar.

Welcome to WRITING DANCE 2013!

It is my pleasure to welcome the Writing Dance class of Fall 2013 to our Class Blog.
Chat away, post your
thoughts, observations, links, images, dreams, and concerns (as you wish to make them public) about DANCE here!