Fromm/Thinking Together

THE LANGUAGE OF MOVEMENT 8

2008-11-10T10:50:00.000-08:00

In this last session of the course we looked at body movements from several different points of view. First, we looked at the ways that homosexual choreographers created movements to either hide, or present, their sexual identity. During the early twentieth century male choreographers, such as Ted Shawn emphasized masculine movements while Loie Fuller hid her body in huge gauze or chiffon tent like costumes. When homosexuals "came out" later in the century, choreographers, such as Bill T. Jones and Joe Goode presented body movements, story lines, and group movements that identified them as legitimate artists with their own particular style of dance. As cultural values changed, so dance movements changed.

We looked next at the ways in which the Supreme Court handled the problem of "exotic dancing" in clubs. The question of whether or not "exotic dancing" was expressive, and therefore protected as free speech

under the First Amendment, was not directly determined in the several court cases of the mid and late twentieth century. Cases were not decided on the basis of moral, ethical or value concerns, but rather, on the basis of whether the dancing was dangerous for the community and likely to increase crime and prostitution and lower property values.

Finally we looked at the changes in the general valuing of physical activity in our present society, as evidenced by the increase in gyms and studios for special body exercise programs such as Yoga, Pilates, Alexander, Feldenkreis methods. We also looked at the changes in physical education in the schools and finally at the commercialization of sports in schools and in society in general.

I thank you all for your attendance, participation and interest in a subject that has received little critical attention in our contemporary society. I hope you all have a wonderful holiday.

THE LANGUAGE OF MOVEMENT 7

2008-10-28T15:29:00.000-07:00

This is a blog that invites comments about the guest presenter we had today.

Deborah Slater, a San Francisco choreographer, spoke about influential Bay Area dancers and choreographers and showed tapes of their work. She also showed tapes of her own pieces which she calls "theater pieces". She distinguishes this form from "dance" by noting that it depends upon deep emotional expression, rather than on just body movements.

We could see, in her work, and in that of other contemporary choreographers, the elements of our post-modern culture that we talked about during this course: multiplicity and diversity. In the pieces shown we could see the combinations of music/dance/scenery/costumes/and stories and the use of a variety of sources for movement. The contemporary dancers were more acrobatic than they had been in the Modern period, and employed much more body contact.

To those of you who are reading the blogs, feedback that can help to improve the courses I give will be most welcome. You can comment on the blog page, in an e-mail to me (goldmark@usfca.edu), or on a piece of paper other than the course evaluation form.

THE LANGUAGE OF MOVEMENT 6

2008-10-21T15:49:00.000-07:00

After looking at the contributions to Modern Dance by Martha Graham and Doris Humphrey we turned to other dancers, Helen Tamiris, Valerie Bettis and Sophie Maslow who were also putting their own stamp on Modern Dance style. Tamiris was the most avant-garde and pioneered in experiments with instruments and voice. Maslow, along with William Bales and Jane Dudley created pieces that incorporated folk themes in the music and the dances.
One of the most important influences on Modern Dance was the introduction of the movements of dancers in Africa- the use of the torso, with hips and shoulders moving forward and back and side to side. Chuck Davis and Katherine Dunham brought dances from Africa and the Caribbean that included the movements of the torso to different drum rhythms, the bent knees and the foot pounding movements of these cultures.
Many of the popular dances came from the movements of the Blacks in Africa, Brazil, and the Caribbean.
As has happened with many art forms and social movements, the White populations copied the styles of the Black minorities causing the Black people to move a step further in an effort to preserve their own identity. After Katherine Dunham, Black dancers became legitimate Modern Dancers, and some were admitted into Ballet troupes: Talley Beatty and Arthur Mitchell danced with Balanchine, Asadata Dafore came from Africa and became a sensation in the U.S.
The time was ripe for extended experimentation in the Post-Modern Period. Merce Cunningham, working with John Cage, used chance and spontaneity in his dances. Paul Taylor introduced comedy.
In the next generation, Twyla Tharp and Bill T. Jones experimented with new forms of dance and new troupes introduced cross cultural dance themes as well as the use of mixed media and mixed styles.
Each generation's choreographers produce works that reflect the values of the times. Ballet was elegant and formal when it originated in the Courts in France, but became more "Modern" in the present era in which diversity and multiplicity are important values.
Momix and Pilobolus are two groups that perform yearly in Marin and create new images with human bodies. Momix, playing with light and shadows produces illusions, and Pilobolus creates sculptures with human forms.
Alonzo King, of San Francisco based Lines Ballet, choreographs with other ethnic groups: one year with the Pygmies of Africa, another with the Shaolin monks and this year with Pharoah Sanders, a jazz musician. ODC San Franciso is another local group that experiments with movement. They focus on active movement and have presented a movement vocabulary that is now popular in the dance world: acrobatics/gymnastics/rolling bodies/bodily contact.
Two other contemporary groups are Joe Goode and Robert Moses'Kin. Goode presents romantic stories and "feel good" shows while Moses is more balletic.
A film of one of Mark Morris's dances illustrated the influence of ballet and folk dance on his Modern Dance style. There is little subtle, small body movements in his choreography and he usually creates movements on the beat of the music. The late Michael Smuin was another choreographer who created movements on the the beat of the music. However, he used costumes and more elaborate sets and presented dances that were more akin to show pieces than to Modern Dance, and were popular entertainments.

After showing some previews of dance groups that were coming to the Bay Area this year, we next talked about hip-hop music and rap, two contemporary art forms that originated in the Black/Latin areas of the South Bronx and swept the nation and the world.

Next week we will have choreographer Deborah Slater talk to us about the different choreographies in dance groups in the Bay Area. This promises to be a very interesting and informative session. After that we will look at Break Dancing, the choreography of homosexual choreographers, the law and dance, and the popularity of movement in today's society.

Posted by bernice goldmark at 3:16 PM 0

THE LANGUAGE OF MOVEMENT 5

2008-10-14T14:03:00.000-07:00

Moving along with movements that are deliberate, we began the story of dance in our society. We saw that changes in dance occurred, along with changes in the other arts, when there were changes in the values in society. The Greek Dionysian expressive dancing gave way to Christian suppression of body movements in the Middle Ages. Dance in the 17th and 18th century was either the dances done by the people in the country or villages, or the early ballet developed by the nobles and the court and exhibited by King Louis XIII and IV. Ballet was codified in France, by Louis XIV and ballet choreographers who developed rules for ballet positions and a written symbol system for preserving ballet movements. The late 19th and early 20th centuries saw the development of ballets with modern music, elaborate sets and costumes, and complete stories, as Russia became the important center of ballet. Diaghilev was the master producer of elaborate ballets at this time, using the music of Stravinsky, the art of Picasso, and the dancing of such great stars as Fokine, Nijinsky, and Pavlova.
All through these centuries, people did their ethnic folk dances in their communities. Although some still do them, many of them have turned their folk dancers into professional performance companies.
We looked then at the beginning of modern dance in Germany by such innovators as Laban, Mary Wigman, Alwin Nikolais, Joos, Hanya Holm (who moved to America and choreographed stage shows like Kiss Me Kate, and was the first to use Labanotation, film and copyrights), and then at the American "liberator" of dance, Isadora Duncan. It was noted that the German dance choreographers were influenced by Cubism and Expressionism in Modern Art and were concerned with shaping space. Duncan, however, saw space as limitless and each dance as spontaneous and unique to the dancer with no possibility of replication by another person, nor even by the originator at a later time.

Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn were the "parents" of the next generation of modern dancers at their Denishawn School of Dance. They broadened the sources of dance movements by presenting dances from Asia, India, and the American Indian cultures. Best known of their students was Martha Graham, who introduced the contraction/release movement that was popular in Modern Dance for half a century, and can still be seen today. She was also concerned with expressing the psychological motivations of mythical, historical, and fictional characters.

Doris Humphrey focused on gravity and falls, and with Charles Weidman, choreographed many dances incorporating these movements. These movements influenced many of the contemporary choreographers .

At the same time dancers like Helen Tamiris, Valerie Bettis and Sophie Maslow were putting their own stamp on Modern Dance style. Tamiris was the most avant-garde and pioneered in experiments with instruments and voice. Maslow, along with William Bales and Jane Dudley created pieces that incorporated folk themes in the music and the dances.
We will continue on with the development of Modern Dance to see how movements of the torso entered the vocabulary of movement in dance.
Some of you have had dance classes, perhaps even performed , and if so we would like you to share some experiences with us.

THE LANGUAGE OF MOVEMENT 4

2008-10-07T14:09:00.000-07:00

We began today with a quick survey of some of the recent, popular books that tell us how to read body language so that we can better succeed in life. It was noted (by a student) that the advice was for the middle class society in our country- for those who wanted to "get ahead", have better relationships, even find happiness. It was also noted (by a student) that specialists in reading body language are employed by lawyers to aid them in their selection of jurors.

We then moved on to the language of movements of the inner city Chicago African Americans whose body movements were used deliberately to communicate. Many people in the Black communities resent the fact that the white population has adopted much of their culture (music/dance/language/art) and seek to preserve it for themselves. Thus they not only maintain, but often exaggerate their movements in order to keep them uniquely "theirs".

Movement, in general, is highly valued by the groups that were studied, as revealed by their language. Words indicating rapid movements, or having the potential for movement, present positive images. For example, being "hip", "bopping," "swinging" are valued, where as "slouching" is not. The placement of the legs, the arms, and the shoulders communicate intentions deliberately, as do the movements of the hips, shoulders, head, eyes and lips. Handshakes (giving skin) vary and each style communicates meaning that is shared in the community.

Finally, we looked into the broader area of cultural differences, comparing some values and movements of the Native Americans and the

Japanese with those of our own culture. Hall has said that to feel comfortable in a different culture we need to learn to move to the rhythms of that culture.

Next week we'll finish looking at cultural differences in everyday movement and move on to look at differences in dance movements, which are deliberately choreographed.

Many of you have studied dance at one time or another, and/or have followed dance group performances for many years. We'd like to hear your experiences and impressions.

The Language of Movement 3

2008-09-30T15:59:00.001-07:00

Continuing to look at the Language of Movement, we began with facial movements and looked at those that expressed emotion and are said to be universal, and those that differ in different cultures. Some facial expressions send messages of emotions, others send directions, intentions, and even warnings. Still others are intended to mask emotions. A comparison between Japanese and Arab people's expression of emotion in their facial and body movements revealed quite opposite behaviors.

We then looked at messages given with hands, and saw that most finger formations have different meanings in different cultures. Hands held out with palms up or extended with palms up or down also give different messages.

Arm movements and leg movements were also seen to give messages, some of which are invitations to a relationship of some sort, others are dismissive. Interpretations depend largely on the context in which the movements are made, and the mind-set, and expectations of the viewer.

When people pass on the street they follow the informal rule of "civil inattention": acknowledging the other person with brief eye contact (civil) and then lowering the eyes and turning them away from the other person to indicate that no further contact will follow (inattention). Greeting motions that often start with the "eyebrow lift" then can proceed to a smile, a gestural wave, a hug, or a kiss. Touching, handshakes, kisses and bows also vary form culture to culture.

Space is an important factor in giving body messages. The distances between people depend upon the types of relationships they have, and their openness (or lack of it) towards allowing other people into the group.

We can learn about ourselves and others by becoming more aware of these specific movements and considerating the possible interpretations available to us. If you have become more aware, and have noticed any specific movements of interest, please share them with us.

The Language of Movement 2

2008-09-23T15:53:00.000-07:00

In this second session we continued looking at the history of body movement in Western cultures. The repression of emotional expressive movement has been attributed to three major factors: the churches that feared that free movements would lead to loss of control; the development of the capitalist society in which people had to be taught to fit into their needed roles; and the rise of the individual self as more important than community identity.
In the late 50's and early60's there was a social revolution in which the youth began to free themselves from what they considered to be the restraints imposed upon them by the adult community. They developed their own music- rock and roll- that came from African-Caribbean roots. Their revolution was aided by the Civil Rights movement that fought to have all minorities recognized as being equal with the majority in our society . This was the Post-Modern world of diversity and multiplicity. Body movements also became more free, as did attitudes towards sex and gender.
We then looked briefly at the movement development of infants, toddlers, and teen agers, observing the stages of changes in muscular control in young people, and the movements of teenagers who experienced radical changes in their bodies.
Next week we'll look at some body language and the interpretations given to them.

Fall 2008 Welcome

2008-08-27T14:52:00.001-07:00

Welcome to the Fromm Course "The Language of Movement"

Our first meeting was an overview of the course topics followed by general information about non-verbal languages and the language of movement.

Edward Hall posed three ways in which we learn non-verbal languages: formal/informal/technical. Learning the rules of behavior of our culture he calls "formal" learning. Learning by imitating others (parents, other adults, peers) is "informal" learning. Informal learning is done largely without awareness. Learning from teaching, such as exercise or dance instruction, is "technical" learning, which is deliberate. We learn new behaviors primarily by imitating, which is a slow process of which we are seldom aware.

We noted two main ways of studying body movements: the psychological which offers explanation about the mover's motivations, and the sociological which examines the effects that movement has on other people. We will be largely concerned with the latter, which is important so that we won't be unaware and thus possibly victimized.

We then looked at the metaphors that we construct from the schemas of our bodies: body parts that are containers, or that operate in paths, center-periphery, or cyclical movements. These metaphors allow us to think abstractly, rather than literally, as when we say, "My cup runneth over",

or "He is an upstanding citizen".

Next we began the story of movement in history, beginning with the festivals of Dionysius in which bodies moved freely, through the Humanistic period in which the sense of "self" emerged .

Next week we'll continue with the History of Movement, look at some aspects of movement development (non-technically) and move on to the social interpretations of body movements.

Feel free to post any comments or ask any questions by clicking on "Comments" below. I hope you will share any information or observations you have with the class.