SEXUALITY IN DANCE

Bob Fosse's And Paul Taylor's Dancing Style in Context of Sexuality

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Bob Fosse's And Paul Taylor's Dancing Style in Context of Sexuality

Introduction

In simple terms, dance is the art of body. Dance is used as a medium to present all the emotions of the body. Traditionally, dance was mainly used to display war, heroism and romance. But later, sexuality was introduced in dancing to display the sexual need of the human body. According to modern dancers, every dance move is choreographed to represent “ecstasy” (Desmond, 2001). Ecstasy in dance means, to dance with trance, intoxication and desire. Therefore, dance cannot be separated from sexuality, because it brings the ultimate ecstasy in choreography. This paper focus on the dancing styles of Bob Fosse and Paul Taylor. Both utilize sexuality in their dancing styles.

Paul Taylor

Paul Taylor started his dancing career in 1952. He has made immense contributions in modern dancing. Taylor has continued to win acclaim for the vibrancy, relevance and power of his recent creations as well as his classics. In the '60s he shocked the cognoscenti by setting his trailblazing modern movement to music composed 200 years earlier, and he inflamed the establishment by lampooning America's most treasured icons. Although, he has retired from dancing in 1970's, he still inspires the modern dancers of the world through his dancing styles and Dance Company.

Dance Expression of Paul Taylor

Paul has used his dance to display the emotions and feel of the character. His dance distinguishes from other dancers because he focuses on everyday gestures rather than dance moves. His famous dance choreographies are known for their musicality, wit, warmth and excitement (Cohen, 1966). He has also used everyday interactive moves in his dance styles. With the contribution of National Endowment, he has choreographed one his master piece known as “Esplanade”. The music of Esplanade was produced by Johann Sebastian Bach.

Although, Paul has used his dance to display war, spirituality, morality and mortality, but, the most widely used emotion of Paul Taylor was “sexuality”. He has Choreographed “Brief Encounters” in 2009 which is famous for its ravishing dance moves. In that choreography, the dance moves were both loose and rich in response to music. He has used sexuality to display the emotional progression among the dancers with the music. According to him, sexuality in dance is a source of power, excitement and mediation. Martha Graham has named him as the ...