Dance and the Specific Image: Improvisation (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

After a career in dance as a performer, choreographer, and teacher - Daniel Nagrin has now written this book. In it he explores the roots of his aesthetic philosophy, influenced by Stanislavski, Helen Tamiris, Joseph Chaikin and the Open Theatre, and his work on and off Broadway as an actor and a dancer. "Dance and the Specific Image" includes over 100 improvisational structures that Nagrin created with his company, the Workgroup, and has taught in dance classes and workshops all over the United States. Designed primarily for dancers, many can be adapted for actors and musicians. In the 1960s, at a time when many modeern dancers were working with movement as abstraction, Nagrin turned instead towards movement as metaphor. His passionate belief that dance must be about something led him to found Workgroup, a small company of dancers who, in the early 1970s, devoted themselves to the practice and performance of improvisation. "Dance and the Specific Image" is designed to be read by the general reader interested in dance history and philosophy as well as by students and teachers who may benefit from the techniques he describes. Nagrin invites the reader into the mind of a dancer totally absorbed in his art.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Press (November 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0822955202
• ISBN-13: 978-0822955207
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 7.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #798,986 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A master collection of performance-quality improvisations., October 15, 1997

By A Customer

An important book by an important dancer and choreographer.

Thumb through "Dance and the Specific Image: Improvisation" and you will envision yourself performing improvisations onstage. Daniel Nagrin's exercises, games and structures (EGAS, he calls them) work behind closed doors or in front of live audiences. They are clear and have a beginning, middle and end, and yet offer rich unpredictable results.

Nagrin's instructions are set apart from the rest of the text, so it's easy to graze through the book. But the greatest rewards come from reading the book from cover to cover, because the narrative reveals every step of the creative process to which Nagrin committed himself. It's an enjoyable read. It's very generous in its sharing. It makes you want to dance in a whole new way -- particularly in group sessions like the ones he directed.

Reading and re-reading this book is the next best thing to having Mr. Nagrin in residence.

A surprising application: At George Mason University this book is required reading for graduate courses in 3D human animation!

5.0 out of 5 stars Depth and beauty, November 29, 2002

By	wildebeest2 "wildebeest2" (Australia) - See all my reviews

I've never come across such an intelligent and holistic dance artist as Mr Nagrin, nor one with such integrity.

He is sublimely articulate about his working methods, honest, and interesting to read. I can't wait to try some of the improvisations he describes with my tertiary students.