Turn of Phrase: A Queer Reimagination of David Gordon's Not Necessarily Recognizable Objectives

Abstract

Turn of Phrase is both thesis and dance. Through textual and embodied research, I choreographed a queer reimagination of David Gordon’s Not Necessarily Recognizable Objectives (1978). Here, I will explore the historical context of the original work, break down precedent for revisiting past dances, and trace aspects of queer theory in choreography to serve as touchstones in my own process. Sources include archival materials from the David Gordon/Pick Up Company, Sally Bane’s Terpsichore in Sneakers: Post-Modern Dance, Jack Halberstam’s The Queer Art of Failure, Jose Esteban Muñoz’s Cruising Utopia, and Sara Ahmed’s What’s the Use? On the Uses of Use. This project builds upon my practice of connecting conventional academic research to embodied practice.