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Investigating Dance Improvisation

From Spontaneity to Agency

Bibliographic Data

ID11223728
AuthorsSusanne Ravn (0000-0001-6117-1741, University of Southern Denmark, corresponding author)
Year2020
Volume52
Issue2
Pages75-87
Publication date2020-08-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueDance Research Journal (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0149-7677 • E-ISSN: 1940-509X
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0149767720000182
OpenAlexW3049258149
LanguageEN
Citations received9
References cited30

This article argues that the performance of a dance entails varying degrees of openness and spontaneity and that, on these terms, any dance can be considered improvised. The first part substantiates this claim, whereupon the second part deals with the contingent question as to how dancers then handle openness and spontaneity differently in improvisation practices. To answer this question, the article turns to enactive and phenomenological clarifications of agency—our capacity to perform acts—and by analyzing the improvisation of Danish performer Kitt Johnson, indicates how this clarification can help us understand the different ways agency is exercised when improvising

Aesthetics · Agency (philosophy) · Art · Dance · Improvisation · Social science · Sociology · Visual arts · Diversity and Impact of Dance · Musicology and Musical Analysis · Psychology · Theatre and Performance Studies

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  • Skilled performance in Contact Improvisation

    Open Access•Catherine Deans, Sarah Pini•Synthese•2022

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    Open Access•Bruce Ellis Benson•Improvisation of Musical Dialogue•2003

  • Thought in Action

    Barbara Gail Montero•Thought in Action•2016

  • Enactivist Interventions

    Shaun Gallagher•Enactivist Interventions•2017

  • The Phenomenological Mind

    Shaun Gallagher, Dan Zahavi•Phenomenological Mind•2007

  • The Primacy of Movement

    Maxine Sheets-Johnstone•The Primacy of Movement•1999

  • Sensorimotor Life

    Ezequiel A Di Paolo, Ezequiel Di Paolo et al.•Sensorimotor Life•2017

  • Intelligence without representation – Merleau-Ponty's critique of mental representation The relevance of phenomenology to scientific explanation

    Open Access•Hubert L Dreyfus•Phenomenology and the Cognitive…•2002

  • The Myth of the Pervasiveness of the Mental

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    Open Access•Shantel Ehrenberg•Dance Research Journal•2015

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    Open Access•Andrea Olsen, Ann Cooper Albright et al.•Dance Research Journal•2005

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    Open Access•Aili Bresnahan•Dance Research Journal•2014

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    Open Access•Aili Bresnahan•Philosophy Compass•2015

  • Somatic Modes of Attention

    Open Access•T J Csordas•Cultural Anthropology•1993

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    Caroline Potter, Caroline M Potter•Ethnos•2008

Unique citing works9
Citations per year2,25
Citation span2022 - 2026 (5)
Citation velocitycurrent
Highly citedNo
Citation typesNeutral: 9
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