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18 - Moonwalking: And More Mundane Modes of Moving

from Part IV - Arts, Entertainment, and Culture

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 July 2021

Edward A. Wasserman
Edward A. Wasserman
Affiliation:
University of Iowa
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Summary

As a theatrical art form, puppetry has existed for as long as 4,000 years and has been traced to Europe, Asia, and Africa. Even now, puppetry continues to evolve – from representational to abstract and from traditional to avant-garde. One of today’s leading puppeteers is Basil Twist, who excels in both traditional and avant-garde performance. Twist vaulted to fame in 1998 largely because of his breakthrough performance of Symphonie Fantastique. That work propelled his receipt of a 2015 MacArthur Foundation Fellowship – the so-called genius award. Twist’s Symphonie Fantastique is an amazing assemblage of water, feathers, fabric, classical music, and dramatic lighting. How did the piece come to be? Was it the result of meticulous and foresighted planning? Or was its origin more improvisational and experimental? The answers shed fresh light on the meaning of creative genius and on the nature of puppet art.

Keywords

Basil Twistpuppeteerserendipitytrial-and-errorchoreographySymphonie FantastiqueMacArthur Foundation Fellow
Type
Chapter
Information
As If By Design
How Creative Behaviors Really Evolve
 , pp. 199 - 211
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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References

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Further Material

Ambam Takes a Stroll www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrQf6cogMuIGoogle Scholar
Apollo 16 Crew Member John Young Enjoying His Moving about the Moon www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtK9Wh5ISlYGoogle Scholar
Bill Bailey Backslides Offstage in 1955 www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwtutU2Wg0gGoogle Scholar
Buzz Aldrin’s Moving about the Moon’s Surface www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzYfwHr_62gGoogle Scholar
Cab Calloway Backsliding and Gyrating in the 1932 Short Minnie the Moocher www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7VUU_VPI1EGoogle Scholar
David Bowie Busting His Backsliding Move in 1974 www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LWiqTEwIJMGoogle Scholar
Gene Cernan and Jack Schmitt Singing and Strolling on the Moon during the Apollo 17 Mission www.youtube.com/watch?v=8V9quPcNWZE&feature=PlayList&p=D657D5397CA0BCD7&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=14Google Scholar
Jeffrey Daniel Backslides into History on England’s Top of the Pops in 1982 www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG2YB9pp484Google Scholar
Louis Joins Ambam as an Upright Walker www.cbsnews.com/news/louis-gorilla-philadelphia-zoo-walks-upright/Google Scholar
Michael Jackson First Does the MoonwalkGoogle Scholar
www.Youtube.Com/Watch?V=L55jpld7gzaGoogle Scholar
Michael Didn’t Invent the Moonwalk but Made it Immortal https://midfield.wordpress.com/2009/07/02/michael-didnt-invent-the-moonwalk-but-made-it-immortal/Google Scholar
Neil Armstrong’s First Steps on the moon www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Hq0HueNltE&feature=PlayList&p=77D8267CE5EC5575&index=0Google Scholar

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