Modern Brontë Dance

We have a book and a theater play that tangetially unite the Brontës and modern dance:

1- First, a new book:

Acts of Light: Martha Graham in the Twenty-first Century

Photographs by John Deane, text by Nan Deane Cano
University of Flordia Press
ISBN: 0-8130-2992-9

Overview
The breathtaking images in Acts of Light are the result of John Deane's unprecedented access as a promotional photographer for the Martha Graham Dance Company. The first book to comprehensively survey Graham's dances in full color digital photography, it also features personal interviews with this new generation of Graham interpreters, who reflect on their own lives, the meaning each dance has for
them personally, and the Graham technique in frank and touching style. Dancers reveal how they approach now-classic works and personalize their interpretations, coming to them with a new sensibility and unique life experiences. The 18 featured works range from the Greek cycle and biblically inspired ballets through abstract studies of tragedy and hope, considerations of loss incurred in wartime, and literary speculations like Deaths and Entrances, a recently revived work on the Bronte sisters. Deane and Cano give special consideration to the beloved American masterwork Graham created in collaboration with composer Aaron Copland--Appalachian Spring.

Drawing on essays, poetry, and excerpts from Graham's own notebook, Acts of Light considers the narrative, dramatic, and philosophical base for each dance, and offers reflections on its contemporary relevance for today's audience. Appealing to dance historians, professional dancers, students of dance, and those with interests in the performing arts, this book provides an insightful appreciation of the living influence of Graham as a 20th-century icon. (Read more)

You can see a slidewhow of pictures here but, alas, with no Deaths and Entrances.

Deaths and Entrances was originally premiered in 1943 and was revived last year by the Martha Graham Dance Company (a review here).

2.- And from the forties to a nowadays choreography. This one is not directly inspired by the Brontës' work but their influence appears through Kate Bush's Wuthering Heights. The Ostadetheater in Amsterdam (Netherlands) premiered last summer a choreography thas was also performed yesterday Sunday, November 26 among the activities of the RISK Festival.

Op woeste hoogte [On Wuthering Heights]
Rob Hartvelt

With a combination of dance and film, Hartvelt shows us the tragic story of an obsessive love relation. A man brings his beloved, but lifeless woman-doll to live. Later he takes her life away again and his dream turns into an nightmare!
Rob Hartvelt studied dance at the Brabants Conservatorium in Tilburg and at the Deree College in Athens. He worked as a dancer en actor with among others Min Tanaka, Krzysztof Pastor en Peter Greenaway. As choreographer and director he writes an directs his own performances.
Text, choreography and scenography : Rob Hartvelt
Dance and film: Esther Eenstroom en Mathijs Scheeper

Categories: Books, Dance, Wuthering Heights