Dance, Ethnicity and Gender: A Cultural History of Phoenix Dance Company 1981- 2001

舞蹈、民族与性别：凤凰舞团的文化史1981-2001

• 批准号: AH/E502504/1
• 负责人: Christy Adair
• 金额: $ 3.09万
• 依托单位: York St John University
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2006
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2006 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=AH%2FE502504%2F1
• 关键词: Dance; Ethnicity; Gender; Cultural; History

This research investigates the cultural history of Phoenix Dance Company between 1981-2001. The significance of the contribution of Phoenix Dance Company in the context of British dance history and in the wider history of contemporary dance has largely been overlooked but this study will establish the achievements of Phoenix Dance Company and ensure that its history is recorded.The importance of attempting the task of narrating the complexities of Phoenix's history is confirmed by Catherine Ugwu's (1995) comments about the lack of recognition of black artists and the preconceptions of what their work should be. Whilst the Company's reputation was legendary there was very little acknowledgement of their achievements within the dance texts of the 1990s or more recent writing. This study will reframe aspects of British dance history through an interrogation of issues of gender, ethnicity and class in relation to Phoenix Dance Company.The Company was unique in a number of ways both within contemporary dance and the wider artistic cultural contexts in Britain. Firstly, the Company members were in their teens when they formed in 1981 and gained recognition very early in their careers through an established television arts programme, The South Bank Show, in 1984. Secondly, they were skillful performers but had not received the usual formal three year dance training. Thirdly, they were based in the north of England at a time when the majority of dance activity was located in London. In addition, they were Black British men, who had known each other from childhood and came from a tight-knit community, working in an art form which was associate with femininity (Adair, 1992). All of these features were unusual for a dance company and contributed to a story of success which gained mythical status. Through a discussion of the Company members' backgrounds, influences on their work and their sense of identity together with an analysis of Company documents and critical responses I will demonstrate the complexity of the factors which affected this Company's work and indicate both the reasons for and the problems involved in their success.

本研究调查了 1981 年至 2001 年间凤凰舞蹈团的文化历史。凤凰舞蹈团在英国舞蹈史和更广泛的当代舞蹈史上的贡献的重要性在很大程度上被忽视了，但这项研究将确立凤凰舞蹈团的成就并确保其历史被记录下来。凯瑟琳·乌格乌（Catherine Ugwu，1995）关于黑人艺术家缺乏认可以及对他们的作品应该是什么的先入之见的评论证实了试图讲述菲尼克斯历史复杂性的任务。虽然该公司享有盛誉，但在 20 世纪 90 年代或更近的舞蹈文本中，很少有人承认他们的成就。这项研究将通过审视与凤凰舞蹈团相关的性别、种族和阶级问题来重新构建英国舞蹈史的各个方面。该公司在当代舞蹈和英国更广泛的艺术文化背景中在很多方面都是独一无二的。首先，公司成员在 1981 年成立时才十几岁，并在职业生涯的早期就通过 1984 年的电视艺术节目《南岸秀》获得了认可。其次，他们是熟练的表演者，但没有获得通常的正式认可。三年舞蹈训练。第三，他们的总部设在英格兰北部，当时大部分舞蹈活动都在伦敦。此外，他们是英国黑人男性，他们从小就认识，来自一个紧密的社区，从事与女性气质相关的艺术形式（Adair，1992）。所有这些特征对于舞蹈团来说都是不寻常的，并促成了一个获得神话地位的成功故事。通过对公司成员的背景、对他们工作的影响和他们的认同感的讨论，以及对公司文件和批评性回应的分析，我将展示影响该公司工作的因素的复杂性，并指出其原因和原因他们的成功所涉及的问题。