The Choreography of Everyday Life

In this discursive reflection, choreographer Parson tumbles through her thoughts about the “maddeningly ephemeral” yet “fundamental and essential” nature of dance. Dancing, she argues, has been an important aspect of civilization from the beginning, and she traces how these “poeticized, ritual actions” show up in modern life even when “composition and aesthetics are irrelevant.” As a kind of framing structure, Parson uses an overheard telephone conversation between her partner and their son about The Odyssey, filling in gaps in what she hears with her own thoughts and observations (“When Paul said The Odyssey is pre-interiority, it made me want to confirm that there is also a term exteriority”). Parson ponders the “choreography” that occurs every day as people walk down the street, play fetch with a dog, or write a letter, and finds inspiration in the “factual, unadorned” work of choreographer Trisha Brown and the spidery shapes in Louise Bourgeois’s sculptures. Parson seems to relish playing choreographer on the page, noting that “verbs are grammar’s dancers” and playing with rhythm via poetic line breaks. But her free-associating style comes across like a pandemic diary of random thoughts: occasionally fascinating, but often scattered and underdeveloped. This quirky take on how dance is everywhere will be best appreciated by fans of the author’s experimental choreography. (Oct.)