Reading dancing : bodies and subjects in contemporary American dance / Susan Leigh Foster.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 263-285) and index.

CHAPTER ONE Reading dance : composing the choreographer, the dancer, and the viewer / Deborah Hay ; George Balanchine ; Martha Graham ; Merce Cunningham ; Four bodies and subjects -- CHAPTER TWO Reading choreography : composing dances / Frames ; Modes of representation ; Styles ; Vocabularies ; Syntaxes ; Reading the performance -- CHAPTER THREE Readings in dance's history : historical approaches to dance composition / Allegorical dance in the late Renaissance ; Neoclassical dance in the eighteenth century ; Expressionist dance in the early twentieth century ; Objectivist dance from 1950 to the present -- CHAPTER FOUR Writing dancing : the viewer as choreographer in contemporary dance / The Grand Union ; Meredith Monk ; Twyla Tharp ; Writing bodies and subjects.

Recent approaches to dance composition, seen in the works of Merce Cunningham and the Judson Church performances of the early 1960s, suggest the possibility of a new theory of choreographic meaning. Borrowing from contemporary semiotics and post-structuralist criticism, "Reading Dancing" outlines four distinct models for representation in dance which are illustrated, first, through an analysis of the works of contemporary choreographers Deborah Hay, George Balanchine, Martha Graham, and Merce Cunningham, and then through reference to historical examples beginning with court ballets of the Renaissance. The comparison of these four approaches to representation affirms the unparalleled diversity of choreographic methods in American dance, and also suggests a critical perspective form which to reflect on dance making and viewing. -- From publisher's description.