Ethical Agility in Dance
Rethinking Technique in British Contemporary Dance
Contributor(s)
Colin, Noyale (editor)
Seago, Catherine (editor)
Stamp, Kathryn (editor)
Language
EnglishAbstract
This edited collection examines the potential of dance training for developing
socially engaged individuals capable of forging ethical human relations for
an ever-changing world and in turn frames dance as a fundamental part of
human experience.
This volume draws together a range of critical voices to reflect the inclusive
potential of dance. The contributions offer perspectives on contemporary
dance training in Britain from dance educators, scholars, practitioners and
artists. Through examining the politics, values and ethics of learning dance
today, this book argues for the need of a re-assessment of the evolving practices
in dance training and techniques. Key questions address how the concept of
‘technique’ and associated systems of training in dance could be redefined
to enable the collaboration of skills and application of ideas necessary to
twenty-first-century dance. The editors present these ideas in different modes
of writing. This collection of essays, conversations and manifestos offers a
way to explore, debate and grasp the shifting values of contemporary dance.
Examining these values in the applied field of dance reveals a complex
and contrasting range of ideas, encompassing broad themes including the
relationships between individuality and collectivity, rigour and creativity,
and virtuosity and inclusivity.
This volume points to ethical techniques as providing a way of navigating
these contrasting values in dance. It serves as an invaluable resource for
academics as well as practitioners and students.