Compared to the wealth of information available to us about
classical tragedy and comedy, not much is known about the culture
of pantomime, mime, and dance in late antiquity. Charges of
obscenity and polemical anti-theater discourse have, at times,
erased these popular performance traditions from the modern
imagination. "Demons and Dancers" returns us to the times and
places where those great ancient theaters were more than
picturesque ruins dotting the Mediterranean landscape.
Ruth Webb fills this gap in our knowledge of the ancient world
and provides us with a richly detailed look at social life in the
late antique period through an investigation of its performance
culture. The book focuses on the eastern empire, from Greece proper
to modern-day Turkey and Egypt, between the second and sixth
centuries CE. Using some of the tools provided by modern
performance theory, this book explains how audiences interpreted
the actions on stage, how the status of male and female performers
shifted across time and place, how skilled the actors actually were
(it was commonplace to dismiss these performers for their lack of
skill), and what role spectacles involving spoken and sung words,
as well as stylized gestures, had in Greco-Roman civic life.
General
| Imprint: |
Harvard University Press
|
| Country of origin: |
United States |
| Release date: |
November 2008 |
| First published: |
2009 |
| Authors: |
Ruth Webb
|
| Dimensions: |
235 x 156 x 51mm (L x W x T) |
| Format: |
Hardcover - Cloth over boards / With printed dust jacket
|
| Pages: |
318 |
| ISBN-13: |
978-0-674-03192-0 |
| Categories: |
Books >
Arts & Architecture >
Performing arts >
Theatre, drama >
General
Promotions
|
| LSN: |
0-674-03192-X |
| Barcode: |
9780674031920 |
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