Choreography and Narrative

Susan Leigh Foster, Choreographer, dancer, and writer, is Professor of Dance at the University of California, Riverside. She is the author of Reading Dancing: Bodies and Subjects in Contemporary American Dance and editor of Choreographing History and Corporealities.

"This complex and beautifully written investigation of ballet's development in France from the early 18th through the late 19th century extends Foster's earlier efforts to link dance theory and practice (see Reading Dancing: Bodies and Subjects in Contemporary American Dance, CH, Apr'87; Choreographing History, 1995; and Corporealities, CH, Jun'96). Foster (Univ. of California at Riverside) has become increasingly adept at presenting historical, physical, and theoretical dancing bodies in relation to one another via written texts. This volume situates ballet as a cultural practice and analyzes its progress in relation to economic, political, and social developments—tracing its evolution through specific danced narratives and emphasizing class, gender, and racial identities. Each of the five chapters focuses on an issue relevant to choreography and training. These are augmented by interludes, which contextualize the theoretical issues. Foster's word images awaken the reader to his/her own physicality and to the connections between an individual's lived experience and history. In previous works Foster has moved in this direction; here she negotiates the gap between theory and the actual body with increasing ease and depth. Illustrations are ample and well chosen throughout; the text is supported and enlarged by numerous notes and an extensive bibliography. This work is a landmark in the field and belongs in all libraries serving undergraduate, graduate, and faculty researchers in dance.April 1997"—S. E. Friedler, Swarthmore College

• IllustrationsPrefaceIntroduction: Pygmalion's No-Boby and The Body of Dance1. Originary Gestures 13Painting the situations of the soul Vanishing physicalitiesTransgressive gestures Originating the action balletThe Bank of Grass (le banc de gazon)Telemaque dans l'ile de Calipso (1759)On One Side, On the Other; Above and BelowArlequin Soldat Magicien, ou le Canonier, Pantomime (1764)2. Staging the Canvas and the MachineSpectacular dancing bodies Horizontal and vertical perfectionChallenging hierarchy The more sensible machineMake the Scheme KnownJason et Medee (1771)The Invigilant DancerApelles et Campaspe (1776)3. Narrating Passion and ProwessDancing the action A passion for anatomyThe language of dance The self-filled bodyThe DuelMirza (1779)The Earth Trembles: The Thunder RoarsLe Premier Navigateur, ou le Pouvoir de l'Amour (1785)Escape into the HeavensHercule et Omphale, Pantomime en 1 Acte (1787)4. Governing the BodyThe street, the stage, the nation Muscular geometryVirtuoso docility Governing the Body politicThe Magically Inscribed MessageLes Royalistes de la Vendee, ou les Epoux Republicains,Pantomime en Trois Actes (1794)To Throw Oneself in the Arms Of(Se Jeter dans les bras)La Dansomanie (1800)Begin and End with DancingNina, ou La Folle par Amour (1813)Tell-Tale EvidenceLes Pages du Duc de Vendome (1820)5. Fugitive DesiresCruel nocturnal dancing Crafting diversionDancing the object of desire The dissolving object of the gazeMaking Merry/Gazing OnLa Sylphide (1832)Maybe Yes; Maybe NoLa Voliere, ou les Oiseaux de Boccace (1838)Dark SpacesGiselle, ou les Wilis (1841)Conclusion: Ballet's Bodies and The Body of Narrativeapendixnotesbibliographyindex