Popular Dance as Archive: Re-imagining Keeps the Fosse Aesthetic Preserved

Abstract

Bob Fosse's instantly recognisable iconographic style and visual aesthetic has often been quoted in music videos, TV shows, and films featuring dance, such as videos by Paula Abdul, Michael Jackson, and Beyoncé. Using Fosse's screendance as a focal point for analysis, this essay seeks to illustrate the dynamics with which subsequent cultural capital of examples of screendance creates a multivocal archive that blends choreographic and screen histories. The idea that popular dance on screen creates an alternative form of archival records challenges the traditional notion of archive as a collection of artefacts by concentrating on works by various artists that quote, borrow and recycle previously available works of popular dance on screen. Quoting and referencing previous dance works, although problematic in terms of copyright and authorship, creates an active process for historical archiving that brings choreographic style and aesthetic to contemporary audiences adjusted to the current socio-political needs of the audience and technological possibilities. Artists reclaim and reformulate the existing repertory to their own political and economic needs therefore creating a regenerative ideology of the way popular dance re-interprets the dances for the given time, space, and context. The examples of dance videos discussed in this essay act as an interpretation of numerous references found in popular culture and therefore challenge the rigid tropes of dance creators as sole producers of dance material and the meanings communicated. Directing attention on to the dance and the corporealities of dancers further questions ideas of authorship as it recognises the bodily history as a fundamental part of web of meanings presented in dance.

Research on Teaching and Dance Creation of Chinese Folk Dance in the Information Age

“…You, Y. H deeply analyzed dance teaching based on the flipped classroom teaching model, which promotes the students' motivation and independent learning ability cultivation and, at the same time, increases the communication and interaction between the teachers and students [13]. Milovanovi, D discussed the artistic expression of dance in movies and concluded that it is a positive way to record the art of dance by using film and video animation as a carrier, which is conducive to the dance aesthetics' dissemination and preservation [14]. Sparling, H. describes the current status of square dancing in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, as part of a traditional folk dance culture characterized by non-standardized movements, with a focus on performance concentration, musical features, and communication between dancers [15].…”

A Comparative Study of Aesthetic Differences between Guangxi Folk Dance and ASEAN Dance

“…Using a thematic analysis approach to examine the attitudes of boys and girls involved in dance learning in a dance studio, literature [10] challenges the traditional view of the feminization of dance, identifying reflections on the concept of dance under different genders. Literature [11] attempts to describe the representation of cultural capital in hybrid dance and screen histories, pointing out that dance on the screen creates an alternative form of archival record, bringing the possibility of dance aesthetics to contemporary audiences. Literature [12] examines Katherine Dunham's dance history and its digitization methods, using feminism and anti-racism in the digital humanities to unfold a critical hybrid approach and explore digital methods for dance archives.…”