Watching contemporary American dance is a unique and electrifying experience. Swept along with the dancers, one wonders how the unorthodox movement and unexpected tempo came about. To provide at least one answer to this question, Brenda Dixon Gottschild charts a "geography" that maps a unique, yet startlingly ubiquitous, region of influence in the history of American dance: the black dancing body. The author invites the reader on a journey of sorts and says, "The black dancing body (a fiction based on reality, a fact based upon illusion) has infiltrated and informed the shapes and changes of the American dancing body." Using interviews with black, white, and brown dance practitioners as well as performance analysis and personal recollections of her own life in the world of dance, Brenda Dixon Gottschild charts the endeavors, ordeals, and triumphs of "black" dance and dancers by exposing perceptions, images, and assumptions, past and present. In her journey to discover the contours and importance of the black dancing body, the author spoke to some of the greatest dancers and choreographers of our time - Fernando Bujones, Trisha Brown, Garth Fagan, Bill T. Jones, Ralph Lemon, Meredith Monk, Merián Soto, Doug Elkins, Jawole Willa Jo Zollar and a cadre of their esteemed colleagues. The "embattled territories" of the black dancing body are probed chapter by chapter: feet, buttocks, hair, skin color. The whole of the black dancing body is "re-membered" in the final chapters on soul and spirit. The Black Dancing Body is a key to the ineffable rhythms and movement of dance in America.
(20030721)
| |||||||||||||||
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
"My topic is hot: Race remains dangerous territory, and talking race through the black dancing body is tricky," notes Temple University dance professor Gottschild (Waltzing in the Dark) at the beginning of her exploration of "Africanist presences in performance." Gottschild's exploration of the geography of the black dancing body begins with her own story (as a young dancer in the late 1950s, she recalls, her long-legged, slim-hipped body "got me in trouble" when more "feminine" bodies were in fashion). The author would also audition for Broadway shows, yet knew African-Americans rarely made the cut. This very personal exploration ranges from the question of what black dance is, to the role and perceptions of various body parts, from feet to hair. Along the way, the author interviews 24 leading dancers and choreographers (not all African-American), including Trisha Brown, Bill T. Jones, Shelley Washington and Ralph Lemon, representing a variety of dance eras, idioms and traditions. Anyone interested in dance and in African-American culture will find much to ponder here.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Review
"This volume rescues a vital history of theatrical dance that reflects a legacy of racial divides."--Lewis Whittington, Philadelphia City Paper
"...explore[s] race politics, the bodies of black dancers, African influences and the genesis of acceptance."--Nadirah Sabir, Upscale Magazine
"Anyone interested in dance and in African-American culture will find much to ponder here."--Publishers Weekly Annex, 7/21/03
"With typical generosity, Brenda Dixon Gottschild convenes a discussion of some of the most crucial issues defining black-white relations in contemporary American society. Skillfully weaving her own voice among those of diverse artists, she raises questions about racial stereotypes, expectations, and prejudices as they are experienced by performers and viewers. Because it focuses on the dancing body, situating its cultivation of physicality as part of more general cultural elaborations of corporeality, The Black Dancing Body addresses the experience of race at a profound and vital level. Candidly pursuing the racialized experiences of feet, butts, hair, and skin, Dixon Gottschild gives readers an abundance of perspectives, both historical and cultural, on the physical. She invites readers into a dialogue, marked by honesty, courage, and soul, that is capable of moving our bodies and our spirits."--Susan Foster, Department of World Arts and Cultures, University of California at Los Angeles
"The Black Dancing Body is a fresh and surprising collage of a book. It walks around its subject, looking at it from new angles, carefully knocking down cliches and stereotypes, allowing dancers' voices to be heard. The quietest, truest voice is the author's own, as she meditates on her own body and the associations it calls up from her own dancing past and her life as an African American woman. This book must be read, to understand once again why our culture is such a painful and exhilarating mixture of black and white elements, and why, in the midst of celebrating the mixture, we must never forget the African-American contribution."--Elizabeth Kendall
Praise for Waltzing in the Dark:
"A major achievement. Her insights into the way the history of a people is lived in the body through dance is profound and a long awaited gift."--Jawole Willa Joe Zollar
"...as sensuous as the artists Brenda describes" --Bill T. Jones"Anyone interested in dance and in African-American culture will find much to ponder here." - Publishers Weekly Annex
"...explore[s] race politics, the bodies of black dancers, African influences and the genesis of acceptance."--Nadirah Sabir, Upscale Magazine
"Anyone interested in dance and in African-American culture will find much to ponder here."--Publishers Weekly Annex, 7/21/03
"With typical generosity, Brenda Dixon Gottschild convenes a discussion of some of the most crucial issues defining black-white relations in contemporary American society. Skillfully weaving her own voice among those of diverse artists, she raises questions about racial stereotypes, expectations, and prejudices as they are experienced by performers and viewers. Because it focuses on the dancing body, situating its cultivation of physicality as part of more general cultural elaborations of corporeality, The Black Dancing Body addresses the experience of race at a profound and vital level. Candidly pursuing the racialized experiences of feet, butts, hair, and skin, Dixon Gottschild gives readers an abundance of perspectives, both historical and cultural, on the physical. She invites readers into a dialogue, marked by honesty, courage, and soul, that is capable of moving our bodies and our spirits."--Susan Foster, Department of World Arts and Cultures, University of California at Los Angeles
"The Black Dancing Body is a fresh and surprising collage of a book. It walks around its subject, looking at it from new angles, carefully knocking down cliches and stereotypes, allowing dancers' voices to be heard. The quietest, truest voice is the author's own, as she meditates on her own body and the associations it calls up from her own dancing past and her life as an African American woman. This book must be read, to understand once again why our culture is such a painful and exhilarating mixture of black and white elements, and why, in the midst of celebrating the mixture, we must never forget the African-American contribution."--Elizabeth Kendall
Praise for Waltzing in the Dark:
"A major achievement. Her insights into the way the history of a people is lived in the body through dance is profound and a long awaited gift."--Jawole Willa Joe Zollar
"...as sensuous as the artists Brenda describes" --Bill T. Jones"Anyone interested in dance and in African-American culture will find much to ponder here." - Publishers Weekly Annex
"Anyone interested in dance and in African-American culture will find much to ponder here."
(Publishers Weekly Annex )"To read Brenda Dixon Gottschild''s new book is to march with her right across some of the most controversial terrain in dance.... this invigorating, argumentative and highly presonable book is a must."
(Laura Shapiro New York Magazine )
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Dancer to Dancer,
By Naima Zen (Savannan, GA USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Black Dancing Body: A Geography from Coon to Cool (Paperback)
I loved this book! People make think that the title and contents were not significant, but they need to take a closer look. I'm a HBCU alumna who danced for SSU in GA. I can correlated to some of the issues that African-American danacers faced in auditions, appearance, and training. For instance, we had to tuck our bottom in plie' to create the straight line. In the book, a section is dedicate to our butt and it's hilarious. I really enjoyed reading the personal interview of different ethnic professional dancers. Also, there are images of these wonderful dancers in their true form. I can not tell everything! If you appreciate African-American dancers and their visions, get this book. If you loved performing arts, get this book. If you are a dancer and want to preserve a part of your history, GET THIS BOOK!
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
a seminal work,
By
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: The Black Dancing Body: A Geography from Coon to Cool (Hardcover)
gottschild's work should be an accepted text for black dance history. at the very least, it should be a book many should read to get discussions started about what it is that makes a black dancer so special. and why people assume we're so good at it.
well, as far as concert/modern dance is concerned, our contributions are just coming to light. we have had to cram a lot into a short period of time. and gottschild doesn't miss getting a pertinent viewpoint on this. she speaks to dancers, choreographers and looks at her own history as a dancer to give us this great, vast assortment of perspectives to consider.
5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A truly superb, groundbreaking and innovative book,
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: The Black Dancing Body: A Geography from Coon to Cool (Hardcover)
By applying a fascinating blend of oral history methods and critical theory, BDG offers a fascinating investigation into a long-neglected idea. BDG is the kind of historian and critic that if she were not writing about a field like Dance that is marginalized within the academy, she would long ago have been recognized as one of the foremost voices in the best new scholarship within American Studies and and the Arts and Humanities in general. I cannot recommend this book more.
Sadly, one of the unintelligent reviewers below does not know what he or she is talking about ***in the slightest bit***.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
Inside This Book
(learn more)
First Sentence:
With dance as the focus and race the parameter, this work is a personalized cultural study, the third installment in my exploration/excavation of Africanist presences in performance. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
black dancing body, white dancing body, white dancing bodies, black female buttocks, racialized casting, black dancing bodies, concert dance world, ballet body, dance practitioners, black buttocks, black dance, praise dance, white dance, check black, dance aesthetics, arched spine, most prevalent area, rhythm tap, baby got back, black female body, movement vocabulary, arched feet Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
African American, New York, Alvin Ailey, Meredith Monk, Shelley Washington, United States, Trisha Brown, James Brown, Ron Brown, Wendy Perron, Zane Booker, Gus Solomons, Dance Theater of Harlem, Joan Myers Brown, Brenda Bufalino, Chuck Davis, Doug Elkins, Ralph Lemon, Bebe Miller, Garth Fagan, Josephine Baker, Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, Marlies Yearby, Arthur Mitchell, Francesca Harper New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Front Flap | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
With dance as the focus and race the parameter, this work is a personalized cultural study, the third installment in my exploration/excavation of Africanist presences in performance. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
black dancing body, white dancing body, white dancing bodies, black female buttocks, racialized casting, black dancing bodies, concert dance world, ballet body, dance practitioners, black buttocks, black dance, praise dance, white dance, check black, dance aesthetics, arched spine, most prevalent area, rhythm tap, baby got back, black female body, movement vocabulary, arched feet Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
African American, New York, Alvin Ailey, Meredith Monk, Shelley Washington, United States, Trisha Brown, James Brown, Ron Brown, Wendy Perron, Zane Booker, Gus Solomons, Dance Theater of Harlem, Joan Myers Brown, Brenda Bufalino, Chuck Davis, Doug Elkins, Ralph Lemon, Bebe Miller, Garth Fagan, Josephine Baker, Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, Marlies Yearby, Arthur Mitchell, Francesca Harper New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Front Flap | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 33
books:
See all 33 books this book cites
3
books
cite this book:
- The Holy Spirit by Garth Black on page 258, and page 318
- The Blacker the Berry by Joyce Carol Thomas on page 193, and Back Matter
- African Art in Motion by Robert Farris Thompson on page 255, and Back Matter
- Jennifer Lopez by Carlton Books on page 148, and page 166
- Blacker the Berry. . . by Wallace Thurman on page 193, and Back Matter
See all 33 books this book cites
- Glamour Addiction: Inside the American Ballroom Dance Industry by Juliet McMains in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Speaking of Dance: Twelve Contemporary Choreographers on Their Craft by Joyce Morgenroth in Back Matter
- Dancing Wisdom: Embodied Knowledge in Haitian Vodou, Cuban Yoruba, and Bahian Candomble by Yvonne Daniel in Back Matter
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
