Sally Banes

Working and Dancing: A Response to Monroe Beardsley's "What Is Going on in a Dance?"

Professor Beardsleys paper is distinguished by his customary clarity. Many of the distinctions he draws will undoubtedly be useful not only for dance theoreticians, but for dance critics as well. Nevertheless, the way that these distinctions are placed in the service of a putative characterization of what constitutes a dance “moving” seems to us problematic. This brief note will be devoted to exploring the adequacy of Professor Beardsleys proposal. Beardsley appears to conclude his paper by stating a condition requisite for a motion to be counted as a dance “moving.” He writes, If, in other words, there is more zest, vigor, fluency, expansiveness, or stateliness than appears necessary for its practical purposes, there is an overflow or superfluity of expressiveness to mark it as belonging to its own domain of dance. We interpret Beardsleys basic point here as the claim that a superfluity of expressiveness (above the requirements of practical exigencies) is a defining feature of a dance “moving.” However, in our opinion, this attribute represents neither a necessary nor a sufficient condition of dance.

Grand Union: The Presentation of Everyday Life as Dance

The Grand Union was a collective of choreographer/performers which during the years 1970–76 made group improvisations embracing dance, theater, and theatrics in an ongoing investigation into the nature of dance and performance. Grand Unions identity as a group had several sources: some of the nine who have been its members had known each other for as long as ten years when the group formed; they had seen and performed in each others works since the Judson Church days. Most had studied with Merce Cunningham, and three had danced in his company. One important and rich source for the groups genesis was Yvonne Rainers work Continuous Project-Altered Daily (CP-AD) . To understand the course of Grand Unions activities, it is useful to look first at the changing nature of CP-AD . Rainer began the piece in 1969, and in March 1970 presented a definitive version at the Whitney Museum. The performers were Becky Arnold, Douglas Dunn, David Gordon, Barbara Lloyd (now Dilley), Steve Paxton, Yvonne Rainer and various readers.