Overview

When it was first published in Germany in 1995, Poetics of Dance was already seen as a path-breaking publication, the first to explore the relationships between the birth of modern dance, new developments in the visual arts, and the renewal of literature and drama in the form of avant-garde theatrical and movement productions of the early twentieth-century. Author Gabriele Brandstetter established in this book not only a relation between dance and critical theory, but in fact a full interdisciplinary methodology that quickly found foothold with other areas of research within dance studies. The book looks at dance at the beginnings of the 20th century, the time during which modern dance first began to make its radical departure from the aesthetics of classical ballet. Brandstetter traces modern dance's connection to new innovations and trends in visual and literary arts to argue that modern dance is in fact the preeminent symbol of modernity. As Brandstetter demonstrates, the aesthetic renewal of dance vocabulary which was pursued by modern dancers on both sides of the Atlantic - Isadora Duncan and Loie Fuller, Valeska Gert and Oskar Schlemmer, Vaslav Nijinsky and Michel Fokine - unfurled itself in new ideas about gender and subjectivity in the arts more generally, thus reflecting the modern experience of life and the self-understanding of the individual as an individual. As a whole, the book makes an important contribution to the theory of modernity.

Full Product Details

Author:   Gabriele Brandstetter (Professor, Professor, Insitute for Theater Studies, Free University of Berlin, Berlin)
Publisher:   Oxford University Press Inc
Imprint:   Oxford University Press Inc
Dimensions:   Width: 23.90cm , Height: 2.50cm , Length: 16.00cm
Weight:   0.794kg
ISBN:  

9780199916559

ISBN 10:   0199916551
Pages:   456
Publication Date:   14 May 2015
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand  
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Table of Contents

Introduction Part I: Pathos Formulas. Body-Image and Danced Figuration 1. Dance in the Museum: Body and Memory 2. Patterns of Femininity and the Body-Image of Dance 3. Delirium of Movement and Trance Dance 4. The Dancer as Muse Part II: Topos Formulas. Dance Movement and Figuration of Space 1. Dance Costume and Movement Space: Spatial Formulas and their Metamorphoses into Fabric 2. Dance-Text. Transformations of Choreography 3. Aerodance. Futurist Dance and Aviation 4. Writing Dance and Spatial Writing. Between Alphabet and Topos Formula 5. Interruption Intermediality and Disjunction in the Movement Concepts of Avant-garde Dance and Theater Conclusion Bibliography Index

Reviews

Poetics of Dance presents a foundational and original way of thinking about dance while also offering a radical re-evaluation of early twentieth century modernism across dance, literature, theater, and the visual arts. Brandstetter's brilliantly conceived approach to dance analysis foregrounds the intertextual connections among allied cultural practices in new ways through a theory of meaning-making based in spatial and psychic patterning. An invaluable contribution to the field of dance studies, this work will significantly expand our understanding of dance as part of culture and history. -- Susan Leigh Foster, Distinguished Professor, UCLA Gabriele Brandstetter's book is of magnificent scope and depths moving towards nothing less than a theory of the avantgarde in early 20th century Europe. Considering the dancer's body as a form of writing oscillating between memory and metamorphosis, dance becomes the main site on which the cross cultural transformations between the past and the present, the mundane and the exotic were negotiated. The dancer's body thus becomes a symptom for the fundamental changes of both the cultural systems and the systems of art that make up the culture of modernity - touching on topics like ritual, exotism, and its gender related issues, Brandstetter engages in a 'lecture corporelle' that reads dance as a series of figurations of emotions and space, of pathos formulas and topos formulas, that allow us to re-read the culture of modernity across all disciplines in its conscious and unconscious manifestations. --Gerald Siegmund, Professor, University of Giessen [T]his is a groundbreaking book...Dense with meaning, this book provokes thoughtful reflection on the nature and scope of modernity. --E. McPherson, Montclair State University Poetics of Dance broadens our knowledge and understanding of dance as a key synthetic point in culture and history. --The Arab Journal of Performance Studies Brandstetter makes explicit the connections among literature, visual arts, drama, and dance, examining in particular the early modern dance period in Europe, but touching on international developpments as well. Poetics of Dance helps the student/scholar trace the lineage between historically structured dance, such as ballet, and contemporary modern dance. -- Dance Chronicle The effectiveness of Brandstetter's research lies in its methodology, which, in its strongest moments, provides sudden and sharp insight into thought structures that extend far beyond dance ... Brandstetter's analysis works most effectively when she weaves together multiple strands of argument across a variety of disciplines and then anchors them in the fundamental physicality of dance. These moments are supported by well-chosen archival photos that complement the written descriptions and make evident the often unexpected connections being drawn across time and space. --German Studies Review

Gabriele Brandstetter's book is of magnificent scope and depths moving towards nothing less than a theory of the avantgarde in early 20th century Europe. Considering the dancer's body as a form of writing oscillating between memory and metamorphosis, dance becomes the main site on which the cross cultural transformations between the past and the present, the mundane and the exotic were negotiated. The dancer's body thus becomes a symptom for the fundamental changes of both the cultural systems and the systems of art that make up the culture of modernity - touching on topics like ritual, exotism, and its gender related issues, Brandstetter engages in a 'lecture corporelle' that reads dance as a series of figurations of emotions and space, of pathos formulas and topos formulas, that allow us to re-read the culture of modernity across all disciplines in its conscious and unconscious manifestations. * Gerald Siegmund, Professor, University of Giessen * Poetics of Dance presents a foundational and original way of thinking about dance while also offering a radical re-evaluation of early twentieth century modernism across dance, literature, theater, and the visual arts. Brandstetter's brilliantly conceived approach to dance analysis foregrounds the intertextual connections among allied cultural practices in new ways through a theory of meaning-making based in spatial and psychic patterning. An invaluable contribution to the field of dance studies, this work will significantly expand our understanding of dance as part of culture and history. * Susan Leigh Foster, Distinguished Professor, UCLA *

Poetics of Dance presents a foundational and original way of thinking about dance while also offering a radical re-evaluation of early twentieth century modernism across dance, literature, theater, and the visual arts. Brandstetter's brilliantly conceived approach to dance analysis foregrounds the intertextual connections among allied cultural practices in new ways through a theory of meaning-making based in spatial and psychic patterning. An invaluable contribution to the field of dance studies, this work will significantly expand our understanding of dance as part of culture and history. Susan Leigh Foster, Distinguished Professor, UCLA Gabriele Brandstetter's book is of magnificent scope and depths moving towards nothing less than a theory of the avantgarde in early 20th century Europe. Considering the dancer's body as a form of writing oscillating between memory and metamorphosis, dance becomes the main site on which the cross cultural transformations between the past and the present, the mundane and the exotic were negotiated. The dancer's body thus becomes a symptom for the fundamental changes of both the cultural systems and the systems of art that make up the culture of modernity - touching on topics like ritual, exotism, and its gender related issues, Brandstetter engages in a 'lecture corporelle' that reads dance as a series of figurations of emotions and space, of pathos formulas and topos formulas, that allow us to re-read the culture of modernity across all disciplines in its conscious and unconscious manifestations. Gerald Siegmund, Professor, University of Giessen

Poetics of Dance presents a foundational and original way of thinking about dance while also offering a radical re-evaluation of early twentieth century modernism across dance, literature, theater, and the visual arts. Brandstetter's brilliantly conceived approach to dance analysis foregrounds the intertextual connections among allied cultural practices in new ways through a theory of meaning-making based in spatial and psychic patterning. An invaluable contribution to the field of dance studies, this work will significantly expand our understanding of dance as part of culture and history. -- Susan Leigh Foster, Distinguished Professor, UCLA Gabriele Brandstetter's book is of magnificent scope and depths moving towards nothing less than a theory of the avantgarde in early 20th century Europe. Considering the dancer's body as a form of writing oscillating between memory and metamorphosis, dance becomes the main site on which the cross cultural transformations between the past and the present, the mundane and the exotic were negotiated. The dancer's body thus becomes a symptom for the fundamental changes of both the cultural systems and the systems of art that make up the culture of modernity - touching on topics like ritual, exotism, and its gender related issues, Brandstetter engages in a 'lecture corporelle' that reads dance as a series of figurations of emotions and space, of pathos formulas and topos formulas, that allow us to re-read the culture of modernity across all disciplines in its conscious and unconscious manifestations. --Gerald Siegmund, Professor, University of Giessen [T]his is a groundbreaking book...Dense with meaning, this book provokes thoughtful reflection on the nature and scope of modernity. --E. McPherson, Montclair State University Poetics of Dance broadens our knowledge and understanding of dance as a key synthetic point in culture and history. --The Arab Journal of Performance Studies Brandstetter makes explicit the connections among literature, visual arts, drama, and dance, examining in particular the early modern dance period in Europe, but touching on international developpments as well. Poetics of Dance helps the student/scholar trace the lineage between historically structured dance, such as ballet, and contemporary modern dance. -- Dance Chronicle The effectiveness of Brandstetter's research lies in its methodology, which, in its strongest moments, provides sudden and sharp insight into thought structures that extend far beyond dance ... Brandstetter's analysis works most effectively when she weaves together multiple strands of argument across a variety of disciplines and then anchors them in the fundamental physicality of dance. These moments are supported by well-chosen archival photos that complement the written descriptions and make evident the often unexpected connections being drawn across time and space. --German Studies Review

Author Information

"A scholar of widespread international recognition, Gabriele Brandstetter is Professor for Theatre and Dance Studies at the Freie Universität Berlin, where she founded and directs the Centre for Movement Studies. She is also co-director of the International Research Center ""Interweaving Performance Cultures"". She is author of three scholarly books and editor or co-editor of ten scholarly books on dance and movement."

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