Hybrid Sites and Fluid Bodies

Abstract

Video dance is a creative exploration of the relationship between dance and television. It is a fusion or amalgamation of two distinct sites in which the codes and conventions of each medium are inextricably linked. Yet this duality often fails to be taken into account. It is suggested in Chapter 1 that a particular body of critical writing has either dismissed or overlooked the televisual aspect of video dance and thus completely disregards an intrinsic component. Meanwhile, it is noted in Chapter 2 that, with certain genres of screen dance, the interception of the film and televisual apparatus is underplayed or kept to a minimum, or that creative innovation has given way to commercial appeal. Thus, in recognition of the merging of dance and televisual practices in video dance, the concept of ‘hybridity’ is a useful characterization. The proposition that video dance constitutes a hybrid site both acknowledges and reiterates the innovative interrelationship between dance and television.