Theatre and Dance

Brendan Rapple LIS413

16 July, 2009 Simmons College

Performing Arts

Generally, three elements:

• work being performed

• the performer(s)

• the audience

Major Divisions in Performing Arts

» Music

» Dance

» Opera

» Theater

» Film

» Radio

» TV

» Video

Theater

Often divided into two categories:

• Drama, the literary component

• Theatrical production, related to performance

However, neither is fully realized without the other.

Study of Theatre at University

1) Acting: generally focused on stage acting. prepares for work as professional actors provides student understanding and practice in a range of styles and techniques. training in acting, voice, and movement.

2) Theatre Design and Technology: Generally includes courses in

scenic, lighting, and costume design and construction sound: develop relevant conceptual, compositional, and technical skills costume design and history scene painting and theatre history and acting.

Study of Theatre at University

3) Playwriting – includes focus on writing dialogue creating characters mastering story structure

4) Directing

5) Stage Management

6) Theater Management

Theatrical Topics Include

“Legitimate” stage

Burlesque

Vaudeville

Circus

Puppet theatre

Festival and pageant

Mime

Performance art

Musical theatre

Opera

Children’s theatre

Street theatre

Experimental theatre

Material about Theater in Libraries

Texts of plays (drama) usually with other literature works in libraries.

Thus, somewhat peculiar result that texts of plays are separated from works about the performance of plays.

Common Types of Theater Resources

books journals play scripts musical scores microforms films DVDs audiotapes slides biographies reviews

More Ephemeral or Fugitive Materials Include

playbills posters press releases advertisements souvenir booklets newspaper and journal clippings tickets scrapbooks photographs contracts

financial records correspondence diaries notebooks promptbooks scenic properties illustrations realia memorabilia maquettes

Very Diverse Types of Theater Resources (in no special order)

News about theater -- Broadway, other cities and countries, community theaters, educational institutions, etc.

Contact information for theatrical companies.

Professional organizations like Equity, etc.

Info. about awards like the Tony or Obie.

Statistics about Broadway box office income, longest-running shows etc.

Photographs and drawings of costume, scenic, lighting, and makeup designs.

Online fan sites for musicals, plays, performers.

Copyright law for theatre.

Useful Databases

International Index to the Performing Arts MLA International Bibliography American Drama Asian American Drama Bertolt Brechts Werke Black Drama Editions and Adaptations of Shakespeare, 1591-1911 English Drama 1280-1915 North American Theatre Online Teatro Espanol - Siglo de Oro Theatre du Grand Siecle World Shakespeare Bibliography Online ERIC (Educational Resource Information Center) British Humanities Index Theatre in Video Oxford Encyclopedia of Theatre and Performance Oxford Reference Online

Dance Scholarship

Not so well established as a distinct field.

Formerly realm of musicologists, rather than dance specialists

Not so many distinct dance depts. in colleges and universities

Often part of other depts.:» Music» Phys. Ed.

Not surprisingly, dance librarianship not always well-defined.

Dance Programs in Colleges/Universities

Often focus on performance rather theoretical knowledge of the field.

Thus, limited exposure to» dance history» criticism» aesthetics» notation» preservation

However, such areas are essential to the documentation and scholarship of dance and must be collected in the library.

Juilliard School (probably not typical)

All B.F.A. dance students are required to complete courses in:

Ballet Modern Dance Partnering Repertory,

Collaborations, Performance Acting Anatomy Elements of Performing Alexander Technique Dance Composition Dance History Literature and Materials  of

Music Stagecraft and Production Seminar for Seniors Dance Elective Humanities

Students may elect courses in: Pointe Tap Jazz Voice Repertory Solos

University of Washington Dance Program

Dance Major Requirements: 67 Dance credits   Required courses Credits

Dance Composition I 5Music in Relation to Dance 3Cross-Cultural Dance Studies 5Dance Performance 2Early or Late Dance History (writing intensive) 5Senior Seminar 3Anatomy for Dance 5Dance Teaching Methodologies 5

ElectivesFolk-Social Dance Forms 1-2World Dance and Culture 3Integrated Dance: Training and Composition 3Dance Composition II 3Integrated Dance: History, Methodology and Praxis 3Dance Composition III 3Choreography Workshop 3Dance Aesthetics 3Special Studies 3

University of Washington Dance Program

Technique CreditsIntro to Dance 5Modern Technique I 1-2Ballet Technique I 1-2Jazz Technique I 1-2Ballet Technique II 1-2Modern Technique II 1-2Jazz Technique II 1-2Ballet Technique III 1-2Modern Technique III 1-2Ballet Technique IV 1-2Modern Technique IV 1-2Alternative Movement Studies 1-3

Performance activitiesAll dance majors are required to participate in dance performance activities, including working on a production crew for a dance performance. Another activity might be performing in one of the following three concerts: Faculty Dance Concert, M.F.A. Concert, or the Dance Majors Concert.

A Broad Ranging Subject

ballet modern dance jazz tap dance ice dancing social and folk dancing ethnic dance religious dance musical comedy dance vaudeville

Unique Problem: Ephemeral Nature of Dance

A theatre play still exists in text after a performance.

However, nothing exists after a dance performance except the memories of the audience and perhaps a published review.

Paintings, sculpture, photography have helped over the years, but movement cannot be accurately recreated from still poses.

Consequently, film and video have helped tremendously.

Transmission of Dance

“It took Ann Hutchinson Guest from 1956-1988 to recreate

Nijinsky’s steps for “L’Apres Midi d’un Faun,” and

Millicent Hodges took from 1970-1987 to reconstruct the

original choreography of “Le Sacre du Printemps.”

Marcia Parsons

Transmission of Dance

Passing stylistic characteristics and techniques specific dances and roles

from one performer to another in a master-apprentice style.

The problem is that changes will inevitably occur over time.

Transmission of Dance

The problem is even greater for “cultural”, ethnic and ritual dancing.

Societal traditions are changing so much and so quickly that many dances are dying out with no record being kept of them.

Dance Notation

http://www.dancewriting.org/

DanceWriting is a way to read and write any kind of dance movement. A stick figure is written on a five-lined staff. Each line of the staff represents a specific level. The bottom line of the staff is called the Foot Line. It represents the ground. The next line up is the Knee Line, which is at knee level, when the stick figure stands straight. The next line up is the Hip Line, and after that, the Shoulder Line.

When the figure bends its knees or jumps in the air, it is lowered or raised accordingly on the staff. The five-lined staff acts as a level guide. Figures and symbols are written from left to right, notating movement position by position, as if stopping a film frame by frame.

Another system of dance notation may be found at

http://www.dancenotation.org/

Many Types of Resources

reference dictionaries encyclopedias guides handbooks bibliographies directories plot summaries monographs on dancers,

choreographers, companies, and individual dances

conference proceedings recordings of dance music reminiscences of performers

and viewers theses and dissertations videos photographs serials electronic indexes and abstracts

Facilities

Of course, essential that sufficient good quality equipment is available to show videos, DVDs etc.

Might be a necessity for viewing room(s).

Cooperation Among Collection Developers is Essential

Works on physical health, diet, or dance injuries may be under medicine.

Ethnic Dancing may be under rubric of, e.g.

» Music

» Theatre

» Anthropology

» Ethnic Studies

Material in Different Languages

Much important material is published in French, Italian, German, Russian.

By no means is all available in translation.

Important Publishers of Dance Materials

Princeton Book Company Thames and Hudson G.K. Hall A Cappella Books DaCapo Press Scarecrow Press Dance Books Pendragon Press Greenwood Press

St. Martin’s Press Human Kinetics Westview Press Henry N. Abrams Nick Hern Books Dancepress Certain university presses

Useful Databases International Encyclopedia of Dance

International Index to the Performing Arts

Grove Music

International Index to Music Periodicals

Music Index Online

Anthropology Plus

Oxford Reference Online

ERIC (Educational Resource Information Center)

Expanded Academic ASAP

British Humanities Index