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Aug 31, 2020
Drawing the Surface of Dance
A Biography in Charts
Summary
Drawing the Surface of Dance: A Biography in Charts (Wesleyan UP, 2019) collects thirty years of “charts” by renowned choreographer and co-founder of Big Dance Theater Annie-B Parson. These charts serve as an archive of the ephemeral work of choreography. They include charts of favorite verbs, charts of props, a “chart of things rectangular, ” and a recreation of deck of cards for composition modeled after Mexican lottery cards. The drawings included in this book are like Parson’s dances themselves: idiosyncratic, funny, loving, vibrant, and detailed. They manifest what Parson calls her “magpie” approach to composition, drawing from paintings, films, gravestones, and classical ballet to create an aesthetic all her own. This is a book that will be of interest to students and practitioners of theatre and dance, but also to people who like beautiful drawings of strange things.
Andy Boyd is a playwright based in Brooklyn, New York. He is a graduate of the playwriting MFA program at Columbia University, Harvard University, and the Arizona School for the Arts. His plays have been produced, developed, or presented at IRT, Pipeline Theatre Company, The Gingold Group, Dixon Place, Roundabout Theatre, Epic Theatre Company, Out Loud Theatre, Naked Theatre Company, Contemporary Theatre of Rhode Island, and The Trunk Space. He is currently working on a series of 50 plays about the 50 U.S. states. His website is AndyJBoyd.com, and he can be reached at andyjamesboyd@gmail.com.
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Andy Boyd
Andy Boyd is a playwright based in Brooklyn, New York. He is a graduate of the playwriting MFA at Columbia University, Harvard University, and the Arizona School for the Arts.