Dancing with Knives American Cold War Ideology in the Dances of West Side Story
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Date
2016
Authors
Belgrad, Daniel
Zhu, Ying
Journal Title
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Volume Title
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Abstract
In cultural studies today, there is emerging an interpretive revolution “from below” — that is,
a radical reassessment of the politics of cultural forms, based on a recovery of the embodied
and affective subject as the center of meaning-making. Making sense of dance performances
is therefore methodologically important because of their particular ability to offer insight
into these two aspects of subjectivity. As an artifact of Cold War American culture, Jerome
Robbins’ choreography in the film West Side Story (1961) enforces an ideological distinction
between legitimate and illegitimate forms of violence, through its portrayals of “cool” affect
as a necessary disposition, and organized violence as a necessary evil. Our close analysis of
the dances “Rumble” and “Cool” offers new insights into the affective “map” that provided the
ideological foundation for American political theorists and policy makers in formulating their
Cold War attitudes.
Description
Keywords
dance studies, affect, militarism, Jerome Robbins, choreography, ideology
Citation
Belgrad Daniel. Dancing with Knives American Cold War Ideology in the Dances of West Side Story : [electronic resource] / Daniel Belgrad, Ying Zhu // Kyiv-Mohyla Humanities Journal. - 2016. - No. 3. - P. 1–22.