Approach:

Robert Wood’s choreographic works embody a unique philosophy of dance-making as both scientific and arts research into our human kinetic potential. This embraces a deep commitment to “dance as diplomacy” on an international scale.

These unique features drew the attention of cultural anthropologist, Dr. Brenda Farnell. Since 2005 Wood and Farnell have collaborated on several ethnographic projects sponsored by the University Research Board and the Center for Advanced Study at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Selected Publications:

Performing Precision and the Limits of Observation (2011) by Brenda Farnell and Robert Wood

This is a book chapter published in Tim Ingold’s edited collection, Redrawing Anthropology: Materials, Movement, Lines, for the series Anthropological Studies of Creativity and Perception Series, published by Ashgate Press, London.

Choreography As Live Theoretical Practice (2007) by Robert Wood and Brenda Farnell

This paper examines the approach and interdisciplinary collaboration between dancer/choreographer Robert Wood and cultural anthropologist Brenda Farnell. Presented at the International Symposium on Dance Research which convened at the Centre National de la Danse, Paris 21-24 June 2007. Published in Proceedings of 30th Annual Conference of the Society for Dance History Scholars (SDHS) co-sponsored with Committee on Research in Dance (CORD).

Dancing with Authorization: From the Reservation to Ramallah (2007) by Brenda Farnell and Robert Wood

This paper, published in the Journal for the Anthropological Study of Human Movement, explores two contrasting cases of changes in choreographic form and dance practices that we find significant for the understanding of danced knowledge and for larger questions concerning authenticity and appropriation in the circulation of intellectual and cultural capital generally. First, we examine El-Funoun, a Palestinian popular folkloric dance troupe from the West Bank town of Ramallah (Palestine) that, in 1998 through 2001, invited Robert Wood, as an expert in Western contemporary dance, to conduct a choreographic residency. We then compare and contrast this with indigenous North America, specifically the experiences of a Northern Plains Men’s Traditional dancer Brenda Farnell came to know, who performed with the touring com­pany American Indian Dance Theater (AIDT).