As shore to her ocean: Sarah Michelson’s dancers

24th September 2017Minus Plato TodayAelian, Claudia La Rocco, Greek Tragedy, Phrynichus, Sarah MichelsonMinus Plato

There is an anecdote about the tragic poet Phrynichus, wherein the playwright was made a general by the Athenians based on the choreography of a dance routine in one of his plays. Here is the story as preserved in Aelian’s Various Histories (3.8): The Athenians made Phrynichus general, not out of favor, nor for nobleness […]

One, Two, Three Stages of Boris Charmatz’s “Aatt enen tionon”

23rd September 2017Minus Plato TodayAristotle, Boris Charmatz, Greek TragedyMinus Plato

To consider whether tragedy is fully developed by now in all its various species or not, and to criticize it both in itself and in relation to the stage, that is another question. At any rate it originated in improvisation—both tragedy itself and comedy. The one came from the prelude to the dithyramb and the […]