ABSTRACT
It is the importance of dance analysis, for a whole variety of purposes, which is argued for by Janet Adshead. The activity of analysis in the arts has been treated with suspicion, particularly by those who believe that our art ' istic encounters are fundamentally emotional and therefore experiential (see Introduction, Part I). Any kind of analytical intervention might militate against the primacy of that experience. This belief, even though it is rarely articulated or pursued rationally, has been instrumental in hindering the academic development of all the arts, but of dance particularly. Adshead points out, however, that analysis is embodied in any form of appreciation of the arts; it is the basis of knowledge and experience and serves to extend that knowledge and enrich that experience. Not only audiences, but choreographers, performers, critics, reconstructors and notators all utilize analytical skills and share common concepts even though their eventual usage may differ. A model for analysis is offered which recognizes the specificity of dance. Although the contr ibution of related disciplines to the study of dance is acknowledged, this model places the dance itself as central. It does not remain, however, at the level of movement analysis, but accommodates issues of context, function, meaning and value.
