Book description
Drawing of the postmodern perspective and concerns that informed her
groundbreaking Terpsichore in Sneakers, Sally Banes's Writing Dancing
documents the background and developments of avant-garde and popular
dance, analyzing individual artists, performances, and entire dance
movements. With a sure grasp of shifting cultural dynamics, Banes shows
how postmodern dance is integrally connected to other oppositional,
often marginalized strands of dance culture, and considers how certain
kinds of dance move from the margins to the mainstream.
Banes begins by considering the act of dance criticism itself, exploring
its modes, methods, and underlying assumptions, and examining the work
of other critics. She traces the development of contemporary dance from
the early work of such influential figures as Merce Cunningham and
George Balanchine to such contemporary choreographers as Molissa Fenley,
Karole Armitage, and Michael Clark. She analyzes the contributions of
the Judson Dance Theatre and the Workers' Dance League, the emergence of
Latin postmodern dance in New York, and the impact of black jazz in
Russia. In addition, Banes explores such untraditional performance modes
as breakdancing and the "drunk dancing" of Fred Astaire.
SALLY BANES is Professor of Theatre and Drama and Chair of the Dance
Program at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. She has served as
editor of Dance Research Journal and as a senior critic at Dance
Magazine, and has published essays in numerous periodicals, including
the Village Voice. Terpsichore in Sneakers: Post-Modern Dance (Wesleyan
paperback, 1987) was the first exploration of postmodern dance.
