About this product

Product Identifiers

PublisherWesleyan University Press

ISBN-100819566489

ISBN-139780819566485

eBay Product ID (ePID)6020315

Product Key Features

Number of Pages304 Pages

LanguageEnglish

Publication NameTaken by Surprise : a Dance Improvisation Reader

SubjectDance / General

Publication Year2003

TypeTextbook

Subject AreaPerforming Arts

AuthorDavid Gere

FormatTrade Paperback

Dimensions

Item Height1 in

Item Weight22.4 Oz

Item Length10.2 in

Item Width7 in

Additional Product Features

Intended AudienceScholarly & Professional

LCCN2003-012767

Dewey Edition21

Reviews"The concept of improvisation is historically associated with jazz, comedy, or theater, not dance... Among the authors represented are Susan Leigh Foster, Sally Banes, and Janice Ross, as well as dance notable such as Simone Forti, Steve Paxton, and Victoria Marks... best suited to large dance and performing arts collections."--Library Journal, The concept of improvisation is historically associated with jazz, comedy, or theater, not dance... Among the authors represented are Susan Leigh Foster, Sally Banes, and Janice Ross, as well as dance notable such as Simone Forti, Steve Paxton, and Victoria Marks... best suited to large dance and performing arts collections., "The concept of improvisation is historically associated with jazz, comedy, or theater, not dance... Among the authors represented are Susan Leigh Foster, Sally Banes, and Janice Ross, as well as dance notable such as Simone Forti, Steve Paxton, and Victoria Marks... best suited to large dance and performing arts collections."-- Library Journal "For those who strive to legitimize the long-dismissed art and craft of improvisational dance; for those who look for an invitation, or a doorway in; for those for whom the phrase just improvising slips (too) easily off the tongue; and for dancers and dance lovers of all persuasions, I recommend this reader. The frank voices in this collection pay tribute to the ranginess of improvisational dance practices and sources while illuminating the deep bodymind investigations that inform its application to contemporary performance."--Lisa Nelson, choreographer, improvisational performer, coeditor Contact Quarterly dance journal, "The concept of improvisation is historically associated with jazz, comedy, or theater, not dance... Among the authors represented are Susan Leigh Foster, Sally Banes, and Janice Ross, as well as dance notable such as Simone Forti, Steve Paxton, and Victoria Marks... best suited to large dance and performing arts collections."- Library Journal, "For those who strive to legitimize the long-dismissed art and craft of improvisational dance; for those who look for an invitation, or a doorway in; for those for whom the phrase just improvising slips (too) easily off the tongue; and for dancers and dance lovers of all persuasions, I recommend this reader. The frank voices in this collection pay tribute to the ranginess of improvisational dance practices and sources while illuminating the deep bodymind investigations that inform its application to contemporary performance."--Lisa Nelson, choreographer, improvisational performer, coeditor Contact Quarterly dance journal ""This collection charts the geography of dance improvisation in an entirely contemporary way. Whether personal, artistic, ethnographic, critical, historical, or theoretical, each voice speaks clearly and accessibly. This collection is refreshing, insightful and sophisticated.""--Penny Campbell, Director of Dance, Middlebury College, "The concept of improvisation is historically associated with jazz, comedy, or theater, not dance... Among the authors represented are Susan Leigh Foster, Sally Banes, and Janice Ross, as well as dance notable such as Simone Forti, Steve Paxton, and Victoria Marks... best suited to large dance and performing arts collections."-Library Journal, "The concept of improvisation is historically associated with jazz, comedy, or theater, not dance... Among the authors represented are Susan Leigh Foster, Sally Banes, and Janice Ross, as well as dance notable such as Simone Forti, Steve Paxton, and Victoria Marks... best suited to large dance and performing arts collections."ÑLibrary Journal, "The concept of improvisation is historically associated with jazz, comedy, or theater, not dance... Among the authors represented are Susan Leigh Foster, Sally Banes, and Janice Ross, as well as dance notable such as Simone Forti, Steve Paxton, and Victoria Marks... best suited to large dance and performing arts collections."-- Library Journal

Grade FromCollege Graduate Student

IllustratedYes

Dewey Decimal792.8

Table Of ContentIMPROVISING BODY, IMPROVISING MIND Taken by Surprise: Improvisation in Dance and Mind ? Susan Leigh Foster Exposed to Gravity ? Bruce Curtis o Dance: A Body with a Mind of Its Own ? Ruth Zaporah The Cutting Edge of Awareness: Reports from the Inside of Improvisation ? Kent De Spain A DUET WITH POSTMODERN DANCE Anna Halprin and Improvisation as Child's Play: A Search for Innocence ? Janice Ross Animate Dancing: A Practice in Dance Improvisation ? Simone Forti Learning to Speak: An Apprenticeship with Simone Forti in Logomotion ? Carmela Hermann Spontaneous Combustion: Notes on Dance Improvisation from the Sixties to the Nineties ? Sally Banes EXPANDING THE CANON Stepping, Stealing, Sharing, and Daring: Improvisation and the Tap Dance Challenge ? Constance Valis Hill The Writing on the Wall: Reading Improvisation in Flamenco and Postmodern Dance ? Michelle Heffner Hayes Improvisation as Participatory Performance: Egungun Masked Dancers in the Yoruba Tradition ? Margaret Thompson Drewal Against Improvisation: A Postmodernist Makes the Case for Choreography ? Victoria Marks Multiple Pleasures: Improvisation in Bharatanatyam ? Avanthi Meduri RECONSIDERING CONTACT IMPROVISATION A Subjective History of Contact Improvisation ? Nancy Stark Smith Drafting Interior Techniques ? Steve Paxton

SynopsisThis collection of classic and new writings on dance improvisation brings together 21 essays by prominent dancers, scholars and historians. Until now, discussion of improvisation in dance has focused mainly on the postmodern form known as contact improv. Taken by Surprise reflects the development of improvisation as a compositional and performance mode in a wide variety of dance contexts, including dance traditions from around the globe, such as Yoruban masked dance, Indian Bharatanatyam and flamenco. The book also includes a thoughtful look at computer-aided choreography, a discussion of recent innovations in tap dancing and a section on improvisation in everyday life. Combining primary sources with critical analysis, Taken by Surprise will serve as an indispensible companion to studio work in improvisation, and a much-needed supplement to twentieth century dance histories. CONTRIBUTORS: Ann Cooper Albright, Sally Banes, Bruce Curtis, Kent Despain, Margaret Thompson Drewal, Simone Forti, Susan Leigh Foster, David Gere, Raymond W. Gibbs, JR, Michelle Heffner Hayes, Carmela Hermann, Constance Valis Hill, Rachel Kaplan, Maura Keefe, Victoria Marks, Avanthi Meduri, Steve Paxton, Janice Ross, Karen Schaffman, Nancy Stark Smith, Ellen Webb, Ruth Zaporah., First comprehensive overview of improvisation in dance. This collection of classic and new writings on dance improvisation brings together 21 essays by prominent dancers, scholars and historians. Until now, discussion of improvisation in dance has focused mainly on the postmodern form known as contact improv. Taken by Surprise reflects the development of improvisation as a compositional and performance mode in a wide variety of dance contexts, including dance traditions from around the globe, such as Yoruban masked dance, Indian Bharatanatyam and flamenco. The book also includes a thoughtful look at computer-aided choreography, a discussion of recent innovations in tap dancing and a section on improvisation in everyday life. Combining primary sources with critical analysis, Taken by Surprise will serve as an indispensible companion to studio work in improvisation, and a much-needed supplement to twentieth century dance histories. CONTRIBUTORS: Ann Cooper Albright, Sally Banes, Bruce Curtis, Kent Despain, Margaret Thompson Drewal, Simone Forti, Susan Leigh Foster, David Gere, Raymond W. Gibbs, JR, Michelle Heffner Hayes, Carmela Hermann, Constance Valis Hill, Rachel Kaplan, Maura Keefe, Victoria Marks, Avanthi Meduri, Steve Paxton, Janice Ross, Karen Schaffman, Nancy Stark Smith, Ellen Webb, Ruth Zaporah.

LC Classification NumberGV1781.2.T35 2003