News
Kodat lectures on dance and communism
By Dillon Kelly ’18
February 20, 2015
On Tuesday afternoon, Hamilton was lucky enough to welcome back an old professor and friend, Catherine Kodat. Kodat was an English and American Studies professor at Hamilton for many years before becoming Provost and Dean of the Division of the Liberal Arts at the Univeristy of the Arts in Philadelphia.
Provost Kodat was back in Clinton to give a lecture on her new book, Don’t Act, Just Dance: the Metapolitics of Cold War Culture, a book which explores the effects of the Cold War on American society and culture. It was very clear that Kodat was a beloved member of the Hamilton faculty, when she entered the room, faces lit up and professors broke into applause.
The lecture began with Kodat saying that she wrote her book to interrogate the revisionist theory of modern art. She elaborated, saying that post WWII abstract expressionism was embraced post war because it was apolitical, yet Kodat finds this to be a generalization, using ballet as her example.
Kodat continued, telling the story of a ballet entitled “The Figure in the Carpet,” which was meant to combat the stereotypical, narrative ballets of the time. In general, “The Figure in the Carpet” was a mysterious production. There was a constant question of the Iranian Shah’s involvement in financing the production, which was discredited but still added to its allure and mystique. Despite the controversy, “The Figure in the Carpet” went on to be one of the New York City Ballet’s most successful ballets since “The Nutcracker.”
In spite of the ballet’s success, there was still a preconceived notion in the United States that ballet was “a queer artform” to use Kodat’s words. Kodat continued by saying that there was a public vs. private battle over ballet. On the public side, ballet was discredited and not well liked. On the flip side, ballet was seen as a sexual art form, in which the dancer’s bodies were on display, Kodat calling this the great “public secret.”
Kodat then diverged slightly and began discussing the political dimension of ballet, and how it was the only art form that could socially combat the Soviet Union. Simultaneously, the Cold War saw the emergence of the gay and lesbian civil rights movement.
Kodat showed a few slides displaying the costumes from “The Figure in the Carpet,” which were outrageous for no real purpose or reason. This was the purpose all along, to create a ballet with little narrative structure, emphasizing dance in its purest form.
However, Kodat explained that there was something strange about the ballet. The dance was divided into two distinct parts, the first being very abstract and the second more traditional. Kodat found this ironic, considering the US government’s goal was to promote democracy and change throughout the world, yet this section of the ballet was embracing traditional dance, even including the Prince and Princess of Persia as the central love interest.
Kodat ended her lecture by further explaining the mystery behind “The Figure in the Carpet” and why there has been no attempt at a revival. Kodat attributes this to the ballet’s “shelf life” and relevance. People during this time were simultaneously frightened and fascinated with the Eastern world, something this production embraced.
As a whole, it was easy to see that this lecture was well received by both faculty and students. The audience remained attentive and engaged, following a subject most people knew little about. Assistant Professor of English Benjamin Widiss said, “I loved it. Such a fascinating mix of historical excavation, cultural critique, and close reading, so eloquently woven together. I also liked the way she was able to draw on, but extend so far beyond, personal experience.”