Understanding dance / Graham McFee.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 328-338) and index.

PART I Goundwork : 1. Basic concepts for aesthetics / Definition and 'definiteness' ; The objectivity of appreciation ; The artistic and the (merely) aesthetic ; Conclusion -- PART II The Nature of Dance : 2. Dance as Action / The importance of the issue ; Dance as a 'special kind pf movement' ; Understanding action ; People, not machines ; Two ways of talking ; The importance of context ; Insights from the two-language view ; A technical point: defeasibility ; Conclusion -- 3. Dance as art / Traditions and conventions of art ; Conventions and understanding ; An institutional account of art ; A fundamental objection to institutional theories of art ; A reply to this objection ; A diagnosis of the origin of the objection ; Digression: the 'community' view of concepts ; Outcomes of the institutional analysis ; Conclusion -- 4. Dance as a Performing Art / Performing arts, multiplies and identity ; Type/token ; The creation of the type-work ; The thesis of notationality ; Interpretation and performance ; Performers' interpretations ; Further considerations ; Re-evaluation ; Variety among performances ; Conclusion -- 5. Dance as an Object of Understanding / Meaning, understanding and explanation ; Meaning and institutional concepts ; Two difficulties for the dance/language analogy ; Objections from structural linguistics: an example ; An area of disanalogy? ; Interpretation and performance (again) ; Conclusion -- PART III Understanding of Dance : 6. Understanding the Dance Criticism / Three topics for the understanding of dance ; Two unsatisfactory accounts of criticism: 'rules' and scrutiny ; A modest proposal for the extension of the critic's cognitive stock ; Two provisos for an account of criticism as noticing ; The restrictive proviso reconsidered ; Arbitrariness and 'reading in' ; Some criticisms of the view of criticism as noticing -- 7. Understanding, Experience and Criticism / Dance as an object of understanding ; The 'meaning' of dances as identified with informed criticism ; Interpretation and emotional education (I) ; Interpretation and emotional education (II) ; The knowledge-base of criticism ; Conclusion -- 8. The Point of Dance / Purposive versus artistic justification ; Emotional education and conceptual change ; The objects of emotions ; Art and life issues ; Art works and art forms ; Two theses for an account of art ; Life issues and 'the familiar' ; Conclusion -- PART IV Concepts of Understanding : 9. Style and Technique / The notion of individual style ; Two characteristics of style ; The place of technique (I) ; Four notes of caution ; Outcomes of the style/technique connection ; Condition three: psychological reality ; The place of technique (II) ; Conclusion -- 10. Imagination and Understanding / Imagination and perception ; Some objections considered ; Three ideas of the imaginary ; Conclusion -- 11. Intention and Understanding / Intentionalist and anti-intentionalist positions ; The public character of intention ; Choreographer's intention and 'Black Angels' -- 12. Expression in Dance / Expressiveness in dance versus expressiveness in movement ; Expression and artistic concepts ; Expression and understanding ; Expressive of what? ; Conclusion -- PART IV Applications and Implications : 13. Aesthetic Eduaction: Some myths / The very idea of kinaesthetic sense ; The importance of performance ; The 'creative process' ; The very idea of an aesthetic education -- 14. Dance and Society / The meaning of the word 'Dance' ; Dance as 'natural' ; An 'art-shaped hole' in the theory ; A sense of history ; Relativism and understanding ; Conclusion -- Conclusion ? A necessary limitation on the presentation ; Methods and a key assumption of the text ; Two fundamental principles of aesthetics ; Dance in education.

"By focusing on the work of a number of major choreographers, companies and critics, McFee explores the nature of our understanding of dance by considering the "practice" of understanding dance-works themselves." -- WorldCat