36.633, Reviews: Music, Dance and Translation: Dubcovsky (2025)

[The LINGUIST List]

LINGUIST List: Vol-36-633. Tue Feb 18 2025. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 36.633, Reviews: Music, Dance and Translation: Dubcovsky (2025)

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Date: 18-Feb-2025
From: Laura Dubcovsky [lauradubcovsky at gmail.com]
Subject: General Linguistics, Translation: Dubcovsky (2025)


Book announced at https://linguistlist.org/issues/35-2355

Title: Music, Dance and Translation
Publication Year: 2023

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
           http://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/
Book URL:
https://www.bloomsbury.com/music-dance-and-translation-9781350175730/

Editor(s): Helen Julia Minors

Reviewer: Laura Dubcovsky

SUMMARY
Music, Dance and Translation edited by Helen Minors addresses the long
relationship  between sound and movement, adding language
communication to the complex transfer between different modes of
expression. The overall aim of the book is to explore the  interwoven
layers within and beyond words in the translation process. Minors
organizes the  chapters in four sections. Part one- “Translation and
Dance”- offers a general introduction (Chapter 1) about the
“Translation in music and dance discourse”. The author foregrounds
notions of translation, transformation, and transmutation that will be
fully developed in  following chapters. She offers an outline that
facilitates the reading of the entire book,  while proposing three
possible lenses to analyze the complex translation of visual, musical,
gestural, and corporal languages. From a linguistic perspective,
Minors follows relevant  aspects of interlingual, intralingual, and
intersemiotic concepts (Jakobson, 2024). She also  follows most
scholars’ perspective on  the role of senses to facilitate coherence
in the transmediatic  experience. Finally, the author emphasizes a
cultural perspective that enables artists,  performers, and
translators to incorporate elements from specific modalities as well
as  intercultural exchanges among them (Kress, 2010).
As a follow-up, Chapter 2 presents a structured conversation on “The
role of  translation in the practice of dance reconstruction.” Minors
develops some key areas of  discussion, such as the reconstruction or
recreation in multimedia translations,  possible gains and losses
during the transferring processes, and the vast range of sources and
materials that complement the task of moving from one language into
another, including nonverbal communication. The author uses
photographs capturing original gestures, personal letters relating
vivid memories and experiences, and fashion magazines exposing the
costumes, hairdos, and postures of a specific era, as strong and
reliable evidence of the creative process.
Part Two focuses on “Gestures between music and dance.” The three
chapters point  out similar connections between the artistic
modalities, although each one analyzes different dimensions. Thus,
Zbikowski searches for “Points of contact [as the] bases for
translations between music and dance” in Chapter 3. He focuses on the
capacity for analogies  and symbolic language, closely related to
humans’ high levels of cognitive development in social interactions.
However, the author stresses how the powerful tool for creating
analogies exceeds verbal communications and  also engages non verbal
expressions, as in the translation of musical and choreographic
compositions. Conversely, playwrights may also translate nonverbal
musical and dancing expressions into written (verbal) texts.
Therefore, Zbikowski claims that translation is a bidirectional
process that may move from original linguistic sources to
nonlinguistic target forms, or from nonverbal modalities into verbal
expressions (Gentner, 1983).
Chapter 4 addresses a cultural dimension of the “Interactions and
correspondences between music/sound and dance/movement [highlighting]
a permanent negotiation of  translation processes.” To do so
Schroedter contextualizes the original conditions of  production as
well as the given situation for contemporary audiences (Munday, 2016).
The author sheds light on a third space created by the gap between the
“what” of any artistic event  and the “how” that takes place later and
is distanced from the original conception of the  artistic. As a
matter of fact, the complex creative process involves past and present
agents with movable roles and perceptions, traversed by cultural
aspects within and across  disciplines. Therefore, an acceptable
translation is only possible when the different agents’ needs are met
through the interplay of negotiations. As in previous chapters,
Schroedter considers nonverbal, sensorial, and intuitive modalities.
She also contrasts notions of faithful transparency,  rooted in
traditional conceptualizations of translation, with modern dynamic and
expanding notions of the transferring process, open to clashes and
ruptures between the original and the target text, including
transcri[tion, rewriting, overwriting and re-mantization of the
original form, (Jager & Stanitzek, 2002).
Chapter 5 completes the connection between the different artistic
languages,  illustrating “Collaborative ballet dialogues in
translation and creating “La Parade.” Minors  describes the exemplary
experience of 1917, based on the joint effort of the talented creators
who produced the legendary ballet; these included the playwright
Cocteau, the choreographer Massine, the painter Picasso, and the
composer Satie, who together with the impresario Diaghilev. The author
examines letters, memories, critiques and further material to testify
not only to the intense collaboration and overall agreement among the
different participants, but also to some tensions and disagreements
caused by their different perspectives and expectations around the
shared creation. Drawing from their fields of expertise, the artists
did not hide their struggles  to understand each other and communicate
their own ideas. “La Parade” results in a novel  experience that
marked a significant leap into modernity. The different creators  were
rehearsing new procedures  to move across languages and genres, try
different  materials, and adapt aspects of the work which fell between
modalities. Consequently, these new forms helped to build  a hybrid
and more fluid type of translation, departing from static oppositions
between symbolic and analogic representations, as well as from
exclusively verbal equivalences. In contrast, they proposed new types
of inclusive and heterogeneous  collaborations to produce  literate,
visual, gestural, corporal, and musical interpretations.
In the third part the authors exemplify three cases of “Translation
through music dance performance.” In Chapter 6 Loesch focuses on
“Maurice Béjart’s variations on Wilde’s Salome, and kinetic
translation of words and music in La Morte Subite (1991) and Boléro
(1960).” The author illustrates how these choreographies challenge the
traditional  conceptualization of linear and hierarchical transference
between languages, through a  complex net of layered translations that
comprise dance movements, staging effects, and  musical
composition.The intersemiotic passage from verbal to  nonverbal sign
systems does not any longer fully explain the contemporary  “creative
turn” that traverses multimedia, multilingual societies and
multicultural contexts (Holman & Boase-Beier, 1999; Bassnett, 2014).
After analyzing relevant elements of the  famous ballets, such as
melodic sequences, rhythm and body positions, Loesch concludes that
dancers take up a mediating role between written texts, musical
compositions and corporal  expressions. Thus, they can use their
bodies as powerful instruments that not only interweave  visual,
auditory and literate languages but also create a polyphony of voices
(Dimova, 2013).
Chapter 7 claims that “the music has movement in it,” focusing on the
narrow  relationship between dance and sound during the staging of a
ballet. To better explain the  translation of the passage from one
mode of expression into another, Main adheres to a more flexible
concept  of “transmutation,” which not only includes the literal and
almost transparent transmission between modalities, but also expands
the definition reaching dimensions of recreation,  reimagination,
revival, reinvention, and re-enactment (Minors, 2013). The author also
draws on passages from famous ballets, such as “Passacaglia,” “Fugue
7,” and “With my Red Fires”  to emphasize the interconnection between
step sequences and musical phrases, as illustrated  in Figures 7.1,
7.2, and 7.3 (pp.104-105 and 109, respectively). The vivid experiences
are  also supported by the theoretical foundation, showing equitable
contribution of the combining textual, musical,  and interpretative
components that add value to  communicating the artwork.
Ponomareva focuses on paratextual elements that offer “at large the
possibility of  either stepping inside or turning back” in literary
texts, such as temporal events that appear  either before (“peritext”)
or after (“epitext”) the specific episode (Genette, 1997, note 2, p.
129). Chapter 8 offers “Cranko’s reinvention of Pushkin’s text in his
Ballet Onegin (1965)”  to explore Saussure’s syntagmatic and
paradigmatic frameworks (1983). Thus, Ponomareva explains possible
syntagmatic changes in the translation, especially when elements are
removed from the original source because they are  considered
untranslatable due to their cultural connotations. Likewise,
paradigmatic alterations occur in translations when original elements
are substituted or transformed in the target text. The author notices
how multimodal  translations transcend the mere transliteration, as
the transferring process is supported by  physical objects on stage
(furniture, carpet, curtain, etc.), staging resources (light and
darkness, background, sound effects, etc.) and methodological
solutions that transform  concrete elements into more abstract
representations. For example, the use of mirrors during  the
performance enables the artists to symbolize philosophical matters,
create multiple  spaces, and bring a sense of symmetry and balance.
Moreover, as if they were rhetorical  devices (images, comparisons,
metaphors), they may portray more sophisticated translations  of
projection and self- reflection (Nabokov, 1964).
The last part of the book refers to “Institutional representation:
Notation, archives and  the museum.” Chapter 9 comments on “Two
National Estonian Ballet versions of Theodor Amadeus Hofmann’s
Coppélia to Leo Délibes’ music by Mauro Bigonzetti (2002) and  Ronald
Hynd (2010).” The author contrasts traditional and modern
conceptualizations of  ballet, in terms of overall treatment, topics
and content, as well as more specific movements,  gender roles and
values along different historical periods (Reardon, 2007). Einasto
emphasizes that sensitive choreographers are aware of social,
historical, and cultural changes,  and therefore, they play a decisive
role in translations that attune the original production to the
expectations of  modern audiences. Departing from neutral
perspectives, the arduous process of translating ballets involves
artistic, political and ideological activities, where every
participant is seriously committed to transferring complex ideas
embedded in specific temporal  and spatial circumstances into bodily
movements, gestures, music and scenography adapted  to contemporary
tastes and visions (Foster, 2008).
Chapter 10  adds another type of  notation, when exploring  “Fruitful
intersemiotic transfers between music and choreography in the National
Ballet of  Canada’s Romeo and Juliet.” Merkle examines how the
classical text and its famous dialogues were captured in narrative
dances. She delves into the purpose of creating  annotation systems
that enable us to leave written records. Rooted in a fragile nature,
dance was traditionally considered a second class artform that  lacked
verbal language (Hutchinson Guest,  1984). The evolution of  the
written representation helps preserve the ‘choreographical memory’
through a set of  symbols that  capture  fading movements and
patterns.  More importantly, the written language enables not only the
practice and repetition of body muscles, but also the free exercise of
creating new versions and recreating old ones (Hebert, 2016).
Finally, the written strokes accompany the construction of a
‘choreology’ or ballet text that represents movements, positions, and
postures (Kando, 2020). Clearly, the archived data  highlights the
exchange between music and dance, establishing a dynamic dialogue that
results in intersemiotic and nonlinear translation and interpretation
(Cattrysse, 2014).
In closing, Chapter 11 offers “Dancing symbols and movement notations
as a form of  translation.” Wardle mentions Labanotation Notation
(1928) and Benesh Movement Notation  (1956) as two well-known systems
used to facilitate access to old choreographies. The  author
underscores the historical struggle to find annotation symbols that
represent different  body actions (flexion, extension, rotation),
dancing directions and levels, and shifts or absence of support and
balance. The different attempts to annotate choreographic movements
share the same goals  of hierarchizing the art of dancing, departing
from the stigma of lesser and  ephemeral artform (Van Zile, 1985).
Therefore, dance notations struggle to compensate for previous lack of
tangible records and elevate the art to the same level of the other
artistic representations. Moreover, current notations are
complemented by an extended body of resources, from newspaper reviews
to collaborators’  letters, and from choreographer’s drawings to
stagers’ notebooks. In addition, the abundance  of films and online
recordings are now accessible to performers who can absorb past
dancers’  gestures and expressions, and to directors who may identify
authoritative voices in the  artwork (Goodman, 1968). However, and
despite the incremental use of written systems that favor the art’s
continuation and robustness (Pouillaude, 2017), Wardle warns that
dance notation should never subjugate  or restrict movements, but
rather convey emotions and allow open interpretations.
EVALUATION
Music, Dance and Translation is a valuable book that reunites
experienced educators,  musicians, choreographers, and dancers from
different countries and trajectories. The authors offer not only their
expertise, but also deep understanding of multimodal translation,
transferring not only verbal but also cultural systems in artistic
representations. The collected studies fulfill the overarching goal of
exploring the interconnectedness between different means, expressive
languages, and resources, and integrate notions of adaptation,
transmutation, and reconfiguration under a comprehensive perspective
on translation  Different authors address interdisciplinary trends
that examine the modalities of musical composition,  choreographic
performance and linguistic text, in light of their socio-cultural
context, in order to render acceptable translations. The compilation
is well supported by  theoretical principles and numerous examples,
besides the authors’ background knowledge  and long experience in the
fields of music and dance. Most point out intersemiotic challenges
faced during the translation process between the different kinds of
expression, as well as difficulty in bridging the gap between the
original artwork, with its idiosyncratic conditions of production, and
the target product which will be experienced under contemporary
conditions.  The book will be helpful not only to specialized
audiences in art and/or linguistics, but also to readers interested in
a better understanding of current transposition and interconnectedness
between genres, languages, and modalities. Moreover, the book uses
class examples,  historical performances, memories, and illustration
to vividly document the strong collaboration between performers,
directors, and stagers involved in the creative process.  One
secondary recommendation addresses the excessive descriptions of step
dances and musical scores provided in some chapters, which would
escape the comprehension of the average reader. Finally,  in other
cases, some authors would have benefitted from further elaboration of
relevant concepts, simply mentioned, such as the creation of a
“musical grammar” and the incorporation of the Systemic Functional
Approach (Halliday, 1994). Overall, Music, Dance and Translation
situates the translation activity in contemporary  complex,
multilayered and multicultural societies, and therefore the book is
highly  recommended.
REFERENCES
Bassnett, S. (2014). Translation Studies. London: Routledge.
Benesh, R., and A. Benesh. (1956). An Introduction to Benesh,
Movement-Notation: Dance. London: Adam and Charles Black.
Cattrysse, P. (2014). Descriptive Adaptation Studies: Epistemological
and Methodological  Issues. Antwerp and Apeldoor: Garant publishers.
Dimova, P. (2013). Decadent Senses: The Dissemination of Oscar Wilde's
Salome across the  Arts. In C. Rowden ed, Performing Salome, Revealing
Stories. Farnham: Ashgate: 15-47.
Foster, S. (2008). Reading Dancing: Bodies and Subjects in
Contemporary American Dance.  Berkeley, CA: University of California
Press.
Genette, G. (1997). Paratext: Thresholds of Interpretation. Translated
by J. Lewin with a  Forword by R. Macksey. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Gentner, D. (1983). Structure-Mapping: A Theoretical Framework for
Analogy. Cognitive  Science 7(2): 155-170.
Goodman, N. (1968). Languages of Art. Indianapolis, In: Bobbs-Merrill
Company  Halliday, M.A.K (1994). An Introduction to Functional
Grammar. London: Edward Arnold.
Hebert, C. (2016). Movement Memory: How we Learn, Retain and Remember
Dance. The  Dance Current: Canada's dance Magazine. Canada.
November/December. http://www.the
dancecurrent.com/feature/movement-memory
Holman, M. and J. Boase-Beier, Eds. (1999). The Practices of Literaty
Translation:  Constraints and Creativity. Manchester: St. Jerome
Publishing.
Hutchinson Guest, A. (1984). Dance Notation: The Process of Recording
Movement on  Paper. London: Dance Books.
Jäger, L. and G. Stanitzek, Eds. (2002).
Transkribieren-Medien/Lekturen. München: Wilhelm  Fink.
Jakobson, R. (2004). On Linguistic Aspects of Translation. In L.
Venuti (ed.) The Translation  Studies Reader. New York, Routledge:
138-143.
Kando, J. (2020). What Is Choreology. Owlcation.
https://owlcation.com/humanities/what-is choreology
Kress, G. (2010). Multimodality: A Social Semiotic Approach to
Contemporary  Communication. London: Routledge.
Minors, J., Ed. (2013). Music, Text and Translation. London:
Bloomsbury. Munday, J. (2016). Introducing Translation Studies. New
York: Routledge. Nabokov, V. (1964). On translating Pushkin: Pounding
the clavichord. New York  Review of Books 2(6).
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/1964/04/30
Pouillaude, F. (2017). Unworking Choreography: The Notion of the Work
in Dance, Translated by A. Pakes. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Reardon, J. (2007). Ballet and the Bard. Performance. Print. National
Ballet of Canada  Archives.
Saussure, F. (1983). Course in General Linguistics. R. Harris, C.
Bally and A. Sechehaye  (eds). London: Duckworth.
Van Zile, J. (1985). What is the dance? Implications for dance
notation. Dance Research Journal, 17(2), 41-47.
ABOUT THE REVIEWER
Laura Dubcovsky is a retired instructor and supervisor from the
Teacher Education Program in the School of Education at the University
of California, Davis. With a Master’s in  Education and a Ph. D in
Spanish linguistics/with special emphasis on second language
acquisition, her interests tap topics of language, bilingual
education, and bilingual children’s literature. She has taught
bilingual teachers to use and practice communicative and academic
Spanish needed in bilingual classrooms for more than ten years. She is
currently helping with professional development courses for bilingual
teachers, interpreting in parent/teachers’  conferences, and
translating for several institutions, such as Davis and Riverside
Joint Unified School Districts, the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento,
YoloArts in Woodland,  Davis Art Center, STEAC, and the Zapotec
Digital Project of Ticha. Laura is a long-standing reviewer for the
Linguistic list-serve and the California Association of
School-University  Partnerships (CASUP), and she also reviews articles
for the Elementary School Journal,  Journal of Latinos and Education,
Hispania, and Lenguas en Contexto.
She published  “Functions of the verb decir (‘to say’) in the
incipient academic Spanish writing of bilingual  children in Functions
of Language, 15(2), 257-280 (2008) and the chapter, “Desde California.
Acerca de la narración en ámbitos bilingües” in ¿Cómo aprendemos y
cómo enseñamos la  narración oral? (2015). Rosario, Homo Sapiens: 127-
133.



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