Tag: Bourgeon

Is this dance?

deer-modern-dance

A friend e-mailed me recently with this picture, and asked: is this dance?

Here was my response:

People say that qualities of architecture are dance-like. That buildings, and trees, can dance. Fires can dance. And yes, deer can dance. But the perfomative qualities which we might in a moment recognize in a building, a tree, or a fire are expected throughout any dance presentation.

Dance occurs all over. Where it occurs consistently, people buy tickets. : )

Thanks for sending that, CM.

Over on Bourgeon, there is a simmering conversation on ‘What is Dance?” You can see that here.

There are some good books addressing that question. Copland, et al…

Bit of an academic question, but wrestling the framework of art to the ground can help one appreciate what one sees. And, if you are a practitioner, coming up with more than a knee-jerk definition of what one does can help one get through the writer’s block that occasionally troubles us all.

In case you were wondering – anyone can publish on Bourgeon. I got that question recently. I’m gonna update the ‘About’ page on Bourgeon to bring more clarity there. The submission process is: you wanna write about your work, or something about dance, I’d love to help you share it with the readers.

Off Bourgeon – III

Original Post Title: You hit what you aim at, posted on Bourgeon March 4, 2008:

If you’re lucky, and work hard, you sometimes hit what you aim for. I’m having to aim for being more of an administrator so that I can be more of an artist.

Somewhat unconnectedly, I heard a great interview two years ago with a country music star. The interviewer said: ‘to do what you’ve done, you must have come up against a lot of opposition.’ Dolly Parton said: ‘well, yes I did. And while I was tempted to run people over when I could, I decided early on to go around. I had to go around a lot of people!’ (laughed)

I know I’m not like Dolly Parton (even in dim light) but I like her thought there.

Off Bourgeon – II

Doug Fox, the proprietor of the Great Dance blog recently wrote about dancer’s writing about their own work on his blog. You can see the whole post here. He posted this on November 29th, 2007:

“The Compelling Quality of First Person Dance Narratives

Dancers have no obligation to write about and describe their work.Dancers who do not write about and describe their work are missing a huge opportunity…… Why allow critics and bloggers to be the only voices when it comes to your work? Why not provide readers/dancegoers with your point of view?…..People want to hear directly from artists. What are you creating? What’s important to you? Who are you working with? What ideas are you exploring?……Rob Bettmann of the dance blog Bourgeon is working with dancers, primarily in the Washington, DC area, to encourage them to write about their dancing. The latest posts features first person accounts from choreographers, dancers and teachers. I think that Rob’s initiative is an important one and I hope more dancers explore different approaches to communicating about their work and sharing their explorations with online readers.”