CharleeMorris

SandraKauffman
DANC324
22September2016

DanceCanBeJustEntertainment
Althoughthereismeritinutilizingdanceasaweaponforsocialjustice,thereisalso
valueindanceperformancesthatarestrictlyentertainmentbasedwithoutanysortofmessageor
storytiedtoit.Oneeraofdancethatstuckcloselywiththisparticularideologywasthepost
moderndancemovement.Thepostmoderneralastedfromthe1960stothe1970sand,during
thistimeperiod,choreographersbegantoedgeawayfromthepoliticalandnarrativetiesof
classicalmoderndanceandshiftedtheirfocustoexploringeverydaymovementasalegitimate
danceform.Postmodernwasconsideredacriticalreactiontoworkofclassicalmoderndance
makersinsuchawaythattheworkcreatedmayhadlostmost,ifnotall,narrativeelementsbut
stillheldontoitsaestheticbeauty.Itschoreographers,likeYvonneRainerandAlwinNikolais,
desiredtoreducedancetoitsessentialsbutthistacticdidnotresultinthelossofartistic
validity.Thesepostmodernidealshavealsobeentranslatedintotodayscontemporarydance
style.ChoreographerssuchasWilliamForsythecontinuethesetraditionsbycreatingworksthat
lackstorylinesbutshowcaseamplifiedpedestrianmovementaccompaniedwithstrong
technique.Theconceptofpostmoderndanceprovesthatitisnotnecessaryfordancetobeused
toportraysocialjusticethemesfortheworkstobeconsideredimportantandimpactfulinthe
dancecommunity.

TheJudsonDanceTheaterradicallychangedthewaythatdancewasportrayed.Theynot
onlyrejectedtheprettinessofballetandthesoulsearchingofearliermoderndancesbutthey
brokethedancemovementsdowntoitsbareminimumanduseduntraineddancersintheir
pieces.Thiswasduetotheappealofthenontraineddancersfreshandunpredictablenatural
movements.Categoriessuchasmoderndanceandballet,professionalandamateurdidnot
applytoJudson.Diverselytraineddancersworkedsidebysidewithoneanotherandwith
untrainedperformers.Itwasntalwayspossibletodistinguishbetweenchoreographerand
performer.Thedancesmightlooklikedancesorlikeexercises,tasksorgames(Jackson1).The
theateralsocrossfertilizedacrossavarietyofarts,includingcinematographers,dancers,visual
artists,etc.Thisallowedforthecollaborationstobecomeamixofideasandmovementsthat
includedeveryonesuniqueideas.Strippedofmuchtheatricalartifice,evendecliningtodonthe
roleofperformer,theJudsondancerstriedtostandandmovenakedofprescriptionsexcept
thatofbeingtruthfultothemselves(Jackson1).Movementswerenotrootedinatechnique.
Thisgavetheperformersthelibertytomovethewaythatfeltmostcomfortablefortheirown
bodyandperformtheminaverycasualenvironmentwithoutthepressureofportrayingastory
orreachingtoevokeafeelingfromitsaudience.
YvonneRainerwasaverystrongadvocateinblurringthelinebetweendancersand
nondancersbutalsointegratingeveryday,mundanemovements.In1965,RainerwrotetheNo
Manifesto,NOtospectacle.Notovirtuosity.Nototransformationsandmagicand
makebelieve.Nototheglamourandtranscendencyofthestarimage.Nototheheroic.Notothe
antiheroic.Nototrashimagery.Notoinvolvementofperformerorspectator,Notostyle.Noto
camp.Notoseductionofspectatorbythewilesoftheperformer.Notoeccentricity.Noto

movingorbeingmoved(Rainer).Thismanifestodefiedtheartificialprettinessofballetandthe
heroicsoulsearchingofmodern,andrenouncedtheimageofglamourthataudienceshadcome
toassociatewithdancersandthedanceworld.Theideasofthismanifestoareshownthrough
oneofRainersmostpopularworks,T
rioA.TrioAprovedmovementc ouldbestrippedof
muchofitsornamentationwithoutceasingtobeinterestingorchallenginginandofitself
TrioAisperformedinacontinuousflowofequallystressedmovements.Thereisnoclimax,
andtheperformerdoesnotattempttoconcealhiseffort...theperformerofTrioAdeliberately
allowstheaudiencetoperceivethedifficultyofbalancingononeleg.Theperformerneverlooks
directlyattheaudience,neverpointshistoes,neveradoptsthepulledup,highlyenergized
stanceofmostballetandmoderndancers.TrioAhasbeenexecutedbyperformersofmany
bodytypes,includingnondancers...despiteitsrelaxedappearance,TrioAdemands
intelligenceandexertion(Au168).Thispiecedidnotpandertoaudienceorcreateanillusion.
Themovementwasnotperformed,butratherjustexecuted,asRainerrejecteddramatic
expressionorpresentationofherworks.ThecharacteristicsofYvonneRainerschoreography
provethatdancecanbeseeminglyrelaxedandmundanebutstillbecompellingtoexperience
fromanaudiencesperspectiveconsideringshecontinuouslyacquiredaudiencestoviewher
worksandherchoreographyisstillperformedtoday.
IntegratingtechnologywithdanceisalsoamethodusedbyAlwinNikolaistostripdance
awayfromstorytellingandchangethefocustoshapesandpatternsmadeonstage.Alwin
Nikolaisbelievedthat,dancemustbebiggerthanboymeetsgirl...biggerthananyonestoryor
place(AlwinNikolaisBiography).Inthat,heintegrateddancewithmusicanddesignand
createdmultimediaspectacleswithhislightingtechniquesandcostumedesigns.Herebelled

againstthepreoccupationofselfandcontinuedexperimentsinwhathecalledthebasicartof
thetheatreanintegrationofmotion,sound,shape,andcolour,eachgivenrelativelyequal
emphasis.Nikolaisfrequentlycomposedelectronicscoresfortheseproductions.
(EncyclopaediaBritannica).Hisworksseparatedemotionfromtheperformancesandallowed
thedancerstoplayinlightandspacecreatingvisuallypleasingshowsthatbothbaffledand
surprisedhisaudiencesbecauseitwasnotsomethingthatwasoftenseen(AlwinNikolais
Biography).Though,hisworkslackedemotion,Nikolaiswasstillconsideredaverytalented
choreographerandhispiecesgainedpopularityevenwiththeirabstractideals.
Today,WilliamForsytheisoneofthemostprevalentchoreographersthatcontinuetouse
theconceptofnotrelyingonastoryorpurposebehindhischoreography.Oneofhispieces,One
FlatThing:Reproduced,includes14dancerswhouse20metaltablesthatarelinedupinrows
andcolumnsthedancersrelyonboththemachineryesquemusicandthesoundsfellow
performersaremakingwiththeirbreathsandslammingbodypartsontothetablestostayinsync
witheachother.O
neFlatThinghasnopurposebehinditinastorylinesense,butisstillan
extremelyvisuallycompellingwork.Themovementsareamixtureofpedestrianandhighly
technicalmovements.Itwouldnotbepossibletopullapersonoffthestreetandhavethem
performthisdance,liketheJudsonDanceTheatersideology,butForsytheholdstruetothe
abandonmentofanarrative.AnotherpiecebyForsythethatshowsthatdancedoesnotneeda
purposebehindthemovement,andcanbejustmovementitselfisN.N.N.N.Itfeaturesmovement
thatisbothpedestrianandincrediblysophisticatedatthesametime(HubbardStreet).Without
music,thepiecewasfocusedaroundusingbreathasasoundtrack.Thelackofastorylinedidnot
inhibitalackofanaudienceengagement,therhythmofthebreathsthroughoutthepiecebrought

theaudienceinandkeptthemcaptivateduntiltheveryend.Audienceengagementcanbe
achievedthroughnonnarrativeworksasIexperiencedwhenIhadtheopportunitytoviewboth,
OneFlatThing:ReproducedandN
.N.N.N.inthewinterof2015.Thetheaterremained
mesmerizedduringN
.N.N.N.asthedancersworkedthroughtheirchoreography,onlyrelyingon
thebreathoftheirpeers.
Itiscompletelyvalidtobelievethatdancebeusedasamediumtobringaboutsocial
justiceandrelayamessagetotheaudience.But,itisalsoreasonabletoconcludethatdancecan
alsojustbethat,adance.Thepostmodernideologyofstrippingdowndancetoitslowest
techniqueallowsforregularpeople,i.enontraineddancers,toperformalongsideprofessionals
withoutdiscrimination.TheJudsonChurchDancegroupwerehugeadvocatesofthistypeof
danceandwerestillextremelysuccessfulintheirperformances.YvonneRainertookwhatshe
learnedfromtheJudsonDanceGroupandappliedittoherownchoreography,eventually
creatingTrioA,whichwassopedestrianinstyleandmovementthatanyonecouldexecuteit.
BothForsytheandNikolaisusedtechnologyintheirpieces,whetheritbeintheirlightingorthe
score,todehumanizetheirdancersinawayandalsocreatefascinatingvisualart.Danceisanart
formthatcanbothstrictlyentertainandalsobeusedasaweaponforsocialjusticebothare
equalintheirimportanceandshouldbeadvertisedassuch.