Dramaturgy in Motion
At Work on Dance and Movement Performance
Katherine Profeta
Studies in Dance History
Published under the auspices of the Society of Dance History Scholars
“Finally an answer to that vexed question, ‘What is dance dramaturgy?’
This is a brilliantly nuanced account of a new role in contemporary
performance, drawing on an extended collaboration but relevant for
the entire field.”
—Susan Manning, Northwestern University
Dramaturgy in Motion innovatively examines the work of the dramaturg in
contemporary dance and movement performance. Katherine Profeta, a working
dramaturg for more than fifteen years, shifts the focus from asking “Who is the
dramaturg?” to “What does the dramaturg think about?”
Profeta explores five arenas for the dramaturg’s attention—text and language,
research, audience, movement, and interculturalism. Drawing on her extended
collaboration with choreographer and visual artist Ralph Lemon, she grounds her
thinking in actual rehearsal-room examples and situates practice within theoretical
discourse about contemporary dramaturgy. Moving between theory and practice,
word and movement, question and answer until these distinctions blur, she
develops the foundational concept of dramaturgical labor as a quality of motion.
Dramaturgy in Motion will be invaluable to practitioners and scholars interested
in the processes of creating contemporary dance and movement performance—particularly artists wondering what it might be like to collaborate with
a dramaturg and dramaturgs wondering what it might be like to collaborate on
movement performance. The book will also appeal to those intrigued by the work
of Lemon and his collaborators, to which Profeta turns repeatedly to unfold the
thorny questions and rich benefits of dramaturgical labor.
Katherine Profeta is an assistant professor in the Department
of Drama, Theatre and Dance at Queens College of the
City University of New York. She has been the dramaturg
for choreographer and visual artist Ralph Lemon since 1997,
as well as for numerous other choreographers and theater
companies. She is also a founding member and choreographer
with the theater company Elevator Repair Service.
Praise
“Finally an answer to that vexed question, ‘What is dance dramaturgy?’ This is a brilliantly nuanced account of a new role in contemporary performance, drawing on an extended collaboration but relevant for the entire field.”
—Susan Manning, Northwestern University
“Compellingly narrates the urgent craft of dramaturgical creativity in dance with this graceful account of a decades-long collaboration with multi-modal artist Ralph Lemon. Essential reading for understanding how art is made, and why it matters.”
—Thomas F. DeFrantz, Duke University
“In five compelling chapters—text and language, research, audience, movement, interculturality—Dramaturgy in Motion provides a practical resource, equally valuable for theatre dramaturgs and devisers as it will be for dance dramaturgs and choreographers.”
—DD Kugler, Simon Fraser University
“Draws theater and dance, dramaturgical practice and theory into exhilarating new relationships. By creating these partnerships and patterns for our elusive field, Profeta has enriched the way I think about, discuss, and, indeed, go about my own work.”
—Catherine Sheehy, Yale School of Drama and Yale Repertory Theater
“Dramaturgy in Motion should be read by everyone with a stake in this gorgeously troublesome endeavor we call performance. On every page of this deeply generous work there is something to provoke, to reassure, to challenge, to question—and always, to savor.”
—Claudia La Rocco, School of Visual Arts, New York City
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