Mind and Medium in the Modern Dance by Katherine Everett Gilbert

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Mind and Medium in the Modern Dance by Katherine
Everett Gilbert

• Edited by
• Dr. Kay Picart and Jessica Labbé
• Based on a presentation by Heather Zemeck

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Review Question

• On what basis does Gilbert claim that the
  renaissance of modern dance is like the
  Renaissance in classical Italy?

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Review Question

• What maître de ballet and writer of the dance
  does Gilbert refer to as a leader of this
  movement? What does he claim?

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Review Question

• Through what phases did the demand for a return
  to natural human feeling reveal itself?

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Review Question

• How does Laban define a gesture?

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Discussion Question

• In an attempt to understand Spannungen,
  participate in the following exercise
• Imagine that you are asleep and your phone
  rings at 6a.m. At first you are sluggish and
  tired. Then, the person on the phone tells you
  that you have gotten the job that you have been
  wanting.
• How would your body actions and/or posture change?

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Review Question

• What is the Raumkörper and what is its purpose?

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Review Question

• What is the other element of von Labans concept
  of the formal part of medium?

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Review Question

• What are the three planes that contain the dancer?

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Review Question

• How does the motion of ones body affect emotion?

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Review Question

• What role does Laban think dance has played in
  communication historically?

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Discussion Question

• Do you agree with Gilberts assertion? Why or
  why not?

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Review Question

• How does one distinguish the mind from the
  medium? How do they interact?

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Review Question

• What two forms does Gilbert argue that the medium
  has taken?

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Review Question

• What does abstraction mean in modern dance?

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Concluding Question

• Do you view modern dance as a return to nature
  and common humanity? Why or why not? Develop
  your answers concretely.