Composing while Dancing An Improviser’s Companion Melinda Buckwalter
“Composing while Dancing is a treasure trove of dance improvisation information.” —Paul Langland, New York University
Composing while Dancing: An Improviser’s Companion examines the world of improvisational dance and the varied approaches to this art form. By introducing the improvisational strategies of twenty-six top contemporary artists of movement improvisation, Melinda Buckwalter offers a practical primer to the dance form. Each chapter focuses on an important aspect of improvisation such as spatial relations, the eyes, and the dancing image. Included are sample practices from the artists profiled, exercises for further research, and a glossary of terms. Buckwalter gathers history, methods, interviews, and biographies in one book to showcase the many facets of improvisational dance and create an invaluable reference for dancers and dance educators.
Melinda Buckwalter is coeditor of Contact Quarterly, a dance and improvisation journal. She is also co-curator of the Earthdance-affiliated SEEDS Festival, a Massachusetts event that intertwines dance and ecology. She lives in Massachusetts.
“A welcome addition to the sparse literature of movement improvisation. Through years of her own study, Buckwalter has gathered a cornucopia of improvisational practices from more than two dozen of the most intriguing (and underdocumented) movement artists working today. She then invites you, through the organization of the chapters and through her own energy and interest, to join the dance.” —Kent De Spain, author of Method to the Madness: Movement Improvisation in the Words of Its Practitioners
“An insightful, much-needed resource for those interested in dance improvisation. Budding young artists in particular will value the epilogue on developing their own practice.” —J. H. Roberts, CHOICE October 2011
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Of Related Interest
Dance A Creative Art Experience Margaret N. H'Doubler
With a New Essay by Mary Alice Brennan
December 2010
LC: 2010011572 GV
244 pp. 6 x 9
22 b/w photos
Dancing at “brain speed.” From left: Mary Reich and Nina Martin doing a Neuro state practice from the ReWire/Dancing States work. Photo © Carl Yamamoto.
