ABSTRACT
Breath-taking moments create the memorable in dance and lend themselves to explanations of dance ability rooted in the metaphysical. Thus, it is not surprising that such explanations are widely taken-for-granted in British theatre dance even though the milieu provides professional work. Dancers, choreographers, critics and audiences commonly share an idealist philosophy which implies that art is outside society and artists’ achievements arise from natural talent. This belief is largely unchallenged in much dance study too, for few British studies which emphasize the cultural nature of dance have been undertaken. That the breathtaking moment depends on long and arduous training to become part of the cultural memory of a company is rarely noted. Nor is it considered in movement observation and dance notation, widely employed as starting points for study. Developed to precisely record bodily movements, they perpetuate what has happened in most dance teaching, namely that style has become separated from cultural knowledge so that dance movements are rarely recognized as bearers of cultural values. Concern with step precision and personal skill has perpetuated naturalistic attitudes towards the body overlooking the reality of its social construction and the transformation of the cherished values of a social group into movement imagery. However, once dance movements are read as signifying such cultural values and the responses of different social groups towards them, it is then possible to reveal dimensions of the British way of life mediated through dance.
