Theatres of the body : dance and discourse in antebellum Philadelphia / Lynn Matluck Brooks.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Brooks, Lynn Matluck, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Philadelphia (Pa.)--Social life and customs--19th century.

Philadelphia (Pa.).

Philadelphia (Pa.)--Social conditions--19th century.

Pennsylvania--Philadelphia.

Pennsylvania.

Dance--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia--History--19th century.

Dance.

Theater--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia--History--19th century.

Theater.

Body image in the performing arts--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia.

Body image in the performing arts.

Ballet--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia--History--19th century.

Ballet.

Blackface minstrel shows--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia--History--19th century.

Blackface minstrel shows.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

292 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Other Title:

Dance and discourse in antebellum Philadelphia

Place of Publication:

Philadelphia : Temple University Press, 2025.

Summary:

"Theatres of the Body is Lynn Matluck Brooks' critical examination of danced stage productions in antebellum Philadelphia. Starting in the 1820s, Brooks explores visual art and social and theatrical dancing across different classes, focusing on the work of E. W. Clay. Continuing through the 1830s, she looks at pantomime ballets and blackface minstrelsy through a political lens, asking questions regarding citizenship, slavery, and freedom. At the time, the city boasted the largest number of native-born ballet dancers in the young nation. Philadelphia also became a creative home to blackface star T. D. Rice, who helped popularize that performance genre. Reviewing print culture in the 1840s, Brooks shows how newspapers, magazines, and popular fiction provided documentation of dancing in Philadelphia as well as the responses of dance commentators, practitioners, and moralists. Theatres of the Body also considers the interplay of science with dance in the 1850s, which impacted both dance practices and reception. Providing an expansive historiography of these significant contributions to dance in the United States, Brooks deepens our understanding of antebellum culture and history"-- Provided by Amazon.

"Theatres of the Body is Lynn Matluck Brooks' critical examination of danced stage productions in antebellum Philadelphia. Starting in the 1820s, Brooks explores visual art and social and theatrical dancing across different classes, focusing on the work of E. W. Clay. Continuing through the 1830s, she looks at pantomime ballets and blackface minstrelsy through a political lens, asking questions regarding citizenship, slavery, and freedom. At the time, the city boasted the largest number of native-born ballet dancers in the young nation. Philadelphia also became a creative home to blackface star T. D. Rice, who helped popularize that performance genre.Reviewing print culture in the 1840s, Brooks shows how newspapers, magazines, and popular fiction provided documentation of dancing in Philadelphia as well as the responses of dance commentators, practitioners, and moralists. Theatres of the Body also considers the interplay of science with dance in the 1850s, which impacted both dance practices and reception. Providing an expansive historiography of these significant contributions to dance in the United States, Brooks deepens our understanding of antebellum culture and history"-- Provided by Amazon.

Contents:

Introduction: Dancing, Bodies, and Philadelphia History

Tumultuous Pleasures: Graphic Lessons in Dancing from the 1820s

The 1830s: Politics Performed

Dancing "Philadelphia in Slices": The 1840s

Order and Entropy: Science, Stage, and Society, 1850-1860

Conclusions: Dance as Discourse in Antebellum Philadelphia.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [248]-275) and index.

Local Notes:

Athenaeum copy: Gift of the publisher.

HSP Copy: Forrest Performing Arts Collection

Other Format:

Online version: Brooks, Lynn Matluck, Theatres of the body

ISBN:

9781439923030

1439923035

9781439923047

1439923043

OCLC:

1467671361

Publisher Number:

CIPO000244784