Abstract
Questioning interpretations of Jonathan Burrows’ choreography as abstract, the chapter argues that the forms of performance presence embodied in his dance pieces engage with subjectivity in transversal ways, acknowledging its elusiveness and emphasising its constitutive plurality. Drawing on Roberto Esposito’s notion of the ‘third person’, Perazzo Domm posits that Burrows’ poetics articulates a mode of subjectivity that foregrounds the ambiguity of the person by deconstructing its conventional connotations and embracing its ‘impersonal’ dimension. Burrows’ contribution to choreographic discourse across practice and theory is examined with reference to his writings, including A Choreographer’s Handbook (2010), and through a close analysis of dance works, from the piece for the camera Hands (1995) to the online video project 52 Portraits created with composer Matteo Fargion and with film-maker Hugo Glendinning (2016).
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Perazzo Domm, D. (2019). Duets and (Self-)portraits: Choreographing the Im/personal. In: Jonathan Burrows. New World Choreographies. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-27680-5_5
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