Performance Art in China
Performance art events began in China in the 1980s following Deng Xioping’s post-Mao economic reforms in 1979, which exposed Chinese socialist society to foreign investments…
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Drama, Theater and Performance Subject Overview
This brief preamble will introduce the kinds of material the reader can expect to find in the entries treating drama, theater, and performance, and suggest…
New Dance Theatre (1949–1955, Toronto, Canada)
Originally called the Neo Dance Theatre, the New Dance Theatre (NDT) was a modern dance performance group that was based in Toronto from 1949 to…
Baker, Josephine (Freda Josephine McDonald) (1906–1975)
At the height of her career in the late 1920s, Josephine Baker was perhaps the most famous dancer in the world. Her performances of ‘the…
Ragtime Dancing
Ragtime dancing is a social dance practice, performed to ragtime music, that began in the 1890s and gained widespread popularity in US dance halls until…
Chinese Revolutionary Ballet
Introduced to China in the 1920s, Western ballet evolved into a significant performance genre in modern and contemporary China. Its popularity grew in the twentieth…
Gert, Valeska (1892–1978)
Valeska Gert was a dancer, actress, and cabaret artist best known for her radical solo performances during the Weimar Republic. She attracted attention for her…
Teatro del Murciélago [Theatre of the Bat]
Teatro del Murciélago (Theatre of the Bat) was a group that gave what appears to have been its only public performance at the Teatro Olimpia…
East West Dance Encounter (1984)
The East West Dance Encounter, 1984, Bombay, consisted of a week of presentations and discussion among selected performers and critics representing a range of styles,…
Zorn, John (1953--)
John Zorn is an American avant-garde saxophonist and composer. Zorn performs on alto saxophone and is one of the leading figures in New York City’s…
Georgi, Yvonne (1903–1975)
Yvonne Georgi was a major figure in the evolution of modern dance in Germany. She amplified the scale of modern dance performances by expanding the…
Dance
Historically, modern dance scholarship has followed the contours of the field as defined by John Martin, the revered dance critic for The New York Times,…
Dadaism
Dada began in Zurich, Switzerland, in the midst of World War I. Several expatriate artists converged in the city to escape the brutal and seemingly…
Darktown Follies (Lafayette Theatre, Harlem, 1913)
One of the earliest large-scale musical revues to be created and performed by an all-Black cast, Darktown Follies premiered in 1913 at the Lafayette Theatre…
Monk, Thelonious (1917–1982)
Thelonious Monk was an American jazz pianist and composer. One of the earliest performers in the bebop movement of modern jazz dating from the mid-twentieth…
Delsarte, François (1811–1871)
A performer and teacher of voice and movement, François Delsarte developed a theory of expression that influenced modern dance, actor training, poetic recitation, silent film,…
Contemporary South Asian Dance
Contemporary South Asian Dance is performed in the geographical territories of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and in the diaspora of South Asians in the…
Takarazuka Revue Company (1913--)
The popular Takarazuka Revue Company, based in Takarazuka, Hyogo Prefecture, is the oldest established musical theater company in Japan. The performers are unmarried women; if…
Burliuk, David (БУРЛЮК, ДАВИД) (1882–1967)
Deemed by many as the founding father of Russian Futurism, David Davidovich Burliuk was a painter, writer, poet, performance artist, journal editor, and publisher. Burliuk…
Graham, Martha (1894 – 1991)
In a career as dancer and choreographer that spanned the twentieth century, Martha Graham made major contributions to modernist choreography, dramaturgy, performance, costume design, and…
Adès, Thomas (1971 – )
Thomas Adès is one of the leading international composers of his generation. His music builds on twentieth-century developments in rhythm, texture and performing virtuosity, and…
Denishawn (1915–1931)
Denishawn, a for-profit enterprise combining a school and dance company, was founded in Los Angeles in 1915 by the internationally acclaimed solo performer Ruth St.…
Directors/Directing
Although some official has organized the acting and scenery in theatrical performances since ancient Greece, the director only emerged as a significant creative figure in…
Bennington School of the Dance (1934–42)
Bennington School of the Dance served as a highly influential training programme, creative laboratory and performance venue for early modern dance. Founded by Martha Hill,…
Shingeki
Shingeki (literally “new theater”) is a word coined in late Meiji period Japan (1868–1912) referring to dramatic works and theater performance styles imported and adapted…