Andrée Grau | Roehampton University (original) (raw)
Papers by Andrée Grau
Dance, along with song and body percussion, emanates from the body. All three therefore can be sa... more Dance, along with song and body percussion, emanates from the body. All three therefore can be said to belong to the most elementary artistic processes. Anthropologist John Blacking believed that they were ‘a special kind of exercise of sensory, communicative and cooperative powers that is as fundamental to the making and remaking of human nature as speech’. The article engages with such an idea and examines the significance of dance in human evolution, moving away from the usual schema that presents bipedalism and the development of language as the two key moments in human evolution. It proposes instead another stage in-between, that it was the ability to move together in time that allowed collaboration among individuals, which led to the acquisition of language, and, therefore, culture. The article also investigates what can be loosely called the ‘power’ of dance. Dance is seen as powerful because it integrates intellect, our mental apparatus that engages primarily with reason and cognition, and affect, which emphasizes feeling and emotion. Three examples from Europe, Oceania, and Africa are discussed to demonstrate the similarities of the ways dancers have articulated what can be called, for expediency, a shared aesthetic experience bringing a heightened state of consciousness. Through such examples, dance is presented as a multi-sensory pursuit that connects human beings in a particular kind of relationship, which gives dance its power.
Pulse, South Asian Dance in the UK (Spring), pp - 18-19 Celebration of the life and career of th... more Pulse, South Asian Dance in the UK (Spring), pp - 18-19
Celebration of the life and career of the late Mrinalini Sarabhai
Voyages of Body and Soul: Selected female icons of India and Beyond edited by Ketu Katrak and Anita ratnam
Yearbook for Traditional Music, 2001
Page 1. RITUAL DANCE AND "MODERNISATION": THE TIWI EXAMPLE By Andree Grau Introduction ... more Page 1. RITUAL DANCE AND "MODERNISATION": THE TIWI EXAMPLE By Andree Grau Introduction For most people carrying out research in ritual and traditional dance forms, 'modernisation', usually understood as 'Westernisation', is seen as something destructive. ...
Dance Research, 1983
SING A DANCE - DANCE A SONG' The relationship between two types of formalised movements ... more SING A DANCE - DANCE A SONG' The relationship between two types of formalised movements and music among the Tiwi of Melville and Bathurst Islands, North Australia Andree Grau Introduction The English word "dance" cannot always be translated on a one-to-one basis. ...
Yearbook for Traditional Music, 2001
Dance Research: The Journal of the Society for Dance Research, 1998
... There is Jane Pritchard's discussion of two letters written by Ashton to Marie Rambert w... more ... There is Jane Pritchard's discussion of two letters written by Ashton to Marie Rambert whichPritchard uses to reveal hitherto undocumented tensions within the British ballet world of the 1930s. ... Dance Research Journal 30/2 (Fall 1998) 71 Page 2. ...
Dance Research: The Journal of the Society for Dance Research, 1987
In the paper the term narrative is used, both as story telling and as account of real events and ... more In the paper the term narrative is used, both as story telling and as account of real events and life stories of women. In the oral presentation I used story-telling techniques such as change of pace and voice, as well as repetitions. In this written paper I indicate these sections through the use of italicised text in an attempt to keep some of the flavour of the original version. I also want to comment that whilst the essay is informed by theory, it is primarily ideological in nature, and can therefore be seen as a position paper.
Dance Research Journal, 1993
British Journal of Ethnomusicology, Vol. 2, pp. 166-169, 1993
Dance, along with song and body percussion, emanates from the body. All three therefore can be sa... more Dance, along with song and body percussion, emanates from the body. All three therefore can be said to belong to the most elementary artistic processes. Anthropologist John Blacking believed that they were ‘a special kind of exercise of sensory, communicative and cooperative powers that is as fundamental to the making and remaking of human nature as speech’. The article engages with such an idea and examines the significance of dance in human evolution, moving away from the usual schema that presents bipedalism and the development of language as the two key moments in human evolution. It proposes instead another stage in-between, that it was the ability to move together in time that allowed collaboration among individuals, which led to the acquisition of language, and, therefore, culture. The article also investigates what can be loosely called the ‘power’ of dance. Dance is seen as powerful because it integrates intellect, our mental apparatus that engages primarily with reason and cognition, and affect, which emphasizes feeling and emotion. Three examples from Europe, Oceania, and Africa are discussed to demonstrate the similarities of the ways dancers have articulated what can be called, for expediency, a shared aesthetic experience bringing a heightened state of consciousness. Through such examples, dance is presented as a multi-sensory pursuit that connects human beings in a particular kind of relationship, which gives dance its power.
Pulse, South Asian Dance in the UK (Spring), pp - 18-19 Celebration of the life and career of th... more Pulse, South Asian Dance in the UK (Spring), pp - 18-19
Celebration of the life and career of the late Mrinalini Sarabhai
Voyages of Body and Soul: Selected female icons of India and Beyond edited by Ketu Katrak and Anita ratnam
Yearbook for Traditional Music, 2001
Page 1. RITUAL DANCE AND "MODERNISATION": THE TIWI EXAMPLE By Andree Grau Introduction ... more Page 1. RITUAL DANCE AND "MODERNISATION": THE TIWI EXAMPLE By Andree Grau Introduction For most people carrying out research in ritual and traditional dance forms, 'modernisation', usually understood as 'Westernisation', is seen as something destructive. ...
Dance Research, 1983
SING A DANCE - DANCE A SONG' The relationship between two types of formalised movements ... more SING A DANCE - DANCE A SONG' The relationship between two types of formalised movements and music among the Tiwi of Melville and Bathurst Islands, North Australia Andree Grau Introduction The English word "dance" cannot always be translated on a one-to-one basis. ...
Yearbook for Traditional Music, 2001
Dance Research: The Journal of the Society for Dance Research, 1998
... There is Jane Pritchard's discussion of two letters written by Ashton to Marie Rambert w... more ... There is Jane Pritchard's discussion of two letters written by Ashton to Marie Rambert whichPritchard uses to reveal hitherto undocumented tensions within the British ballet world of the 1930s. ... Dance Research Journal 30/2 (Fall 1998) 71 Page 2. ...
Dance Research: The Journal of the Society for Dance Research, 1987
In the paper the term narrative is used, both as story telling and as account of real events and ... more In the paper the term narrative is used, both as story telling and as account of real events and life stories of women. In the oral presentation I used story-telling techniques such as change of pace and voice, as well as repetitions. In this written paper I indicate these sections through the use of italicised text in an attempt to keep some of the flavour of the original version. I also want to comment that whilst the essay is informed by theory, it is primarily ideological in nature, and can therefore be seen as a position paper.
Dance Research Journal, 1993
British Journal of Ethnomusicology, Vol. 2, pp. 166-169, 1993
It is common for people to think of Australian Aboriginal culture in the singular. Whilst at a ce... more It is common for people to think of Australian Aboriginal culture in the singular. Whilst at a certain level this is appropriate in that there are certain pan Aboriginal traits such as the cosmology of the Dreaming that is shared throughout the continent, my presentation will demonstrate the multiple and complex Aboriginal cultures, using the arts in general and dance in particular to argue the case. I will focus especially on the rituals of the Tiwi people, among whom I have worked since 1980, discussing how through dance one can make sense of the Tiwi geopoetics – the intense relationship between human beings and the land.
the presentation and article demonstrate that ‘dancing bodies’, ‘space’, ‘place’ and the ‘senses’... more the presentation and article demonstrate that ‘dancing bodies’, ‘space’, ‘place’ and the ‘senses’ cannot be accepted as universal concepts since they are embedded within typically western understandings. They argue that all corporealities and spatialities are socially and culturally mediated. Wanting to engage with dance as a complex holistic, polysemic, multi-sensory, and socially/culturally rooted practice dance scholars need to be aware of cultural variations in conceptualisations of dancing bodies in space. The presentation and article offer a cross-cultural perspective, presenting different corporealities, sensoria, and spatial orientations of dancing bodies using a variety of examples, ranging from Balinese dance to Josephine Baker, from Namibian to Australian Aboriginal dance.
Key ideas and examples underpinning the anthropology of dance in Maria Àngels Ruf Riba ed Les art... more Key ideas and examples underpinning the anthropology of dance
in Maria Àngels Ruf Riba ed Les arts au XXIème siècle : Chemins et défis Andorra: Government of Andorra, 33-55 (ISB N: 978-99920-0-793-8). Available online http://www.universitatestiu.ad/UEA2014