Movement Writes: Four Case Studies in Dance, Discourse and Shifting Boundaries
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2019
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ndltd-OhioLink-oai-etd.ohiolink.edu-osu15638049147345572021-08-03T07:12:04Z Movement Writes: Four Case Studies in Dance, Discourse and Shifting Boundaries Kennedy, Fenella Kate Dance Dance discourse modern John Cage Jill Johnston This is America Susan Foster Black Panther Linguistics Pant Suit Dance Studies This dissertation uses four case studies to examine the shifting discourse of dance and dance studies since the turn of the 20th century, and how this discourse is in relationship with the political, social, and academic cultural context of the United States. My interdisciplinary research uses methods adapted from microhistory and Critical Discourse Analysis, as well as archival research and close reading in order to show how various forms of dance writing have been instrumental in shaping that discourse and creating change within and across our discipline. My first case study centers on the term “modern dance” in order to draw parallels between Fordist industrial practices and the racialization of social partner dancing in the first decades of the 20th century, resulting in the erasure of black influences on modern dance. My second case study focuses on the writing of John Cage and Jill Johnston – two artists whose experimental poetics reflected and facilitated the turn to postmodernism during the mid-20th century. Unpacking various techniques within their writing I show how these artists used black literary aesthetics and other experimental devices to articulate a vision of political and social togetherness during the climate of the Lavender Scare. My third case study traces the rise of dance studies within American higher education, comparing two anthologies: What is Dance from 1983 and the second edition of the Routledge Dance Studies Reader from 2010. From this comparison I move to a close reading of Susan Foster’s 2010 re-publication of “Choreographing History” to show how Foster negotiates attitudes to gender and the body within an academic setting. My final case study examines dance as a medium for social change, guided by two metaphors: the studio is the world, and choreography is protest. Using contemporary theories of horizontality, affect and technique I analyze a range of works through this metaphorical lens, showing how both the rehearsal process and the choreography of dance in performance can affect the reception and durational impact of a social message.Across this dissertation I demonstrate that by examining dance discursively it is possible to contextualize dance practices and dance writing in relation to a given historical moment, and by doing so to draw new conclusions about practices of dance and dance writing. Considering each of these case studies reveals not only how critics, historians, dancers and scholars have used dance writing to establish disciplinary boundaries in one context, but also how those boundaries have been shifted over time, and to what effect. 2019 English text The Ohio State University / OhioLINK http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1563804914734557 http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1563804914734557 unrestricted This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: all rights reserved. It may not be copied or redistributed beyond the terms of applicable copyright laws. |
| collection |
NDLTD |
| language |
English |
| sources |
NDLTD |
| topic |
Dance Dance discourse modern John Cage Jill Johnston This is America Susan Foster Black Panther Linguistics Pant Suit Dance Studies |
| spellingShingle |
Dance Dance discourse modern John Cage Jill Johnston This is America Susan Foster Black Panther Linguistics Pant Suit Dance Studies Kennedy, Fenella Kate Movement Writes: Four Case Studies in Dance, Discourse and Shifting Boundaries |
| author |
Kennedy, Fenella Kate |
| author_facet |
Kennedy, Fenella Kate |
| author_sort |
Kennedy, Fenella Kate |
| title |
Movement Writes: Four Case Studies in Dance, Discourse and Shifting Boundaries |
| title_short |
Movement Writes: Four Case Studies in Dance, Discourse and Shifting Boundaries |
| title_full |
Movement Writes: Four Case Studies in Dance, Discourse and Shifting Boundaries |
| title_fullStr |
Movement Writes: Four Case Studies in Dance, Discourse and Shifting Boundaries |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Movement Writes: Four Case Studies in Dance, Discourse and Shifting Boundaries |
| title_sort |
movement writes: four case studies in dance, discourse and shifting boundaries |
| publisher |
The Ohio State University / OhioLINK |
| publishDate |
2019 |
| url |
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1563804914734557 |
| work_keys_str_mv |
AT kennedyfenellakate movementwritesfourcasestudiesindancediscourseandshiftingboundaries |
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