In 1930; dancer and choreographer Martha Graham proclaimed the arrival of "dance as an art of and from America." Dancers such as Doris Humphrey; Ted Shawn; Katherine Dunham; and Helen Tamiris joined Graham in creating a new form of dance; and; like other modernists; they experimented with and argued over their aesthetic innovations; to which they assigned great meaning.Their innovations; however; went beyond aesthetics. While modern dancers devised new ways of moving bodies in accordance with many modernist principles; their artistry was indelibly shaped by their place in society. Modern dance was distinct from other artistic genres in terms of the people it attracted: white women (many of whom were Jewish); gay men; and African American men and women. Women held leading roles in the development of modern dance on stage and off; gay men recast the effeminacy often associated with dance into a hardened; heroic; American athleticism; and African Americans contributed elements of social; African; and Caribbean dance; even as their undervalued role defined the limits of modern dancers communal visions. Through their art; modern dancers challenged conventional roles and images of gender; sexuality; race; class; and regionalism with a view of American democracy that was confrontational and participatory; authorial and populist. Modern Bodies exposes the social dynamics that shaped American modernism and moved modern dance to the edges of society; a place both provocative and perilous.
2014-09-11 2014-09-11File Name: B00OGLE7NK
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. story concept was so interestingBy rose aielloActually I loved the story line but when I ordered this book; I had ordered the play version instead of the regular book. I had seen the old movie so I could visualize the scenes in my head; but I would think the book form would be better instead of the play. Still; it is worth reading.
