https://youtu.be/fxA8h4NqbE4?si=7F-ZnYPDvPzoZSup
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Monday, October 30, 2023
Thursday, October 26, 2023
Master’s Thesis in Musicology - Universities van Amsterdam
| What is the importance of touch in social partner dancing? How do partner dancers perceive touch, and how does it fit in with their other senses? How do dancers use touch to understand themselves, the music, and their world? This essay is based on ethnographic research conducted in four partner dance scenes in Amsterdam—tango, salsa, Lindy hop, and kizomba—including interviews with 21 experienced dancers and observations of 12 social dance parties. The social dance party is analyzed as a space which both puts constraints on the dance improvisation that occurs there, as well as offers possibilities for experimentation and the development of new techniques. The leader-follower relationship is also analyzed, with particular focus on how dancers conceptualize this relationship and how touch functions within it. Finally, the essay proposes that dancers train their sensory engagement and their boundaries, just as they train their movement, in order to control their affective experiences in the dance space. Drawing from the diverse perspectives offered by the interviewed dancers on topics such as musicality, safety, and appropriate touch, this study contributes to a deeper understanding of the sensory and social dimensions of partner dance, giving insights into the ways in which dancing bodies engage with other bodies and the world. |
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Tuesday, October 24, 2023
Martha Graham Quote
According to Agnes de Mille about Martha Graham:
"The greatest thing [Graham] ever said to me was in 1943 after the opening of Oklahoma!, when I suddenly had unexpected, flamboyant success for a work I thought was only fairly good, after years of neglect for work I thought was fine. I was bewildered and worried that my entire scale of values was untrustworthy. I talked to Martha. I remember the conversation well. It was in a Schrafft's restaurant over a soda. I confessed that I had a burning desire to be excellent, but no faith that I could be.
Martha said to me, very quietly: "There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep yourself open and aware to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open ... No artist is pleased. [There is] no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only a queer divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others."
Sent from my iPad
"The greatest thing [Graham] ever said to me was in 1943 after the opening of Oklahoma!, when I suddenly had unexpected, flamboyant success for a work I thought was only fairly good, after years of neglect for work I thought was fine. I was bewildered and worried that my entire scale of values was untrustworthy. I talked to Martha. I remember the conversation well. It was in a Schrafft's restaurant over a soda. I confessed that I had a burning desire to be excellent, but no faith that I could be.
Martha said to me, very quietly: "There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep yourself open and aware to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open ... No artist is pleased. [There is] no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only a queer divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others."
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