Dance Imagery for Technique and Performance 3rd Edition

Dance Imagery for Technique and Performance, Third Edition, written by renowned master teacher Eric Franklin, provides readers with a deep understanding of how to implement imagery in their dances, improving their skill and artistic expression in both practice and performance.

Now in full color, this edition presents over 900 imagery exercises to refine improvisation, technique, and choreography, with Franklin’s signature artwork throughout. The book features over 200 practical and beautiful illustrations.

Updates throughout the text reflect the most-up-to-date scientific research in the field, providing readers with a strong foundation to continue refining their dance technique.

This edition features additional imagery exercises with a wider variety of dance forms and styles, and it includes exercises that can restore and regenerate the body through massage, touch, and stretching. Franklin offers guidance in using imagery to convey information about a dancer’s steps and to clarify the intent and content of movement.

Four audio imagery exercises, narrated by the author himself, guide the reader through meditations to relax and restore the body and mind. These audio exercises promote constructive rest.

Improvisation exercises help readers investigate new inner landscapes to create and communicate various movement qualities, provide guidelines for applying imagery in the dance class, and help dancers expand their repertoire of expressiveness in technique and performance across ballet, modern, and contemporary dance.

Dance Imagery for Technique and Performance, Third Edition, supplies imagery tools for enhancing or preparing for performance, and it emphasizes the importance of imagery in dancing and teaching dance. Franklin’s method of using imagery in dance is displayed throughout this lavishly illustrated book, and the research from scientific and dance literature that supports Franklin’s method is detailed. The text, exercises, and illustrations make this book a practical resource for dancers and dance educators alike.

Note: A URL to access the online materials is included in this print book.

Audience

Dancers, dance educators, and anyone involved in performing arts and somatic education.

Part I. Art and Science of Imagery
Chapter 1. History, Theory, and Uses of Imagery
Defining Imagery
Historical Perspectives
Emerging Theories on Imagery
Benefits of Using Imagery in Dance
Summary

Chapter 2. Types and Effectiveness of Imagery
Direct Imagery
Types of Imagery
Imagery Strings
Making Imagery Effective
Summary

Part II. Discovering and Exploring Imagery
Chapter 3. Discovering Imagery
Nature
Movies
Literary Arts
Music
Visual Arts
Propensity Toward Imagery
Summary

Chapter 4. Basic Movement Imagery and Exercises
Intention
Whole-Body Sensation
Space
Weight
Music and Rhythm
Connections Through the Body
Breath and Flow
Summary

Chapter 5. Imagery in Dance Improvisation
Improvisation and Dance Technique
Improvisation With Children
Imagery Improvisation Exercises
Contact Improvisation and Imagery
Butoh
Summary

Part III. Imagery in Dance Technique Classes
Chapter 6. Teaching Dance With Imagery
Elements of Making Progress
Function and Anatomy
Effort and Tension
Alignment Paradox
Guidelines for Teachers
Guidelines for Students
Summary

Chapter 7. Floorwork, Walking, and Running
Floorwork
Pelvis as a Strong Sitting Base
Upper-Body Motion While Sitting
Falls to the Floor
Rolls on the Ground
Floor Barre
Stillness and Slow Movement
The Foot
Walking and Running
Summary

Chapter 8. Plié
Force Absorption in Plié
Imagery for Plié
Summary

Chapter 9. Tendu-Based Movements
Battement Tendu/Dégagé (Jeté)
Rond de Jambe à Terre
Battement Fondu (Demi-Plié on One Leg)
Battement Frappé
Summary

Chapter 10. Développé and Other Extensions
Creating Smooth Action in the Hip Joint
Extensions to the Back
Releasing Tension, Embodying Fascia
Summary

Chapter 11. Dynamic Balance in Arabesque, Attitude, and Grand Battement
Research on Imagery for the Plié Arabesque
Art and Science of Balance
Grand Battement
Summary

Chapter 12. Swings, Arches, and Spirals
Swings and Arches
Spirals
Summary

Chapter 13. Upper-Body Gestures
Port de Bras (Arm Gestures)
Hands
Face
Eyes
Neck
Summary

Chapter 14. Turns
From Crawls to Pirouettes
Natural Turners
What You Can Learn From a Spinning Top
Turning With the Whole Body
Angular Motion
Phases of Turning in Pirouettes
Summary

Chapter 15. Jumps
Speed and Leverage
Anatomical Considerations
The Foot in Jumping
Elastic Leaps and Rhythmic Rebound
Traveling Leaps and Turning Leaps
Breathing Before Jumping
Arms and Leaping
Floors and Soft Landings
The Sky Is the Limit
Summary

Chapter 16. Partnering
Requirements for Partnering
Connecting With Your Partner
Using Imagery in Partnering
Summary

Part IV. Imagery in Choreography, Rest, and Regeneration
Chapter 17. Imagery and Performance Quality
Expressivity
Authenticity
Endowment
Magical Outfit
Performance Environment
Relationship With the Audience
Your History
Stepping Onstage
Summary

Chapter 18. Rest and Regeneration
Using Your Hands to Cue and Ease
Releasing Touch
Constructive Rest
Guided Imagery
Summary

Epilogue
References and Resources
Index
About the Author

Eric Franklin is director and founder of the Institute for Franklin Method in Wetzikon, Switzerland. He has more than 35 years of experience as a dancer and choreographer, and he has shared imagery techniques in his teaching since 1986.

After earning his bachelor of science degree at the University of Zurich and his bachelor of fine arts degree at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, Eric Franklin worked for many years as a dancer and choreographer. He developed his groundbreaking Franklin Method based on this training and his teaching experiences, and he has gone on to teach it at numerous universities and schools around the world, including the Juilliard School in New York, Rutgers University, the University of Vienna, the Royal Ballet School and the Laban Dance Center in London, the Zurich Neurological Institute, New York University, the Royal Danish Ballet, the Ballet School of the Zurich Opera, and the American Dance Festival.

Franklin has presented at numerous scientific conferences, including the Interdisciplinary World Congress on Low Back and Pelvic Pain; the International Fascia Research Congress; the British Fascia Symposium; and the conferences of the Pilates Method Alliance, International Association for Dance Medicine & Science, and the National Dance Education Organization. He has also presented at many sport psychology conferences and is involved with research in the field. He is the author of numerous books, including Conditioning for Dance; Inner Focus Outer Strength; Pelvic Power; Relax Your Neck, Liberate Your Shoulders; Breathing for Peak Performance; and Fascia Release and Balance.

Created in 1994, the Franklin Method combines dynamic science-based imagery, touch, anatomical embodiment, and educational skills to create lasting positive change in the body and mind as well as improvements in posture, movement, and focus. The Franklin Method uses the Dynamic Neurocognitive Imagery (DNI)™ method for movement and postural control retraining. Eric Franklin’s books and workshops are available in many languages, as are his teacher certifications.