AUTHENTICITY AND ITS CONTEMPORARY CHAL- LENGES Franziska Bork Petersen Authenticity and its Contemporary Challenges On Techniques of Staging Bodies Franziska Bork Petersen ©Franziska Bork Petersen, Stockholm University 2013 ISBN 978-91-7447-790-0 Printed in Sweden by US-AB, Stockholm 2013 Distributor: Department of Musicology and Performance Studies, Stockholm University For JB Contents ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................ 12 GENERAL INTRODUCTION. “HERE SHE IS: THE BRAND NEW…” ........ 13 Aims and Research Questions .....................................................................................16 The Authentic Body as a Model for Identity. Positioning and Previous Research........20 Depth and surface models of identity......................................................................21 Depth and surface models in dance and fashion ....................................................24 Bodily authenticity as performative .........................................................................25 Menschenbilder: Identity Formation and the Visual Field. Positioning and Previous Research ......................................................................................................................28 Authenticity in makeover culture’s Menschenbild ...................................................29 Alternative Menschenbilder.....................................................................................31 Staging: a Conscious Performance. Positioning and Previous Research ....................31 Inszenierung – mise en scène ................................................................................32 Staging vs. performance .........................................................................................33 Contribution to Research..............................................................................................37 Disposition ....................................................................................................................39 Part 1.......................................................................................................................39 Part 2.......................................................................................................................40 Methodology and Material ............................................................................................42 Material ...................................................................................................................42 Dance analysis and fashion analysis ......................................................................43 Analytical model for part 2.......................................................................................47 CHAPTER 1................................................................................................. 49 Staging the Noble Body in the Ancien Régime.............................................................52 Social dancing.........................................................................................................53 Stage dance ............................................................................................................54 “Passacaille pour un homme et une femme” (1704) ...............................................58 Sartorial stagings ....................................................................................................60 Masquerade: expanding on one’s body ..................................................................62 Conclusion ..............................................................................................................65 THE APPEARANCE OF AUTHENTICITY ................................................... 67 Bodily authenticity in the eighteenth century...........................................................67 Criticisms of mere Appearance in Enlightenment Thought ..........................................69 Tying appearance to inner truth: sensibilité and its impact on the performing arts .69 The phantasm of the natural figure .........................................................................72 Rousseau: Letter to M. d’Alembert on the Theatre .................................................73 Women’s nature as stabilising ‘Other’.....................................................................75 Conclusion ..............................................................................................................77 The Staging of Authenticity in Dance ...........................................................................79 From pleasing the eye to moving the heart.............................................................80 The body as expressing the soul ............................................................................81 Critique of the noble style and idealisation of antiquity ...........................................82 Bourgeois self-conception in dance ........................................................................83 Ballet’s authenticity .................................................................................................84 The Staging of Authenticity in Dress ............................................................................85 Clothes that express inner truth ..............................................................................86 Male neutral dress...................................................................................................88 Women’s undress fashion.......................................................................................89 Conclusion: Clothing and Dancing Construct an Authentic Body.................................90 CHAPTER 2: THE MENSCHENBILD OF TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY MAKEOVER CULTURE............................................................................... 93 Authenticity in makeover culture ...........................................................................100 The body and self on makeover television............................................................102 Deserving Improvement on The Swan .......................................................................105 Labour for the deserving body ..............................................................................107 Revealing beauty from inside the deficient before-body .......................................111 Authentic looks: observing beauty norms .............................................................115 Having Fun on Germany’s Next Top Model ...............................................................118 Labour taken for granted: girls who outgrow themselves......................................119 Having fun! ............................................................................................................122 Conclusion: Contemporary Practices of Staging Bodily Authenticity..........................125 Hard work, authorship and observing the norm ....................................................127 Introduction to the Second Part ..................................................................................129 CHAPTER 3............................................................................................... 131 Hyperbole ...................................................................................................................131 Amanda Lepore attending New York Fashion Week..................................................131 Definition ...............................................................................................................131 Description ............................................................................................................132 Configuring Strands....................................................................................................134 Posing ...................................................................................................................134 The body as façade...............................................................................................136 How does this example challenge authenticity? ...................................................138 Édouard Lock: Amélia ................................................................................................140 Definition ...............................................................................................................140 Description ............................................................................................................140 Configuring Strands....................................................................................................142 Use of ballet technique..........................................................................................142 Aesthetic of impenetrability ...................................................................................145 How does this example challenge authenticity? ...................................................147 CHAPTER 4............................................................................................... 149 Multiplicity ...................................................................................................................149 Henrik Vibskov’s Autumn/Winter 2012 fashion show in Copenhagen........................149 Definition ...............................................................................................................149 Description ............................................................................................................150