New Narratives from Old Texts

2021 ◽  
pp. 178-194
Author(s):  
Michelle Potter
Keyword(s):  
Narrative Structure ◽  
Contemporary Dance ◽  
Australian Society ◽  
Swan Lake ◽  
Collaborative Team ◽  
The Way

This chapter briefly examines two early Australian works, Terra Australis (1946), by Edouard Borovansky, and The Display (1964), by Robert Helpmann. In these works, both choreographers used a strong narrative structure to focus on issues that were significant in Australian society and culture at the time the ballets were made. The chapter then highlights in greater depth two works, Nutcracker: The Story of Clara (1992) and Swan Lake (2002), created by choreographer Graeme Murphy in collaboration with his creative associate Janet Vernon and designer Kristian Fredrikson. It examines the way in which Murphy and his collaborative team recontextualized old and well-known texts to speak powerfully to a contemporary audience, to bring exceptional drama and realism to contemporary dance, and to give audiences completely new and challenging ways of reading well-known works from the international ballet repertoire.

“How Nice That I Could Love Someone”: Science Fiction Film as a Virtual Laboratory

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frederieke Y. Jansen
Keyword(s):  
Science Fiction ◽  
Narrative Structure ◽  
Virtual Laboratory ◽  
Virtual Laboratories ◽  
Meaningful Relationship ◽  
Pros And Cons ◽  
The Way

While we already know that clearly utopian or dystopian depictions of human-machine relationships in science fiction film can be effective rhetorical models that shape our ideas of HRI, this paper argues that sci-fi films, like Marjorie Prime (2017) and Be Right Back (2013), can also function as more neutral virtual laboratories that allow viewers to actively explore the pros and cons of those relationships in more detail. This paper specifically explores both Marjorie Prime and Be Right Back for the way they evoke questions or ideas about what it means to be human, what it means to interact with AI, and what a meaningful relationship between these two can bring. By following a neoformalist analysis, I will show how these cases continuously present us with devices that force us to reassess the role of robots in our lives. They do this by using deceptive, reflective, and confrontational strategies within characters, cinematography, narrative structure and setting.

Akram Khan and English National Ballet

2021 ◽  
pp. 542-561
Author(s):  
Graham Watts
Keyword(s):  
Contemporary Dance ◽  
Classical Dance ◽  
Dance Training ◽  
Classical World ◽  
Peter Brook ◽  
Physical Theater ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Way ◽  
Michael Jackson

This chapter examines the development of Akram Khan’s choreographic pathway as an aggregate of diverse influences, primarily experienced through issues of identity, otherness, and interculturalism. Beginning with the early confusion of juxtaposing classical dance training in kathak and a fascination with Michael Jackson, Khan’s career has progressed, largely through an instinctive opportunism—absorbed from the “formless hunch” philosophy of early mentor, Peter Brook—and an ongoing fascination with the exploratory possibilities of collaboration through the hybrid mixing of dance disciplines to create his own style of mood movement. This process has taken Khan from the classical world of kathak, through contemporary dance, and back into another classical discipline, ballet, with detours along the way into flamenco, the Olympics, and text-based physical theater. The chapter describes the impact of all these experiences on Khan’s contribution to modern ballet, particularly in his association with English National Ballet.

Afterword

2019 ◽  
pp. 186-192
Author(s):  
C. Palmer-Patel ◽  
Glyn Morgan
Keyword(s):  
Science Fiction ◽  
Narrative Structure ◽  
Cultural Critique ◽  
Common Theme ◽  
Historical Events ◽  
Alternate History ◽  
History Narratives ◽  
Current Reality ◽  
The Way

The afterword sums up the conclusions made by the chapters in the collection. All the chapters demonstrate that – although there is a wide variety of alternate history narratives produced – these texts all reflect on and reveal the nature of our current reality. A common theme throughout the collection is ‘Great Man’ model, where a sole figure is held responsible for big historical events. Another thread for discussion is the structure of form of alternate history, as the book explored science fiction and epic narratives alongside the development of alternate history. Issues of time within the structure of narrative were explored, as the collection considered breaks and continuities within alternate history. Many of these discussions emphasized the way that the cultural critique of minority voices are embedded in the narrative structure itself. Issues of power and dogma are often integral to these evaluations. Ultimately the collection concludes that there are a lot of questions that alternate history provokes, and while this collection cannot perhaps provide definite answers, it presents new ways to think about the genre in the hopes of stimulating further conversations.

Men of Steel? Rorschach, Theweleit, and Watchmen's Deconstructed Masculinity

2013 ◽  
Vol 47 (01) ◽  
pp. 104-107
Author(s):  
Mervi Miettinen
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Sexual Dysfunction ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Narrative Structure ◽  
Extensive Study ◽  
Graphic Novel ◽  
Ordinary People ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Alan Moore ◽  
The Way

Watchmen(1987), written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Dave Gibbons, is a 12-part graphic novel that portrays real-life superheroes in a fictional United States of the 1980s. An alternate universe where ordinary people without superpowers were inspired by superhero comics and took on the crime-fighting in tights in the 1940s, the comic portrays an America vastly different from our reality. Since its publication more than two decades ago, the comic has been the subject of extensive study due to its breathtaking narrative structure as well as its acute deconstruction of the superhero genre itself. Indeed, one of the text's most brutal deconstructions comes from the way it addresses superheroic masculinity, from the misogynistic vigilante Rorschach to the emasculated ex-hero Nite Owl. Through its cast of male heroes,Watchmendeconstructs the superhero genre by rewriting masculine tropes such as vigilantism and patriotism and by exposing the inherent contradictions within these gender-bound tropes from the fascist undercurrents of violent patriotism to the often-hinted sexual dysfunction of the costume-fetish variety.

scholarly journals Characterisation of Thomas in the Fourth Gospel

2020 ◽  
Vol 76 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Johnson Thomaskutty
Keyword(s):  
Narrative Structure ◽  
Fourth Gospel ◽  
Narrative Framework ◽  
The Way

Thomas appears four times within the narrative framework of the Fourth Gospel (Jn 11:16; 14:5; 20:24–28; 21:2). His presence in the Gospel introduces some of the strategic transitions within the macro-narrative structure. The following are some of the crucial moments that are introduced through the entry of Thomas: firstly, Thomas’ character is brought to the foreground towards the end of Jesus’ public ministry, where a transition is underway through Lazarus’ death and raising to Jesus’ death and resurrection (11:16); secondly, he appears as a significant interlocutor engaged in dialogue so that Jesus’ identity as ‘the way, the truth, and the life’ may be revealed to the disciples during his private ministry (Jn 14:5–6); thirdly, Thomas’ character appears towards the climax of the Book of Glory as he is instrumental in revealing the identity of Jesus as ‘Lord’ and ‘God’ (Jn 20:24–29); and fourthly, he appears as one of the seven disciples during the post-resurrection context in Galilee (Jn 21:2). The unique placement of Thomas communicates something significant about the character and his development within the narrative.

scholarly journals THE ANALYSIS OF FORMULA IN THE LEGEND OF JAPANESE SAMURAI RUROUNI KENSHIN AND MIYAMOTO MUSHASI: POPULAR LITERARY APPROACH

JURNAL BASIS ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 55
Author(s):  
Tomi Arianto ◽  
Ambalegin Ambalegin
Keyword(s):  
Positive Response ◽  
Narrative Structure ◽  
Popular Literature ◽  
Box Office ◽  
Main Factors ◽  
Similarities And Differences ◽  
The Difference ◽  
The Way

This research examined the formulation of legendary heroic stories and popular in Japan about the story of Rurouni Kenshin or often referred to as Samurai X and Miyamoto Mushashi atu called Samurai I. The two stories are then adapted into the screen and get a positive response and even enter in star 7 in the Box Office and imdb. It’s clear that the two of the stories surged as apopular works and deserve to be analyzed by using the popular literature approach. To examine the hypothesis, researchers used the Cawelty theory with the terminology of formula/formulae. By using the Cawelty concept, this research examined the formulas used in both Japanese legend stories Rurouni Kenshin and Miyamoto Mushashi regarding similarities and differences as well as the factors that caused them to become popular according to the values and tastes of the audience. The results of the study indicated that the two action legends generally have the same action story formula as the cawelty formula, story/narrative structure, and similar motives for action. The difference from the two stories lines mainly in the way of author presents mythology and metaphor. Formula is one of the main factors that make a story like and get a positive response in the market, including consistency, originality, and the ability to attract miracles, place and style in the presentation of stories.

Liam Scarlett

2021 ◽  
pp. 685-704
Author(s):  
Susan Cooper
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
United States Of America ◽  
The United States ◽  
Early Years ◽  
First Century ◽  
Contemporary Dance ◽  
School Graduate ◽  
Swan Lake ◽  
Classical Ballet ◽  
One Act

This chapter examines the work and career of British choreographer Liam Scarlett (born 1986), former artist in residence at The Royal Ballet (2012-2020), and artistic associate with Queensland Ballet (2016-2020). This chapter charts Scarlett’s meteoric rise to become one of the most highly sought-after contemporary ballet creators, placing his oeuvre within the British ballet heritage and the wider international dance field of the twenty-first century. A Royal Ballet School graduate, Scarlett began his global career subsequent to his first major Royal Ballet commission in 2010; therefore, this account is of a choreographer in what may be seen as his early years. Scarlett’s output comprises both plotless and narrative one-act ballets and full-evening works. He also produced The Royal Ballet’s Swan Lake in 2018. Scarlett’s choreographic style is rooted in classical ballet in the British tradition, following Sir Frederick Ashton and Sir Kenneth MacMillan, yet he grew up in a culture where contemporary dance was popular and respected, and he has worked alongside radical creator Wayne McGregor at The Royal Ballet. Scarlett’s works show a clear influence of non-traditional balletic norms, and his narrative ballets tend towards darkly dramatic themes. His international career includes commissions for major ballet companies in Australia, the United States of America, New Zealand, Denmark and Norway, and key works include Asphodel Meadows (2010), Viscera (2012), and Frankenstein (2016).

What would be another word for it?

Maska ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 36 (203-204) ◽  
pp. 27-33
Author(s):  
Jonathan Burrows
Keyword(s):  
Folk Music ◽  
Slow Motion ◽  
Contemporary Dance ◽  
Slow Reaction ◽  
The People ◽  
The Way

This is the score for a performed talk called ‘What would be another word for it?’, which is about practice, but also about the difficulty of describing the experience of practicing. It was written for a Stockholm series curated by Chrysa Parkinson, and was kind of a conversation with a video on practice she’d made some years before. At the time of writing I’d also started playing English folk music with a concertina player called Will Duke, who was making me re-think what music and dance practice might be. Both of these people are mentioned in the text. The second time I gave the talk I thought it should be more physical, so I memorized the words until the rhythm was in my body. This is also a practice that Chrysa Parkinson uses in her talks. Throughout the memorized performance I started and stopped a slow-motion projection of the dancer Katye Coe, altered by the filmmaker Hugo Glendinning so that Katye seemed to hover always on the edge of stopping, and the faces of the people watching were frozen in slow reaction. And between segments of speaking, I played a small button accordion and a harmonica, both instruments I practice every day. The button accordion is not an instrument usually associated with improvised contemporary dance, and I enjoyed how the connection between the film and my music was in the practice and not in the style. You will see that the score has marks indicating when I should start and stop the film, and when I should start and stop the music. Many dancers describe the way they vocalize while moving, making something like a low grunting sound, too quiet to be heard. If this text is choreographic, then it’s something to do with that kind of grunting, which is a feeling connected to rhythm and emphasis, and also to a sense of reaching out, from here to there.

‘No escape now from a life full of suffering’

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kit Heyam
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Narrative Structure ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Creative Agency ◽  
Popular Narrative ◽  
Analysis Of Narratives ◽  
The Way

This chapter analyses accounts of Edward’s deposition and his subsequent imprisonment. I argue that early modern chroniclers exercised creative agency in selecting their sources for this period of Edward’s life, prioritising engaging anecdotes, emotionally compelling detail, and narrativity. In particular, they selected sources which facilitated the construction of Edward II’s reign as a de casibus narrative: a popular narrative structure characterized by the image of an ever-rotating ‘wheel of fortune’. Analysis of narratives of Edward II’s fall thereby enables us to appreciate the literary motivations of early modern chroniclers, and the way these motivations shaped their research process as well as their writing.

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