Poetics of Dance
Body, Image, and Space in the Historical Avant-Gardes
Gabriele Brandstetter
Reviews and Awards
"Poetics of Dance presents a foundational and original way of thinking about dance while also offering a radical re-evaluation of early twentieth century modernism across dance, literature, theater, and the visual arts. Brandstetter's brilliantly conceived approach to dance analysis foregrounds the intertextual connections among allied cultural practices in new ways through a theory of meaning-making based in spatial and psychic patterning. An invaluable contribution to the field of dance studies, this work will significantly expand our understanding of dance as part of culture and history."-- Susan Leigh Foster, Distinguished Professor, UCLA
"Gabriele Brandstetter's book is of magnificent scope and depths moving towards nothing less than a theory of the avantgarde in early 20th century Europe. Considering the dancer's body as a form of writing oscillating between memory and metamorphosis, dance becomes the main site on which the cross cultural transformations between the past and the present, the mundane and the exotic were negotiated. The dancer's body thus becomes a symptom for the fundamental changes of both the cultural systems and the systems of art that make up the culture of modernity - touching on topics like ritual, exotism, and its gender related issues, Brandstetter engages in a 'lecture corporelle' that reads dance as a series of figurations of emotions and space, of pathos formulas and topos formulas, that allow us to re-read the culture of modernity across all disciplines in its conscious and unconscious manifestations."--Gerald Siegmund, Professor, University of Giessen
"[T]his is a groundbreaking book...Dense with meaning, this book provokes thoughtful reflection on the nature and scope of modernity."--E. McPherson, Montclair State University
"Poetics of Dance broadens our knowledge and understanding of dance as a key synthetic point in culture and history."--The Arab Journal of Performance Studies
"Brandstetter makes explicit the connections among literature, visual arts, drama, and dance, examining in particular the early modern dance period in Europe, but touching on international developpments as well. Poetics of Dance helps the student/scholar trace the lineage between historically structured dance, such as ballet, and contemporary modern dance." -- Dance Chronicle
"The effectiveness of Brandstetter's research lies in its methodology, which, in its strongest moments, provides sudden and sharp insight into thought structures that extend far beyond dance ... Brandstetter's analysis works most effectively when she weaves together multiple strands of argument across a variety of disciplines and then anchors them in the fundamental physicality of dance. These moments are supported by well-chosen archival photos that complement the written descriptions and make evident the often unexpected connections being drawn across time and space." --German Studies Review
