Descriptions of Dancing in Literature and Poetry
October 8, 2013 12:14 PM Subscribe
Need examples in poems or literature of a female dancer's movements. The catch: the passages need to be more objective/technical, and less romantic/sexual/beauty-loving in their descriptions. The way a straight female dance teacher, as opposed to a straight male layperson, might describe the dancer's movements.
I'd recommend Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfield.
It's a children's book but as I recall it had some very nice descriptions of what the dancers were doing.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 2:27 PM on October 8, 2013 [1 favorite]
It's a children's book but as I recall it had some very nice descriptions of what the dancers were doing.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 2:27 PM on October 8, 2013 [1 favorite]
Literature in the sense of fiction, rather than technical literature I'm guessing.
Imagery is often used by dance teachers to describe movements. That's going to make it tricky to find strictly objective definitions.
I haven't found that the terms used vary substantially between teachers of different genders or sexual orientations. Terms used will vary a great deal depending on the particular variety of dance. Does the sexual orientation and gender of the teacher and dancer need to be clear in the work?
Many poems:
The Dance: Poem
You can also find poems by searching for poem and a particular dance discipline. If there is a specific technical term you want to find, search for poem and that term.
If the words for a song in a musical would qualify, there are quite a few musicals about dancing in musicals with some of the action set in rehearsals for the musical within the musical. Don't recall anything offhand that specifically has a straight female dance teacher, generally the character commenting in that sort of musical will be a director or producer.
If you specifically don't want things to be "beauty-loving", you may be thinking of modern dance. (Not intended as a criticism of the art on my part, it was considered somewhat controversial and some professional dancers found it not so beautiful, so you may find things written about it from that angle.)
posted by yohko at 3:12 PM on October 8, 2013
Imagery is often used by dance teachers to describe movements. That's going to make it tricky to find strictly objective definitions.
I haven't found that the terms used vary substantially between teachers of different genders or sexual orientations. Terms used will vary a great deal depending on the particular variety of dance. Does the sexual orientation and gender of the teacher and dancer need to be clear in the work?
Many poems:
The Dance: Poem
You can also find poems by searching for poem and a particular dance discipline. If there is a specific technical term you want to find, search for poem and that term.
If the words for a song in a musical would qualify, there are quite a few musicals about dancing in musicals with some of the action set in rehearsals for the musical within the musical. Don't recall anything offhand that specifically has a straight female dance teacher, generally the character commenting in that sort of musical will be a director or producer.
If you specifically don't want things to be "beauty-loving", you may be thinking of modern dance. (Not intended as a criticism of the art on my part, it was considered somewhat controversial and some professional dancers found it not so beautiful, so you may find things written about it from that angle.)
posted by yohko at 3:12 PM on October 8, 2013
Response by poster: Does the sexual orientation and gender of the teacher and dancer need to be clear in the work?
No, I was just using a broad brush to differentiate between works that focus on the female dancer's sex appeal/romantic potential, versus descriptions that focus on other, perhaps more technical things.
I'm actually asking for a patron at my library, who's trying to write a character who's a dance teacher, and she wants the character to reference a work of lit/poetry that's consistent with the way she (the teacher) would appreciate a dancer, which for this patron means not in a sexual/romantic/Romantic way.
posted by Rykey at 3:32 PM on October 8, 2013
No, I was just using a broad brush to differentiate between works that focus on the female dancer's sex appeal/romantic potential, versus descriptions that focus on other, perhaps more technical things.
I'm actually asking for a patron at my library, who's trying to write a character who's a dance teacher, and she wants the character to reference a work of lit/poetry that's consistent with the way she (the teacher) would appreciate a dancer, which for this patron means not in a sexual/romantic/Romantic way.
posted by Rykey at 3:32 PM on October 8, 2013
These are academic books that incorporate prose
Http://www.amazon.com/Marta-Savigliano/e/B001KHZ3QS
http://www.amazon.com/Barbara-Browning/e/B001IZ2J9Q/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1381272851&sr=1-2-ent
http://www.amazon.com/Fiona-Buckland/e/B001KHVHDG/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1
I'm using my tablet so can't hyperlink.
Barbara Browning might be especially useful for you because I've noticed that a lot of people who write well about dance cite her as an influence.
posted by spunweb at 4:00 PM on October 8, 2013
Http://www.amazon.com/Marta-Savigliano/e/B001KHZ3QS
http://www.amazon.com/Barbara-Browning/e/B001IZ2J9Q/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1381272851&sr=1-2-ent
http://www.amazon.com/Fiona-Buckland/e/B001KHVHDG/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1
I'm using my tablet so can't hyperlink.
Barbara Browning might be especially useful for you because I've noticed that a lot of people who write well about dance cite her as an influence.
posted by spunweb at 4:00 PM on October 8, 2013
Gay male teachers are absolutely capable of commenting on the potential sexual appeal of different movements by female dancers, as are straight female teachers. If you are evaluating movement to be performed for an audience, you need to be able to know how they will interpret it. A dance teacher should be able to appreciate a dancer of the gender, age, and other characteristics that are shared with those they are attracted to, without it necessarily being in a sexual way. So since it doesn't have to be specifically referenced, other genders and orientations wouldn't need to be avoided either.
One thing that might be useful to know is that "romantic" can be used as sort technical/historical term in ballet in particular, perhaps with a bit of crossover to other areas. Unless it's part of the character that they don't appreciate ballets from the romantic area, or more romantic stylings, don't assume that the mere appearance of the word would make something unsuitable for your patron's use.
So, it seems like your patron wants some examples of things a particular sort of dance teacher would reference while appreciating (or evaluating? Hard to get technical terms in there without evaluating, and hard to get a dance teacher to watch without evaluating it.) a dancer. The dancer might or might not be doing a form of dance the teacher is familiar with, there are some sorts of movements that are very similar between dance forms but have different technical terms. And some very different, someone who teaches pop-n-lock and step dancing might not have many specific terms for the types of movements used in ballet. Many teachers know a broad range of dance forms though. Teacher education also differs, with some people deciding to go off and start charging others money after they've only danced for a year (for some types of dance this might be feasible, others laughable), others entering teaching at a professional level with training since childhood and a Master's degree, to professional dancers retiring from performing with a world famous ballet company but no teaching experience, to everything in between. Obviously the language they use to describe how they appreciate something would be different.
Knowing the form of dance done by the dancer and some other things about the setting would still be useful, because it would sound very silly if the teacher referenced a grand jete while watching a waltz or someone dancing on top of a small platform.
Your patron may want to consider a few things in looking for a passage: Is this about the character appreciating a dance performance by a group she is not involved with in any way on a purely recreational level? What sort of performance by what sort of group -- young children at a parade, world renowned troupe performing their classic, something else? Are they observing a performance by a former student? Are they observing a performance that they choreographed, and was the dancer performing it taught by them, or were they taught the choreography by someone else? Are they observing a rehearsal? One in which they are giving corrections to their own students (appreciating isn't really the word for that I suppose)? Are they observing a class?
Or is this just a sort of generic and theoretical dancer of unknown age that we know is female, rather than one actually being watched?
Nothing is leaping to mind -- it sounds like your patron is looking for something that can be named by the character that will make them sound appropriately cultured, not something like a children's book or web-published poetry. If they want something that would be a well known and recognized classic that has technical dance terms in it I don't think you are going to find that. There may be something written in Russian or French. Swedish, maybe, for works referencing modern dance. Some work referencing the paintings of Degas, in any language, might fruitful. Perhaps a biography of one of the great dancers would have something.
You might look for things about Terpsichore, or things described as Terpsichorean. It's hardly a technical term, and while it doesn't have romantic/sexual connotations it does reference the beauty of movement. I really can't picture any dance teacher who doesn't hate what they do not appreciating the beauty of movement, but it is about the movement -- people who might possibly be considered physically ugly by some can move in beautiful ways -- and from what I have seen about the sorts of dances dance teachers enjoy watching, there is often beautiful movement involved, and the dance teachers do find it beautiful (if it is beautiful, there are dances with other sorts of themes of course). Seriously, if I was listening to a dance teacher talk about what they "appreciated" about a dance and they listed off all the things that were executed to technical perfection, I'd think they felt the artistry was lacking but wanted to come up with something positive to say.
I haven't read them, but maybe Hesiod's Theogony or The Histories of Herodotus would have something useful.
Shiva isn't generally described in terms of sex appeal, but doesn't seem like quite the angle. The Bible might be in the same category, but maybe some works of other religions would have something. The dancing manias and tarantella have something written about them from way back, but I don't know if that would be literature or history.
I hope that's useful -- I'm realizing I've written this assuming you are a reference librarian and will know more than I do about how to look these things up.
posted by yohko at 5:34 PM on October 8, 2013
One thing that might be useful to know is that "romantic" can be used as sort technical/historical term in ballet in particular, perhaps with a bit of crossover to other areas. Unless it's part of the character that they don't appreciate ballets from the romantic area, or more romantic stylings, don't assume that the mere appearance of the word would make something unsuitable for your patron's use.
So, it seems like your patron wants some examples of things a particular sort of dance teacher would reference while appreciating (or evaluating? Hard to get technical terms in there without evaluating, and hard to get a dance teacher to watch without evaluating it.) a dancer. The dancer might or might not be doing a form of dance the teacher is familiar with, there are some sorts of movements that are very similar between dance forms but have different technical terms. And some very different, someone who teaches pop-n-lock and step dancing might not have many specific terms for the types of movements used in ballet. Many teachers know a broad range of dance forms though. Teacher education also differs, with some people deciding to go off and start charging others money after they've only danced for a year (for some types of dance this might be feasible, others laughable), others entering teaching at a professional level with training since childhood and a Master's degree, to professional dancers retiring from performing with a world famous ballet company but no teaching experience, to everything in between. Obviously the language they use to describe how they appreciate something would be different.
Knowing the form of dance done by the dancer and some other things about the setting would still be useful, because it would sound very silly if the teacher referenced a grand jete while watching a waltz or someone dancing on top of a small platform.
Your patron may want to consider a few things in looking for a passage: Is this about the character appreciating a dance performance by a group she is not involved with in any way on a purely recreational level? What sort of performance by what sort of group -- young children at a parade, world renowned troupe performing their classic, something else? Are they observing a performance by a former student? Are they observing a performance that they choreographed, and was the dancer performing it taught by them, or were they taught the choreography by someone else? Are they observing a rehearsal? One in which they are giving corrections to their own students (appreciating isn't really the word for that I suppose)? Are they observing a class?
Or is this just a sort of generic and theoretical dancer of unknown age that we know is female, rather than one actually being watched?
Nothing is leaping to mind -- it sounds like your patron is looking for something that can be named by the character that will make them sound appropriately cultured, not something like a children's book or web-published poetry. If they want something that would be a well known and recognized classic that has technical dance terms in it I don't think you are going to find that. There may be something written in Russian or French. Swedish, maybe, for works referencing modern dance. Some work referencing the paintings of Degas, in any language, might fruitful. Perhaps a biography of one of the great dancers would have something.
You might look for things about Terpsichore, or things described as Terpsichorean. It's hardly a technical term, and while it doesn't have romantic/sexual connotations it does reference the beauty of movement. I really can't picture any dance teacher who doesn't hate what they do not appreciating the beauty of movement, but it is about the movement -- people who might possibly be considered physically ugly by some can move in beautiful ways -- and from what I have seen about the sorts of dances dance teachers enjoy watching, there is often beautiful movement involved, and the dance teachers do find it beautiful (if it is beautiful, there are dances with other sorts of themes of course). Seriously, if I was listening to a dance teacher talk about what they "appreciated" about a dance and they listed off all the things that were executed to technical perfection, I'd think they felt the artistry was lacking but wanted to come up with something positive to say.
I haven't read them, but maybe Hesiod's Theogony or The Histories of Herodotus would have something useful.
Shiva isn't generally described in terms of sex appeal, but doesn't seem like quite the angle. The Bible might be in the same category, but maybe some works of other religions would have something. The dancing manias and tarantella have something written about them from way back, but I don't know if that would be literature or history.
I hope that's useful -- I'm realizing I've written this assuming you are a reference librarian and will know more than I do about how to look these things up.
posted by yohko at 5:34 PM on October 8, 2013
Response by poster: Gay male teachers are absolutely capable of commenting on the potential sexual appeal of different movements by female dancers, as are straight female teachers. If you are evaluating movement to be performed for an audience, you need to be able to know how they will interpret it. A dance teacher should be able to appreciate a dancer of the gender, age, and other characteristics that are shared with those they are attracted to, without it necessarily being in a sexual way. So since it doesn't have to be specifically referenced, other genders and orientations wouldn't need to be avoided either.
Yeah, I get that. I apologize if my shorthand comes off as obtuse. Thanks for the suggestions.
posted by Rykey at 5:50 PM on October 8, 2013
Yeah, I get that. I apologize if my shorthand comes off as obtuse. Thanks for the suggestions.
posted by Rykey at 5:50 PM on October 8, 2013
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The short history of a prince
Lots of touchy-feely stuff but also plenty of technical descriptions.
posted by mamabear at 2:25 PM on October 8, 2013