How to Make Dances in an Epidemic: Tracking Choreography in the Age of Aids
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Overview
David Gere, who came of age as a dance critic at the height of the AIDS epidemic, offers the first book to examine the interplay of AIDS and choreography in the United States, specifically in relation to gay men. The time he writes about is one of extremes. A life-threatening medical syndrome is spreading, its transmission linked to sex. Blame is settling on gay men. What is possible in such a highly charged moment, when art and politics coincide?Gere expands the definition of choreography to analyze not only theatrical dances but also ACT-UP protests and the unfurling of the NAMES Project AIDS quilt. These exist on a continuum in which dance, protest, and wrenching emotional expression have become essentially indistinguishable. Gere offers a gripping portrait of gay male choreographers struggling to cope with AIDS and its meanings.
Synopsis
Gere (world arts and cultures, U. of California, Los Angeles) came of age as a dance critic at the height of the AIDS epidemic in America. Here he examines the interplay of AIDS and choreography in relation to gay men, analyzing both theatrical dance and also protests conceived by groups such as ACT-UP and the Names Project AIDS quilt. He sees a continuum in the world of performance in which dance, protest, and emotional expression have become indistinguishable. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR