jef chippewa (or somebody) wrote: >in 4'33", there are no specific theatrical or dance elements defined >by the composer himself. all the claims to its being part of the >field of dance, performance art, theatre are only individual >perceptions and desires. for it to be considered a dance piece, for >example, it must have been created in a dance context, or with >consideration of its position in the past and present of dance... or >at the very least have been re-interpreted in a dance context, which >to my knowledge has not yet occurred: the arguments for the >theatricality/dance or performance art nature of the work have come >exclusively from musicians.
Either this discussion is taking place on a plane much higher than I can reach, or it's beginning to get silly. The simple fact is that all kinds of music, not originally concieved or designed for dance, have been co-opted by choreographers whose concept created dance inspired by that music. That being the case, what is the point of this discussion? Certainly those cases have not come exclusively from musicians; they have come from choreographers. My only objection to this practice is when they use recorded music rather than hiring live musicians and doing it right! As far as "performance art" is concerned, perhaps I've simply never experienced anything well done, but in my limited viewpoint it is basically a fraud to the same extent that much 20th century graphic art is a fraud. But then I've been wrong before. John John & Susie Howell Virginia Tech Department of Music Blacksburg, Virginia, U.S.A. 24061-0240 Vox (540) 231-8411 Fax (540) 231-5034 (mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]) http://www.music.vt.edu/faculty/howell/howell.html _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mail.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
