Table Of ContentThe Bloomsbury
Companion to Dance Studies
The Bloomsbury Companions series is a major series of single-volume companions
to key research fields in the humanities aimed at postgraduate students, scholars
and libraries. Each companion offers a comprehensive reference resource giving
an overview of key topics, research areas, new directions and a manageable
guide to beginning or developing research in the field. A distinctive feature
of the series is that each companion provides practical guidance on advanced
study and research in the field, including research methods and subject-specific
resources.
Forthcoming
The Bloomsbury Handbook to Performance Art
edited by Bertie Ferdman and Jovana Stokic
ISBN 978-1-350-05757-9
The Methuen Drama Handbook to Performance and Interculturalism
edited by Daphne Lei and Charlotte McIvor
ISBN 978-1-350-04047-2
The Bloomsbury
Companion to Dance Studies
Edited by
Sherril Dodds
BLOOMSBURY ACADEMIC
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
50 Bedford Square, London, WC1B 3DP, UK
1385 Broadway, New York, NY 10018, USA
BLOOMSBURY, BLOOMSBURY ACADEMIC and
the Diana logo are trademarks of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
First published in Great Britain 2019
Copyright © Sherril Dodds and Contributors, 2019
Sherril Dodds and Contributors have asserted their right under the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the Authors of this work.
For legal purposes the Acknowledgements on pp. xiii–xiv constitute an extension
of this copyright page.
Series design by Eleanor Rose
Cover image © Geribody/iStock
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in
any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording,
or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from
the publishers.
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc does not have any control over, or responsibility for,
any third-party websites referred to or in this book. All internet addresses given in
this book were correct at the time of going to press. The author and publisher regret
any inconvenience caused if addresses have changed or sites have ceased to exist,
but can accept no responsibility for any such changes.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.
ISBN: HB: 978-1-350-02446-5
ePDF: 978-1-350-02449-6
eBook: 978-1-350-02447-2
Series: Bloomsbury Companions
Typeset by Integra Software Services Pvt. Ltd.
To find out more about our authors and books visit www.bloomsbury.com
and sign up for our newsletters.
For my son, Billy Dodds
vi
Contents
List of Illustrations viii
Notes on Contributors ix
Acknowledgements xiii
1 Introduction Sherril Dodds 1
2 Research Methods and Problems Rachel Fensham 35
Current Research and Issues 79
3 Dance Pedagogy Edward C. Warburton 81
4 Practice-as-Research Vida L. Midgelow 111
5 Dance and Politics Juan Ignacio Vallejos 145
6 Dance and Identity Prarthana Purkayastha 175
7 Dance Science Emma Redding 199
8 Screendance Harmony Bench 219
9 Dance Ethnography Yvonne Daniel 245
10 Popular Dance Sherril Dodds 275
11 Dance History Susan Manning 303
12 Dance and Philosophy Anna Pakes 327
13 Digital Dance Hetty Blades and Sarah Whatley 357
14 New Directions Mark Franko 385
15 Annotated Bibliography Elizabeth Bergman 407
16 A to Z of Key Concepts in Dance Studies Lise Uytterhoeven 421
Index 439
List of Illustrations
Figures
2.1 Word cloud of dance books 57
4.1 Lost + Found [dances of exile], Carol Brown, Q Theatre, Auckland 118
4.2 Th e Fountain of Youth, Susanne Martin, Atalante
Theatre in Gothenburg 126
4.3 S cratch, Jane Bacon and Vida L. Midgelow, Nottingham
Contemporary Gallery, Nottingham (video still) 137
5.1 Dirección Obligatoria by Alejandro Cervera 155
5.2 Acción Iceberg Valet by Political Scene 160
5.3 Comité Cósmico de Crisis by Political Scene 164
6.1 Candoco Dance Company, Let’s Talk About Dis by Hetain Patel 189
10.1 Temple Breakers hosting a workshop by B-boy Casper 284
10.2 Temple Breakers preparing to battle at Rhythmic Damage 292
10.3 B-boy Vibe cyphering at Rhythmic Damage battle 295
11.1 A chart illustrating Don McDonagh’s The Complete Guide to
Modern Dance (1976) includes only US-based choreographers
organized according to choreographic and pedagogical ‘families’ 307
11.2 A map illustrating Patricia Stöckemann’s ‘Tanz im Exil’ (1998)
shows one-way movement from Germany and Austria to North and
South America, Australia, Asia and the Middle East 319
13.1 B ecoming. Photo: Marc Downie [OpenEndedGroup] and Nick
Rothwell [cassiel] 369
13.2 Flamenco dancer Rosa Kostic Cisneros during motion capture for
WhoLo Dance 376
Table
2.1 Chart from the SCImago index of dance journals, 2016 61
Notes on Contributors
Harmony Bench, PhD, is Associate Professor in the Department of Dance at
The Ohio State University. Her writing can be found in such journals as Theatre
Journal, Performance Matters, The International Journal of Performance Arts and
Digital Media, Participations and The International Journal of Screendance, for
which she currently serves as co-editor. Essays can also be found in the Oxford
Handbook of Dance and the Popular Screen, Choreographies of 21st Century War
and Dance on Its Own Terms: Histories and Methodologies.
Elizabeth Bergman is a dancer, improviser and educator based in Philadelphia.
She is currently a University Fellow in the doctoral programme in Dance Studies
at Temple University. Her dissertation focuses on the short films of Michael
Jackson and his choreographic collaborators. Bergman also holds a MFA in
dance performance from the University of Iowa (2009).
Hetty Blades is Research Fellow in the Centre for Dance Research (C-DaRE)
at Coventry University. Her research explores philosophical questions around
the transmission, documentation and reception of dance. Since completing her
PhD at C-DaRE in 2015, Hetty has worked on projects funded by AHRC, ESRC
and EU, and published widely on the topic of dance and digitization. She was
Researcher in Residence at the Digital Catapult Centre in London in 2016.
Yvonne Daniel, Professor Emerita of Dance and Afro-American Studies
from Smith College, has worked as a choreographer/performer and as an
anthropologist specializing in Circum-Caribbean societies. Her publications
include Rumba (1995), Dancing Wisdom, Embodied Knowledge (SDHS de la
Torre Bueno prize winner, 2006) and Caribbean and Atlantic Diaspora Dance:
Igniting Citizenship (National Libraries ‘Choice’ Award, 2011). In recognition
of her lifetime commitment and pursuit of excellence in dance research, she
received the International Association of Blacks in Dance Scholars’ Award
(2018).
Sherril Dodds is Professor of Dance at Temple University. Her books include
Dance on Screen: Genres and Media from Hollywood to Experimental Art (2001),
Dancing on the Canon: Embodiments of Value in Popular Dance (2011), Bodies of
