The Male Dancer: Bodies, Spectacle and SexualityIn this challenging and lively book, Ramsay Burt examines the representation of masculinity in twentieth century dance. Taking issue with formalist and modernist accounts of dance, which dismiss gender and sexuality as irrelevant, he argues that prejudices against male dancers are rooted in our ideas about the male body and male behaviour. Building upon ideas about the gendered gaze developed by film and feminist theorists, Ramsay Burt provides a provocative theory of spectorship in dance. He uses this to examine the work of choreographers like Nijinsky, Graham, Bausch, while relating their dances to the social, political and artistic contexts in which they were produced. Within these re-readings, he identifies a distinction between institutionalised modernist dance which evokes an essentialist, heroic, `hypermasculinity'; one which is valorised with reference to nature, heterosexuality and religion, and radical, avant garde choreography which challenges and disrupts dominant ways of representing masculinity. The Male Dancer will be essential reading for anyone interested in dance and the cultural construction of gender. |
Contents
THE TROUBLE WITH THE MALE DANCER | 10 |
THE PSYCHOLOGICAL CONSTRUCTION OF MASCULINE IDENTITY | 14 |
RATIONALITY EMOTIONALITY AND MASCULINITY | 17 |
THE MODERN BODY | 19 |
EMOTIONALITY DANCE AND ARTISTIC GENIUS | 21 |
HOMOPHOBIA AND THE MALE DANCER | 22 |
GREEN BOX TREES | 24 |
HOMOSEXUALITY AND THE MALE DANCER | 28 |
THE RADICALISM OF EARLY MODERNISM | 87 |
NIJINSKYS BALLETS AND GENDER REPRESENTATION | 91 |
NIJINSKA AND GENDER REPRESENTATION | 93 |
MODERNISM AND THE MALE BODY | 98 |
MEN MODERNISM AND MODERN AMERICAN DANCE | 101 |
AMERICAN MEN | 102 |
TED SHAWN AMERICANNESS AND NATURAL MASCULINITY | 106 |
MARTHA GRAHAM AND SHAWNS LEGACY | 110 |
DANCE MASCULINITY AND REPRESENTATIONS | 31 |
FORMALIST ACCOUNTS OF DANCE | 32 |
DANCE REPRESENTATION AND EXPRESSION | 38 |
DANCE LANGUAGE AND REPRESENTATION | 44 |
DISCOURSE DANCE AND THE DANCERS BODY | 45 |
LOOKING AT THE MALE | 49 |
THE MALE GAZE AND THE SPECTACLE OF MASCULINITY | 53 |
NARRATIVE AND IDENTIFICATION | 57 |
PSYCHOANALYTICAL THEORIES OF THE CONSTRUCTION OF GENDER | 63 |
MARGINALITY LANGUAGE AND THE FEMALE BODY | 66 |
ABJECTION AND THE MALE BODY | 68 |
MARGINALITY AND MOVEMENT RESEARCH | 70 |
CONCLUSIONS | 71 |
MODERNISM AND HETERODOX REPRESENTATIONS OF MASCULINITY | 74 |
HETERODOXY AND HOMOSEXUALITY | 76 |
MALE PROWESS IN NIJINSKYS ROLES | 79 |
NIJINSKY AS GENIUS | 82 |
NIJINSKYS HETERODOX ROLES IN FOKINES BALLETS | 84 |
DANCE MODERNISM AND THE OTHER | 118 |
LIMON MODERNISM AND ETHNICITY | 121 |
ALVIN AILEY AND BLACK MASCULINITY | 127 |
MODERNISM AND THE UNIVERSAL MALE | 132 |
AVANTGARDE STRATEGIES | 135 |
MERGE CUNNINGHAM | 138 |
STEVE PAXTON | 148 |
SET AND RESET | 155 |
UNISEX LEGACIES | 157 |
POST MEN | 159 |
SEEING MASCULINITY DIFFERENTLY | 163 |
REVEALING DESIRABLE MALES | 172 |
MASCULINITY AT THE LIMITS | 179 |
POST WHAT? | 196 |
NOTES | 200 |
208 | |
218 | |
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Common terms and phrases
acceptable aesthetic American appear argued artists aspects associated audience ballet become behaviour called century challenge Chapter choreographers concerned considered construction conventions created critics cultural Cunningham described desire developed discussed display dominant early emotional European example experience expression fact feelings female feminine forms gaze gender give Graham hand heterosexual homosexual idea identity interests involved language limits Limón look male body male dancers masculinity material meanings modern dance modernist move movement narrative nature Nijinsky Nijinsky's norms Paxton performance physical piece point of view political position possible present problem proposes qualities question radical reference relation relationship representations representations of masculinity represented roles says seems seen sense sexual Shawn signified social society sometimes sort spectacle spectator stage structure style suggests surely theatre dance theory traditional western women writing