“Primitivism, Modernism, and Dance Theory” by Marshall Cohen and

“Puppet Theatre” by Heinrich Von Kleist

By

Lindsay Kaufman

and

Lauren Garcia and Edited By: Laura Pratt and Dr. Kay Picart

Cohen’s Thoughts on Modernism

According to the principle of modernism, the best works of art are ________________________________________________________________________

For example:

Cohen’s Thoughts on Modernism

“Sometimes Greenberg means by modernism not a refusal to _____________, but a refusal to _________________ of another medium.” (171)

Three Principles of Modernism:

According to Clement Greenberg, “modernism is identified with a number of distinguishible ideas and it will be useful to separate them out.” (170)

They are….

Three Principles of Modernism

Frankness: ________________________________________________________________________

Propriety: ________________________________________________________________________

Minimalism: ________________________________________________________________

“Since dance is created in the medium of the human body, dance should confine itself to examining and revealing the

qualities of human movement in greater isolation, for its own sake, and often as it is exhibited in the most ordinary, least

dance-like tasks.” (162)

Do you agree with this statement?

Cohen’s Thoughts on Primitivism

Cohen doesn’t seem to “believe” in primitivism as a true form of dance in of itself. He states that “…the undiffterentiated unity of the primitive world is itself a myth—and a modern one. Even if primitive mysteries are re-enacted, they are experienced by disassociated modern sensibilities and, as some say, only as an aesthetic phenomenon.” (164)

Do you feel that this view is cynical or extreme? Do you think that it is accurate?

Von Kleist’s Puppet Theatre

The best dancer or choreographer is someone who is like a puppet: ____________________________

“Now, since the puppeteer can only have control over this center of gravity through the medium of his wires or

strings, all the other limbs are, as they should be, inert, mere pendulums, obeying only the law of gravity; an admirable quality which one looks for in vain among the majority of our dancers…” (181)

Why is inertness an “admirable quality?” Is this an example of Primitivism, Modernism, or neither?

Key Terms

Modernism Primitivism

Minimalism Frankness

Propriety Medium

Inertness

Resources:

Marshall Cohen; “Primitivism, Modernism, and Dance Theory,” and Heinrich Von Kleist; “Puppet Theory,” from What is Dance? Roger Copeland and Marshall Cohen, Eds.; Oxford University Press, NY; 1983;

pages 161-184