Dance Theory and Analysis
The theoretical frameworks and analytic methods used to interpret dance as movement, meaning, and cultural practice.
Definition
The body of theoretical frameworks and analytic methods for interpreting and evaluating dance.
Scope
This area covers the conceptual and methodological study of dance: systematic movement analysis derived from Laban's work, the aesthetics and criticism of dance as art, the application of cultural and critical theory to dance, and phenomenological accounts of the dancing and perceiving body. It provides the interpretive tools through which dance is read and evaluated.
Sub-topics
Core questions
- How can dance movement be systematically described and analyzed?
- What makes dance an art, and how should it be evaluated and criticized?
- How does cultural and critical theory illuminate dance as a social practice?
- What does the lived experience of the dancing body reveal about meaning?
Key concepts
- movement analysis
- aesthetics
- criticism
- representation
- embodiment
- cultural theory
Key theories
- Dance as a system of meaning to be read
- The argument that dances can be analyzed as structured systems of signification whose modes of representation reveal underlying conceptions of the body and subject.
- Systematic dance analysis
- A methodological framework for describing and interpreting dance through attention to its constituent components and their relationships within and beyond the work.
History
Dance theory developed from earlier aesthetics and criticism into a distinct interpretive field in the late twentieth century, as scholars applied structural movement analysis, semiotics, and cultural theory to dance, establishing it as a subject of rigorous humanistic inquiry.
Debates
- Formal analysis versus cultural critique
- Theorists disagree about whether dance is best understood through close formal and structural analysis or primarily as a site of cultural and political meaning.
Key figures
- Susan Leigh Foster
- Janet Adshead-Lansdale
- Rudolf Laban
- André Lepecki
Related topics
Seminal works
- foster1986
- adshead1988
Frequently asked questions
- What is dance analysis?
- Dance analysis is the systematic study of a dance work's components, such as movement, space, dynamics, and structure, and how they combine to create meaning and effect.