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Choreographing Dirt: Performances Of/Againist the Nature/Culture Divide

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Choreographing Dirt: Performances Of/Againist the Nature/Culture Divide CHOREOGRAPHING DIRT: PERFORMANCES OF/AGAINST THE NATURE/CULTURE DIVIDE Angenette Spalink A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY May 2014 Committee: Jonathan Chambers, Advisor Margaret Yacobucci, Graduate Faculty Representative Lesa Lockford Scott Magelssen © 2014 Angenette Spalink All Rights Reserved iii ABSTRACT Jonathan Chambers, Ph.D., Advisor In this dissertation I explore performances in which dirt operates as a critical choreographic element, a dynamic partner in an exchange. In each chapter, dirt functions as a complex site of interaction between human and non-human bodies that structures or choreographs the movement of the participant or performer. Using the discourses of ecocriticism, ecofeminism, postmodernism, and performance studies, I employ close readings of the National Park Service, Suzan-Lori Parks’s The America Play as a dramatic text, and productions of Pina Bausch’s The Rite of Spring and Eveoke Dance Theatre’s Las Mariposas to demonstrate how social, dramatic, performative, and theatrical representations of the natural world inform humans’ understanding of their relationship with it. In Chapter One, I explore the representation and performance of “wilderness” in Shenandoah National Park, analyzing the history, construction, and choreography of space in the park to establish that the park’s performance of “wilderness” functions as symbol of the American frontier and simulacrum of the wild. In Chapter Two, I examine the unearthing of dirt in The America Play through the character of the Foundling Father who digs up the past in order to create “new” historical events. In Chapter Three, I focus on the relationship between dancer and peat in The Rite of Spring, investigating the significance of the ways in which the onstage peat and the dancers’ bodies mark each other. In Chapter Four, I analyze the relationship between dancers and dirt in Las iv Mariposas, exploring the inter-species interactions between the organisms in the dirt and on the dancers’ skin. Together, these analyses allow critical interrogations of the entrenched human notions of the so-called nature/culture divide. Bodies partner not only with the dirt, but also with the myriad species that reside in the dirt. This creates an ecologically complex pas de deux that evokes an intricate rethinking of conceptions of species and demonstrates that interchanges between humans and more-than-humans are porous and trans-corporeal. Each case study testifies that performance has the potential to dismantle master narratives, permeate borders, and create alternate modes of understanding of traditional Western anthropocentric, speciesist tendencies in dance and theatre. v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The completion of this dissertation would not have been possible without the support and encouragement of many people. I am honored to have been a member of such an outstanding community here at Bowling Green and am incredibly grateful for the friendship and mentorship I have received during my time here. First and foremost, I must thank my husband Daniel, who throughout this entire journey has always been a source of love, grace, compassion, encouragement, and unwavering support. This document, and the adventures leading up to it, would not have been possible without him. I must also express my deep gratitude to my doctoral committee—Jonathan Chambers, Lesa Lockford, Margaret Yacobucci and my supervisor, Scott Magelssen—for their advice, guidance, and critique, which has helped shape my research and strengthen my writing. Jonathan, thank you so much for serving as my “advisor” this year and for always going above and beyond. Lesa, I am profoundly grateful that three years ago you suggested I apply to BGSU; otherwise, I would not be here. Scott, words are inadequate to express my gratitude for your enthusiasm, patience, and support throughout this entire process. Thank you for backing this project from the beginning and for suggesting that I do my first graduate school presentation on Roman venationes, which was my initial foray into ecocriticism. I am particularly grateful to the faculty, staff, and graduate students in the Bowling Green Department of Theatre and Film who have taught me the true meaning of community and who inspire me both creatively and academically. These words are a futile attempt to document the immense impact you have all had on my life: Quincy vi Thomas, who from the first day of our Master’s program held my hand (sniffed it) and never let it go, thank you for always being there and bringing joy to my life. Heidi Nees, thank you for showing me “the ropes.” Without your resolute friendship I would not have survived graduate school. Miriam Hahn, thank you for being my “fellowship buddy” and helping me wade through the murky, emotional waters of writing a dissertation. Slade Billew, thank you for being such a brilliant and thoughtful creative collaborator, I have grown so much from working with you. Patrick and Alyssa Konesko, thank you for dinners, bourbons, hugs, and laughs, and for always making me feel welcome in your home. Sara Chambers, thank you for always listening and offering sound, judgment-free advice, but most importantly for providing spiritual guidance. Darin Kerr and Elizabeth Guthrie, thank you deeply for your support and friendship. To my cohort, Matthew Nicosia and Michelle Cowin-Mensah, I would like to express my gratitude to you both for your encouragement, feedback, and critique of my creative and academic work. You both spurred me to be a more thoughtful and rigorous scholar and artist. Special thanks to Evangeline Whitlock, my collaborator and co-presenter at the Earth Matters on Stage conference. Thank you also to Lauren McReynolds and Lydia Bragg, who even though they live great distances from me, never ceased in their support, love, and friendship. I would also like to extend great appreciation to the theatre and dance faculty at Calvin College, specifically, Stephanie Sandberg, Ellen Van’t Hof, Debra Freeberg, and Michael Page, who always demonstrated the joy of teaching theatre and dance. Finally, I wish to thank my parents for their support, encouragement, pragmatic perspective, and for taking me to see Les Misérables at the tender age of six. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................. 1 Description of Study ................................................................................................. 3 Background and Context ........................................................................................... 4 Dirt ............................................................................................................................ 13 Methodology and Frameworks .................................................................................. 20 Literature Review ...................................................................................................... 27 Stakes ......................................................................................................................... 33 CHAPTER I. (UN)TRAMMELED BY MAN: WILDERNESS AS SYMBOL AND SIMULACRUM .................................................................................................................... 35 National Parks History ............................................................................................... 41 Space ......................................................................................................................... 48 Wilderness ................................................................................................................. 54 Wilderness and Humans ............................................................................................ 60 Liveness .................................................................................................................... 66 CHAPTER II. DIGGING UP THE PAST: EXCAVATING AND EXHUMING HISTORY IN SUZAN-LORI PARKS’S THE AMERICA PLAY ................................................................. 78 Doing/Moving/Choreography ................................................................................... 88 Blurring/Permeability/Landscape .............................................................................. 91 Becoming-Lincoln ..................................................................................................... 98 Becoming-History ...................................................................................................... 106 Remaking/Reterritorializing ...................................................................................... 109 viii CHAPTER III. “FILTHY” BODIES: PEAT AS VISCOUS PARTNER IN PINA BAUSCH’S LE SACRE DU PRINTEMP .................................................................................................. 116 History of The Rite of Spring ..................................................................................... 118 Peat ............................................................................................................................ 124 “Dirty” Bodies ........................................................................................................... 133 Absence and Presence .............................................................................................. 143 CHAPTER IV. A DIRTY PAS DE DEUX: BECOMING-DIRT
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