William Forsythe and the Practice of Choreography

Description

William Forsythe’s twenty year career as director of the Frankfurt Ballet helped to reinvigorate the language of classical dance. His work today continues to see him lauded as one of the greatest choreographers of the postwar era. He is responsible for challenging fundamental assumptions about staging ballet, and for creating work that draws from such diverse fields as higher mathematics, architecture and neuroscience.

This collection brings together essays from a diverse range of critical voices on ballet and contemporary dance studies, alongside analysis and testament from Forsythe’s collaborators and company members, as well as the director himself.

Forsythe’s craft is studied in relation to a variety of production elements, with essays examining the balletic approach, performance history and development, and the use of lighting and music. William Forsythe and the Practice of Choreography offers students and practitioners of ballet and contemporary dance a fascinating insight into the creative world of this visionary director.

Contents

Introduction The Practice of Choreography Steven Spier 1. Watching the Frankfurt Ballet, 1988-2004 Roslyn Sulcas 2. Of Monsters and Puppets: After the "Robert Scott Complex" Gerald Siegmund 3. Splintered Encounters: The Critical Reception to William Forsythe in the United States, 1979-1989 Mark Franko 4. Njinsky’s Heir: A Classical Company Leads Modern Dance Senta Driver 5. Timbral Architectures, Aurality’s Force: Sound and Music Chris Salter 6. Dancing Music: The Intermodality of The Forsythe Company. An Auditory Turn Freya Vass-Rhee 7. Choreographic Objects William Forsythe 8. Decreation: Fragmentation and Continuity Dana Caspersen 9. Inside the Knot that Two Bodies Make Steven Spier 10. Aberrations of Gravity Heidi Gilpin 11. The Space of Memory: The Ballets Gerald Siegmund 12. Choreographic Thinking and Amateur Bodies Steven Spier

Author Bio

Steven Spier is Professor and Head of the School of Architecture and Design at the University of Ulster. Previously he was founding president and vice-chancellor of the HafenCity University Hamburg. He is a leading authority on the work of William Forsythe and writes on ballet as a spatial organizing system. He is a director of Scottish Ballet.

Related Subject

1. Theatre & Performance Studies