Issue #09

Summer 1994

Body of Language / Figure of Speech

Cover of Issue #09

The focus of this issue of the Performance Journal is the impact of language—spoken and written, "understood" or not—on movement, performance, and the dancing body. We asked artists to write about the political and personal choices they have made and the necessity that has driven them to this frontier, and to share their work with us. The end result is Body of Language/Figure of Speech—thanks to all of our contributors, and to those w h o have helped shape this dialogue along the way.

Inside this issue you will find explorations of the "languages" of the dancer/teacher, as sources of poetry and information, discussions of the ways dance critics understand movement artists' use of text, and artists sharing the experiences that shaped their priorities and pursuits. Also, you will find contemporary text-dance situated in a historical context, a look at the language of capitalism impacting the process of creating dance, writings about the particular issues of language and culture faced by bilingual and border artists, and poetic and philosophic explorations of the physicalized writing state.

Editorial team

Editor-In-Chief

Cathy Edwards

Design

Guy Yarden Ted Byfield

Ad Layout

Audrey Kindred

Contributing Editor

Esther Kaplan Lisa Gonzales

Articles

2-2

Letter to the Editor

Arnhem, The Netherlands October 1, 1993 A further thought to Susan Klein's inspiring article, "Klein Technique," in Movement Research Performance Journal #7. In my teaching, I like-to extend the thought...

2-2

A Family Tree Story

I once saw a man in pajamas approach a tree and study it. And as he-did, his body subtly shifted, twisted, tightened, lifted, taking on some of the qualities of...

4-4

By All Possible Means

Just recently, after a performance on the Ohio State Campus sponsored by the Wexner Center, several of the dancers from my company and I went to speak before a class...

5-5

Fast Hands

I was at Naropa in the summer of 1991 studying dance improvisation with Nancy Stark Smith and Steve Paxton. I was also sitting in on many of the lectures and...

5-5

The Black Sheep

The Black Sheep was a public poem installed at First Avenue between 1st Street and Houston Street. May1990 April 1991. The following is a text excerpt: Sometimes some sheep are...

8-8

A Way with Words

In my performance work, I have consistently avoided using the spoken word. And yet, I consider the work that I create to be theater. I've always resented the fact that...

9-9

Evelina, Ampelina

Evelina, Ampelina is an autobiographical piece developed and continually performed since 1988. It raises conflicts around issues of family, dance, and buttocks, all in some way seen through the lens...

9-9

Visualize This

A Poster Project April 1991 A collaborative project created by artist Nancy Burson and Kunio Nagashima, research assistant to Dr. Matthew Gonda, one of the foremost AIDS researchers in the...

9-9

Donkey Notes

Madrid, May 1994 My mother in Barcelona asks me to send her the script of my piece Three on a Donkey , so she can follow the text in written...

15-15

Domestic Violence

Milk Carton Project January – February 1992 Artist Peggy DIggs created an image and text printed by Tuscan Dairy Farms on over on emillion milk cartons distributed during January and...

15-15

Open Dancing

In the fall of 1969 American Theater Laboratory, seven years before it became Dance Theater Workshop, invited me to run a month-long open dance workshop and series of improvisatory performances,...

16-16

Choice of Words

In rethinking for the tenth time what I wanted to write about, I realized that I wanted to write about it all. Every conceivable topic having to do with language...

18-17

Transitions, Inc.

Artist Danny Tisdale appearing as Tracy E. Goodman, president of the fictitious Transitions, Inc. ("We turn minorities into majorities. Michael Jackson is one of my best customers"), hawked the company's...