Text : a study of semiotics in postmodern dance with reference to speech

Abstract

This dissertation looks at the relationship between postmodern dance and semiotic theories, between dance and text/signs, have been investigated and explored. The study examines the different characteristics of postmodern dance, different stages, it's development, the use and expression of emotion, everyday gestures in movement phrases, and use of speech in choreographies. The topic was chosen as a relevance to the semiotic research in relation to the dance and performance academia. The semiotic findings and postmodern dance characteristics have been analysed through a chosen example. Bill T. Jones' Breathing Show (1999) has been examined and criticised, focusing on the choreographer's use of speech during the performance, and keeping the relation to the findings about semiotics and postmodern dance. Conclusion on how speech is represented and understood by an audience has been made, looking at how dance and text together are portrayed and communicated in a different way, and understood independently by the audience.