Fabrications dance, costume, and material culture Rachel Fensham

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Fensham, Rachel, author.

Series:

Oxford studies in dance theory

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Choreography--History--20th century.

Choreography.

Costume--History--20th century.

Costume.

Dance--United States--History--20th century.

Dance.

Choreography--History.

Costume--History.

Dance--History.

United States.

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Place of Publication:

Oxford University Press USA, 2026.

New York, NY Oxford University Press [2026]

Summary:

How does the manufacture, design, and commodification of costume inform choreography and determine what dancers have worn on stage? How do certain types of costume influence the experience of dance and choreography for the performers, or for the audience? What political or social affects contribute to the impression that dance costumes communicate in movement aesthetics? By answering such questions, this book provides new insights into the connections between twentieth-century American concert dance history, and both visual and fashion culture, while also presenting methods for appreciating how the artefacts of costume in archival collections activate important corporeal and cultural memories. In the study of material culture, Rachel Fensham draws upon the dialectical image of Walter Benjamin, the fashion system of Roland Barthes, and writings on new materialism as perspectives for interpreting costumes in dance

Contents:

Cover

Half Title

Series

Title Page

Copyright Page

Dedication

Contents

Foreword

Acknowledgments

Illustrations

Introduction

Dance Ephemerality and the Multiplicity of Costume

The Dialectical Costume as Historical Method

The Silhouette and the "Fashion System"

The New Materialisms of Costume

Costume Studies: From Clothing to Fashioning

Costumes as Performance Archive

The Structure of This Book

1 From Silk Tunics to Workwear: Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn

Silk Fabric and A Legend of Pelée (1925)

Drapery for The Prophetess (1931)

Tights, Fleshings, and Trunks

Making Trousers: Dance of the Ages (1938)

Workwear: Kinetic Molpai (1935)

Conclusion

2 From Wool Tube to Bias Skirt: Martha Graham

"Made in Allegheny" and Wool Stockings

Fabric as Choreographic Medium: Lamentation (1930)

Sculptural Materiality

Torsion in Ekstasis (1933)

Fashion at the Frontier (1935)

Circular Form: Celebration (1934)

The Skirts of Chronicle (1936)

"A Crowd of Skirts": Pathos and Poetics

3 Cotton Petticoats and Stripes Katherine Dunham

L'Ag'Ya (1936) and John Pratt

Cotton Dresses and Washerwomen (1945, 1952)

The "Pettycoat" in a "pas de deux"

"Primitive Dances": Rites de Passage (1941)

The Stripes of Haiti

"Americana" (1940-1953)

Striptease in a "Sea of Ruffles"

4 The Spandex Unitard Merce Cunningham

Cunningham and Antic Meet (1958)

Color Theory: Remy Charlip and Minutiae (1954)

Fiber K and the Unitard: Suite for Five (1956)

Pop Art: Mark Lancaster, Neighbors (1991) and Roaratorio (1986)

Suzanne Gallo, Biped (1999), and Oil

The Nature of Ocean (1994): Marsha Skinner

Conclusion

5 T-shirts and Loose Pants Grand Union and Trisha Brown

Found Clothing: Floor of the Forest (1969-1970)

T-shirts and Mass Clothing: Grand Union (1971)

Aikido Uniforms and Contact Dance (1972)

"Neutral" Clothing and Line Up (1976)

Augmentation: Lateral Pass (1985)

Allegory and Angels: From Glacial Decoy (1979) to Set and Reset (1993)

6 Feathers and Sequins Josephine Baker

The Banana Belt, Surrealism, and the Ziegfeld Follies (1938)

Feathers from the Revue Nègre (1925) to Olympia (1968)

Sequins and Glamor in Monte Carlo (1969)

Fashion in New York (1951) and Paris Mes Amours (1959)

Shimmering in New York (1973) and Paris (1974)

Glittering Gowns: The Legacy

Coda

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index

Description based on online resource and publisher information; title from PDF title page (viewed on January 19, 2026)

Other Format:

Print version:

ISBN:

9780197699638

0197699634

9780197699621

0197699626

9780197699614

0197699618

OCLC:

1569266342

Publisher Number:

CIPO000345038

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license