Art without Boundaries: The World of Modern Dance

by Jack Anderson

Overview

Out of his long history as dance critic for the New York Times, Jack Anderson gives us this important, comprehensive history of one of the liveliest and most unpredictable of the arts. Treating modern dance as a self-renewing art, Anderson follows its changes over the decades and discusses the visionary choreographers who have devised new modes of movement.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781587292668
Publisher:	University of Iowa Press
Publication date:	02/01/1999
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	384
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

Renowned for his dance criticism, Jack Anderson has written for such leading dance publications s the New York Times, Dancing Times, and Dance Magazine. He is author of Choreography Observed (IOWA, 1987), Ballet and Modern Dance: A Concise History, and The American Dance Festival, among others.

Table of Contents

CONTENTS

Introduction and Acknowledgments

Part 1: From the Beginnings to World War I

Indelible Ephemeral

Setting the Stage

O Pioneers!

Isadora Duncan, Hellenism, and Beauty

Ruth St. Denis and the Exotic

Dancing into the Future

Part 2: From World War I to the Great Depression

New Times, New Arts

Form, Feeling, Pattern, Passion

Family Trees and Hardy Growths

Denishawn

American Ferment

Rebels

Part 3: From Depression to World War II

Struggles, Dispersals, Amalgamations

Catastrophe

Modern Dance: An American Art

Crosscurrents

American Moderns

Choreographic Consciences

Part 4: From World War II to the 1960's

American Victories

Explorers and Dissenters

Iconoclasts

Fertile Ground, Barren Soil

Part 5: Since the 1960's

Stability and Change

Contemporary British Dance

A League of Dancing Nations

Conclusion: The Undefinable Redifining Art

Notes

Selected Bibliography

Index

Editorial Reviews

“In Art without Boundaries Jack Anderson hails modern dance in its full boldness and clarity. With characteristic warmth, he also introduces us to many fascinating new personalities.”—Doris Hering, senior editor, Dance Magazine

“[It is] impossible to mention here all the pioneer figures characterised so concisely and accurately by Anderson—each of them placed in relation to their social and political climate....[Anderson] is well-served by his formidable talent as a wordsmith; it would be hard put to name another writer who could, in so few precise and weighty words, sketch out the individual artistic physiognomies of Graham, Horst, Humphrey, Weidman, Cunningham, Nikolais, Limón, Shearer, Horton, Taylor, Rainer, Brown, Dean and Fenley—to mention just a few of the more prominent Americans.”—Ballet International

“Anderson provides one of the most comprehensive dance history books in many years, one that draws extensively on the sociological underpinnings of dance and the personal passions of individuals. The beginning statement—'modern dance is an art as elusive as it is great'—sets the stage for an excellent discussion of some of the visionary (and, yes quirky) choreographers who devised movement for the genre. . . . Anderson deserves a big thank you for such an excellent, thought-provoking look at the world of dance.”—Choice

From the Publisher