It is that time of the year again, suddenly Christmas is looming with urgent gift shopping imperatives. But don’t worry, once again Oxford Dance Writers is here to help with our round up of dance publications reviewed and received this year, from the highly academic and practical to the entertaining memoir and gorgeously illustrated records of companies and dancers; for the dance lovers in your lives, or to add to your own Christmas wish list… Great thanks once again to all our reviewers! (more…)
December 6, 2016
All I want for Christmas is… Oxford Dance Writers recommends 2016
Posted by susiecrow under Dance and Academia, reviews | Tags: All I want for Christmas 2016, Angela Pickard, Ballet Body Narratives, Ben Spatz, Butoh Dance Training, Dance Dramaturgy, Darcey Callison, Deborah Hay, Gandini Juggling, Jeannie Donald-McKim, Juggling Trajectories, Juju Alishina, Maggie Watson, Miranda Laurence, Paul Arrowsmith, Pil Hansen, Rachel Gildea, Rick Gust, Sir Peter Wright, Susie Crow, The Language of the Soul, Thomas J M Wilson, Using the Sky, What a Body Can Do, What Lies Beneath, Wrights and Wrongs |Leave a Comment
September 15, 2016
Using the Sky: a dance, by Deborah Hay – Rachel Gildea reviews
Posted by susiecrow under Dance and Academia, reviews | Tags: choreography, Deborah Hay, experimental dance, post-modern dance, Rachel Gildea, research, Routledge, Using the Sky |1 Comment
‘In 40 years of doing this, I’ve never done it,’ says Deborah Hay in Becky Edmund’s 2014 film Turn Your Fucking Head. I watched it earlier this year at JW3 in London and the absurdity of this quote made me laugh out loud. For the (relatively little) I know of her work and (comparatively large) respect I have for it, this quote sums up the indefinable nature of experimental contemporary dance. In Hay’s case, a specific dance practice which has evolved over four decades, and has led her to consider the body and choreography very differently.
After seeing the film, I was both fascinated and perplexed by her work, especially by this idea of her confident not-knowing. This book, Using The Sky, develops her research – a quest which shows both an unfaltering belief in her pursuit, and an honesty and openness to uncertainty. It is also wickedly funny. (more…)
