Analyser les œuvres
en danse

There is no such thing as an ideal gaze nor an ideal method for analysing dance works. This is the argument made by this book, which places the audience’s inventiveness at the heart of the analysis. Everyone is invited to sharpen their gaze and to become more autonomous by developing a personal relationship with the works. Isabelle Ginot and Philippe Guisgand explain the stakes involved in the “analysis of works” in dance. By placing this analysis within a wider field of critical thought, they draw up an inventory of the models underlying existing practices. Above all, they present the biases of their approach, one that is based on the perception of the spectator, viewed as dynamic and multi-referential. A unique but general experience, both sensory and cognitive. The core precept of the book is to be found in their “toolbox”. To engage in a dialogue with works, they propose two entry points. The first, turned towards the viewer, brings up a series of tools and situations to explore the effects of the artistic proposal on the viewer’s perception. The second brings together tools inspired by the practices of dancers, in particular the Resources, Scores, Valuactions and Performance cycles devised by Anna and Lawrence Halprin. The analysis of works is approached through the notion of resource, through scores (of the gaze, writing or research) and the elaboration of performances that are analysed as so many protocols, games and experiences through which to explore possible relations with productions. Finally, the book highlights the different social and political uses of analysis. For, writing about dance, debating about works and dialoguing with them are all ways of innovating within other practices (audience workshops, warm-ups, mediations, lectures, performances, production support, etc.). In this way, the analysis of works is anchored in a world that is not only that of research, but the world of everyone, and any spectator may develop a thoughtful reading of the works.