Review Of "Tandem Dances: Choreographing Immersive Performance" By J. Ritter

Document Type

Book Review

Publication Date

8-1-2021

Published In

Choice

Abstract

This is Ritter's first book, and in it she employs dance and choreography as key structural elements in discussing immersive theater performances. Ritter (Rutgers Univ.) suggests that immersive events are distinctive because they involve both performers and audiences in enacting tandem movement scores. She begins with a theoretical orientation and then explores several tandem contexts in which choreography is central, including virtual reality and video gaming. Discussed first are the collaborative interactions and authorships shared between choreographers and dancers evident in set sequences and improvisation. The book then investigates ways that these dialogues have been manifest in the choreographic interactions among performances, performers, and audiences over time in various dance and theater productions. Ritter examines in detail three specific, long-running performances by companies in Canada, the UK, and the US, using these performances to explicate her theoretical perspective and illustrate the central significance of choreography to immersive performance overall in a 21st-century Western framework. Extensive endnotes and numerous black-and-white photos and illustrations provide useful support to the text. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty; professionals.

Comments

This work is freely available courtesy of Choice Reviews. The review has been reproduced in full in the abstract field.

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