Awards

• Winner of 1997 Special Citation, Dance Perspectives Foundation, de la Torre Bueno PrizeA Choice Outstanding Academic Book of 1997.
• Winner of 1997 Special Citation, Dance Perspectives Foundation, de la Torre Bueno PrizeA Choice Outstanding Academic Book of 1997.

Overview

Undoubtedly, Choreography and Narrative is an important contribution to dance history research."" -Nineteenth-Century French Studies This work is a landmark in the field and belongs in all libraries serving undergraduate, graduate, and faculty researchers in dance."" -Choice Invents a new method for writing the history of performance: Foster has found an innovative way of appealing directly to the kinesthetic imagination of her readers, evoking the elusive styles of the pieces she reconstructs."" -Joseph Roach An impressive work of scholarship, this elegantly staged study... uses the concept of a culturally constructed, historically specific body to cut across disciplinary boundaries..."" -Library Journal Foster examines the development of ballet, and conceptions of the dancing body, as ballet separated from opera and emerged as an autonomous art form during the turbulence of 18th-century French society and history.

Full Product Details

Author:   Susan Leigh Foster
Publisher:   Indiana University Press
Imprint:   Indiana University Press
Edition:   New edition
Dimensions:   Width: 17.80cm , Height: 2.90cm , Length: 25.40cm
Weight:   1.715kg
ISBN:  

9780253212160

ISBN 10:   0253212162
Pages:   392
Publication Date:   22 August 1998
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  Undergraduate ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

Illustrations Preface Introduction: Pygmalion's No-Boby and The Body of Dance 1. Originary Gestures 13 Painting the situations of the soul Vanishing physicalities Transgressive gestures Originating the action ballet The Bank of Grass (le banc de gazon) Telemaque dans l'ile de Calipso (1759) On One Side, On the Other; Above and Below Arlequin Soldat Magicien, ou le Canonier, Pantomime (1764) 2. Staging the Canvas and the Machine Spectacular dancing bodies Horizontal and vertical perfection Challenging hierarchy The more sensible machine Make the Scheme Known Jason et Medee (1771) The Invigilant Dancer Apelles et Campaspe (1776) 3. Narrating Passion and Prowess Dancing the action A passion for anatomy The language of dance The self-filled body The Duel Mirza (1779) The Earth Trembles: The Thunder Roars Le Premier Navigateur, ou le Pouvoir de l'Amour (1785) Escape into the Heavens Hercule et Omphale, Pantomime en 1 Acte (1787) 4. Governing the Body The street, the stage, the nation Muscular geometry Virtuoso docility Governing the Body politic The Magically Inscribed Message Les Royalistes de la Vendee, ou les Epoux Republicains, Pantomime en Trois Actes (1794) To Throw Oneself in the Arms Of(Se Jeter dans les bras) La Dansomanie (1800) Begin and End with Dancing Nina, ou La Folle par Amour (1813) Tell-Tale Evidence Les Pages du Duc de Vendome (1820) 5. Fugitive Desires Cruel nocturnal dancing Crafting diversion Dancing the object of desire The dissolving object of the gaze Making Merry/Gazing On La Sylphide (1832) Maybe Yes; Maybe No La Voliere, ou les Oiseaux de Boccace (1838) Dark Spaces Giselle, ou les Wilis (1841) Conclusion: Ballet's Bodies and The Body of Narrative apendix notes bibliography index

Reviews

<p> This complex and beautifully written investigation of ballet'sdevelopment in France from the early 18th through the late 19th century extendsFoster's earlier efforts to link dance theory and practice (see Reading Dancing: Bodies and Subjects in Contemporary American Dance, CH, Apr'87; ChoreographingHistory, 1995; and Corporealities, CH, Jun'96). Foster (Univ. of California atRiverside) has become increasingly adept at presenting historical, physical, andtheoretical dancing bodies in relation to one another via written texts. This volumesituates ballet as a cultural practice and analyzes its progress in relation toeconomic, political, and social developments -- tracing its evolution throughspecific danced narratives and emphasizing class, gender, and racial identities.Each of the five chapters focuses on an issue relevant to choreography and training.These are augmented by interludes, which contextualize the theoretical issues.Foster's word images awaken the reader to his/her own ph

This complex and beautifully written investigation of ballet's development in France from the early 18th through the late 19th century extends Foster's earlier efforts to link dance theory and practice (see Reading Dancing: Bodies and Subjects in Contemporary American Dance, CH, Apr'87; Choreographing History, 1995; and Corporealities, CH, Jun'96). Foster (Univ. of California at Riverside) has become increasingly adept at presenting historical, physical, and theoretical dancing bodies in relation to one another via written texts. This volume situates ballet as a cultural practice and analyzes its progress in relation to economic, political, and social developments-tracing its evolution through specific danced narratives and emphasizing class, gender, and racial identities. Each of the five chapters focuses on an issue relevant to choreography and training. These are augmented by interludes, which contextualize the theoretical issues. Foster's word images awaken the reader to his/her own physicality and to the connections between an individual's lived experience and history. In previous works Foster has moved in this direction; here she negotiates the gap between theory and the actual body with increasing ease and depth. Illustrations are ample and well chosen throughout; the text is supported and enlarged by numerous notes and an extensive bibliography. This work is a landmark in the field and belongs in all libraries serving undergraduate, graduate, and faculty researchers in dance. -S. E. Friedler, Swarthmore College, Choice, April 1997

This complex and beautifully written investigation of ballet's development in France from the early 18th through the late 19th century extends Foster's earlier efforts to link dance theory and practice (see Reading Dancing: Bodies and Subjects in Contemporary American Dance, CH, Apr'87; Choreographing History, 1995; and Corporealities, CH, Jun'96). Foster (Univ. of California at Riverside) has become increasingly adept at presenting historical, physical, and theoretical dancing bodies in relation to one another via written texts. This volume situates ballet as a cultural practice and analyzes its progress in relation to economic, political, and social developments--tracing its evolution through specific danced narratives and emphasizing class, gender, and racial identities. Each of the five chapters focuses on an issue relevant to choreography and training. These are augmented by interludes, which contextualize the theoretical issues. Foster's word images awaken the reader to his/her own physicality and to the connections between an individual's lived experience and history. In previous works Foster has moved in this direction; here she negotiates the gap between theory and the actual body with increasing ease and depth. Illustrations are ample and well chosen throughout; the text is supported and enlarged by numerous notes and an extensive bibliography. This work is a landmark in the field and belongs in all libraries serving undergraduate, graduate, and faculty researchers in dance.--S. E. Friedler, Swarthmore College Choice (01/01/1997)

Author Information

Susan Leigh Foster, Choreographer, dancer, and writer, is Professor of Dance at the University of California, Riverside. She is the author of Reading Dancing: Bodies and Subjects in Contemporary American Dance and editor of Choreographing History and Corporealities.

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