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Studia Choreologica vol. I (1999)
The first volume of our series contains three studies dealing with diverse aspects of choreological interest.
Roderyk Lange investigates “The Position of Dance in Contemporary
European Culture”. This is a programmatic survey, involving issues
such as: The instability of the notion “dance”, the texture of dance,
the urbanised environment and dance, the role of non-professional
dance, dance and education, the teaching of dance, recreation and
entertainment (ballroom and social dance), therapy and rehabilitation,
theatrical dance, and the scholarly domain of dance choreology.
The ethnomusicologist, Allan Thomas, discusses “Dance Costume in the
Central Pacific Islands”. This study is based on the analysis of
various published sources, but also on the author’s direct field work.
The dance costume is shown as an integral part of dance activities in
the Pacific, and the significance given to it by the native people, is
demonstrated. The author stresses the application of colour and
vibrancy, as aesthetic qualities within a dance action.
The musicologist and dance historian, Monika Fink, surveys “The
Function of Dance and Ball in the Opera Spectacle”. She traces the
symbolic role given to dance in various operatic ball scenes. The
author shows how dance is used as a means to convey
a particular atmosphere, or to characterise a situation,
inherent in the plot.
Studia Choreologica vol. II (2000)
The second volume of this series contains three studies concerned with
various issues of choreological investigation: the study by Ioannis
Prantsidis contains an analysis of the cultural processes of dance,
within a rural community, which was originally based in Northern
Thrace (now in Bulgaria). Part of its population resettled in Macedonia
(Greece) in 1925. This gave the author a unique chance to conduct
comparative analysis between these two villages. The discourse is based
on field work, conducted by the author between 1990 and 1995.
Monika Fink investigates “Children’s Balls – Social Dance – Ballroom
Dancing”, during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, in various
countries in Europe and America. The author concludes that these balls
did not include any dancing appropriate to the children’s age. Instead,
the children were taught the current social dances of adults, and were
directed to imitate them exactly.
The actor and scholar, Zvika Serper, is a specialist in various
genres of Japanese theatre and dance. He studied, for long periods, the
traditional performing arts in Japan, and, uniquely, appeared there in
leading theatre roles. In his article, he analyses Maurice Béjart’s
choreography “The Kabuki”, which was commissioned by the Tokyo Ballet
Company. In this choreography, some traditional conventions of Japanese
theatre were creatively fused with Western balletic elements.
Studia Choreologica vol. III (2001)
This volume contains three studies on circle dance. All three of them present different analytical approaches.
Ernö Pesovár, a senior dance researcher from Hungary, presents “An
Epilogue to the Circle Dance Monograph by György Martin”. Pesovár
analyses the historical context of European dance culture, and points
out that the archaic elements contained in the circle dances were, in
fact, endowed with a new meaning and content, according to the symbolic
system of the Christian Middle Ages in Western Europe.
Anna Ilieva writes about “Ritual Reminiscences in Certain Children’s
Games in Bulgaria”. She stresses the syncretism of various cultural
strata contained in the game-dances. They incorporate some ritual
dances of the past, and preserve their original semantic and symbolic
power. The 500 year long Turkish occupation of the Balkan territory
effectively isolated this area from direct West European influences. As
a result, the historical processes are also very different. Ilieva
draws on mythological and semantic analysis of material she collected
from over forty years of field work.
Magda Zografou presents a study entitled “Towards a Structural Analysis
of Folk Dance: Choreotypes and Dance Patterns in Pontic Dance
Tradition”. This is based on material collected by the author in field
work, among Pontic Greeks who were resettled in Macedonia. She draws on
structural analytical attempts by past authors, and brings forward her
own proposals. Above all, she substantiates the meaningful cultural
values inherent in the dance forms, on hand of evaluations of the
people themselves, and not on arbitrary judgements of the
analyst.
Studia Choreologica vol. IV (2002)
This volume contains three studies concerned with the adaptation of dance folklore for the stage.
Naira Kilichyan analyses the various approaches to “The Armenian Folk
Dance on Stage”, which were developed in various periods from the 1930s
onward. There was concurrently a serious dance research initiated in
Armenia. The observations made by the author of the article are
universally valid.
Bernard Kwilimbe discusses in his article the process of transferring
indigenous African dance to staged performances. He draws attention to
the problems encountered in these endeavours, and points out the
specific type of movement technique inherent in African dance. This
leads his thoughts “Towards a Dance Theatre in Malawi”.
Gergana Panova analyses “The Bulgarian Folk Dances at Home and Abroad”.
This is the result of a thorough sociological research conducted both
in Bulgaria and in the German speaking countries (Germany, Austria and
Switzerland). A variety of social and personal functions of the dance
surface from the interviews conducted in conjunction with practical
dance sessions.
Studia Choreologica vol. V (2003)
This volume contains three studies concerned with some general issues of choreology.
Roderyk Lange addresses in his article “Dance and the Sinful Human Body”, the origins of negative connotations on dance, within European culture. These were based primarily on moral grounds.
Zofia Konaszkiewicz based her study on “The Problems Faced by Ballet Artistes in their Work and Private Lives”,
on direct research conducted among professional dancers in Poland, by
dancers themselves. This gives an insider’s view into the sub-culture
of professional dancers.
Dariusz Kubinowski in his study on the “Kinaesthetic Understanding in Dance Education, Therapy and Research”,
stresses the need to apply spatial comprehension, which is based on
some neurophysiological properties of the human being. The deep sensory
receptors of movement in the human body were discovered not so long
ago. This verifies the well known existence of kinaesthetic movement
perception among dance practitioners.
Studia Choreologica vol. VI (2004)
Roderyk Lange writes on “Movement and the Human Body”.
The author stresses the necessity to view the expressive manifestations
of the human body as a series of continuous changes in space and in
time, and not as a line of static poses. The symbolic content is, in
fact, embodied in the movement of the human body itself. This is
followed by an outline of the development of research methodologies in
this field.
Anna Lazarou, Filippos Filippou, Maria Michaltsi, Fani Lazarou, Alkis Raftis.
A project, conducted by a group of researchers based at the Democritus
University in Thrace (Greece), concerned with the problem of “The Mode of Naming Dances. The Socio-Cultural Context of a Macedonian Dance Tradition”.
The result of this research demonstrates the fluency of dance names.
Therefore, dance names alone cannot be the means of identifying dance
types in any seriously intended dance research.
Angel Acuña Delgado writes about “A
Symbolic and Contextual Interpretation of the Dance of the Yu’pa
in the Mountain Range of Perijá (Venezuela)”.
This is based on thorough field-work. The conclusion of this project
reveals the meaning of dance as a symbolic expression within a
particular cultural context. The great merit of the article is the
inherent research model, as applied by the author in collecting and in
analysing the data.
Eva Kröschlová, in her article concerning “The Structural Form-Analysis of Les Bouffons (Mattachins) from the Orchésographie by Thoinot Arbeau (1588)”,
applies sucessfully, to historical dances, a model of structural
analysis, that was developed in the 1960s within dance folklore
research.
Studia
Choreologica vol. VII (2005)
This
volume opens with an article on “Movement and Dance”, by Roderyk
Lange. The author points out the emic/etic divide in the various
formulations of dance definitions. Further he stresses the necessity
to have a broad definition of dance in scholarly work. Also, the
criterion of the quality of movement, in defining dance, is
emphasised. A discussion on the changes of the texture of dance
follows, highlighting the processes of adaptation involved. Dance is
certainly not a static object.
Jennifer
Shennan, in her article, analyses in detail “A totally charming
grace…” as contained in court dances from the French Baroque, and
in those from the Tongan court dance repertoire. Although remote from
each other in time and in space, there are certain similarities
observable in both styles: they are concerned with fortifying the
institution of monarchy. The dance is formal and representational in
both cases. The author is uniquely qualified: she is an active
dancer of the baroque forms, and is very well versed in the sources
of the era. With her involvement in researching the Oceanian dance
culture, over many years, she had been in direct contact with the
dancing people.
Ramazan
H. Bogdani in his “Observations on the Albanian Dance Folklore”,
draws on his many years of research on the Albanian dance tradition.
He presents the criteria of his typology of Albanian dance, and
discusses the terminology and the structural features of the dances.
He also discusses the music and dance relationship, and various other
features, like improvisation and personal interpretation, as
implemented by particular dancers. He comments further on the aspect
of participation in the dance event, and about the consequences, when
dances are performed on an intimate scale, as opposed to big
performances on the stage. This article conveys the great experience
of the researcher, who presents here some generalising statements.
Studia
Choreologica vol. VIII (2006)
The first two articles, by Placida
Staro and by Ioannis Prantsidis, Ermioni Tsouloglou and Dimos
Prantsidis, are concerned with the cultural re-interpretation of
traditional dance in present times. The Greek article is based on
participant observation, as the authors are natives of the researched
area. Placida Staro, has actually been living among the researched
people for a long time, and plays herself the fiddle during
traditional local music making.
The next two articles deal with the
application of dance in education and in therapy. Zofia Pelc reflects
on her year long observations and research of people who are involved
in dance practice. Zofia Aleszko, on the other hand, outlines her own
system of dance therapy, and she indicates the relevance of movement
and dance in rehabilitation.
Actually, all four articles refer to
some universals of dance and their continual relevance in human
existence. These universal traits are not lost with the changes
induced by cultural processes. They continue to be of importance in
the life of contemporary people, and within the changed function of
dance.
All
articles in this volume, except for the Greek one, are based on
presentations made during a seminar in September 2005, held at the
Instytut Choreologii in Poznań.
This
volume contains three articles based on presentations made during
seminars conducted at the Instytut Choreologii in Poznań, in September 2005 and 2006.
Studia
Choreologica vol. IX (2007)
Agnieszka Kowarska
reports in the first article on “The Social and Cultural Role of
Dance in the Life of Contemporary Gypsies (Roma) in Poland”. This
article is based on several years of fieldwork conducted among the Roma
Gypsies in the territory of Poland and Lithuania.
Tomasz Nowak
writes about “The Function of Dance among the Polish Minorities
alongside the Eastern Borders. The Results of Field Research conducted
in the Areas around Vilnius (Lithuania), Hrodno (Belorussia) and
Zhytomyr (Ukraine)”. This is a most revealing account on the
dance culture of the Polish enclaves in this whole territory. The old
written sources are scarce on the topic of dance. The fieldwork
conducted by the author established the structure and the character of
the traditional repertoire.
The final article by Jacqueline Challet-Haas,
deals with “Dance and Movement Notation and its Relevance in our
Times”. The author based her deliberations on the application of
movement notation in various forms of dance, on the experience she
gained in her work over many years. She arrives at the observation that
the field of dance cannot afford any longer to stay illiterate.
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