That Still Moment
Poetry and Essays on Dance
By Edwin Denby. Introduction by Cal Revely-Calder
Forthcoming October 2024
The newest volume in the beloved ekphrasis series focuses on dance and poetry through the mind of one of the twentieth century’s greatest critics
“I am interested at the moment in recalling to you how it looks when one sees dancing as non-professionals do, in the way you yourselves I suppose look at pictures, at buildings, at political history or at landscapes or at strangers you pass on the street. Or as you read poetry.” —Edwin Denby
After starting his career as a dancer in Germany, Edwin Denby moved to Manhattan, where he formed friendships with prominent members of the New York School, including Frank O’Hara and John Ashbery, and artists such as Rudy Burckhardt. In his critical writing, he brought his experience as a dancer to the page along with a poet’s sensibility, distinguishing himself as an authority through delicate observation and illustrative prose. This collection of writings highlights Denby’s interdisciplinary scope and range of expression, as well as his sharp, singular voice and empirical sensibility toward all works of art.
That Still Moment pairs Denby’s landmark essays on dance criticism and portraits of major performers, such as Vaslav Nijinsky, with selections of his poetry that are long out of print. The writer and editor Cal Revely-Calder further contextualizes Denby’s life and work in his insightful introduction.
Publisher: David Zwirner Books
Artists: ekphrasis
Contributors: Edwin Denby, Cal Revely-Calder
Designer: Michael Dyer / Remake Design
Printer: VeronaLibri, Verona
Publication Date: 2024
Binding: Softcover
Dimensions: 4.25 × 7 in | 10.8 × 17.8 cm
Pages: 152
Reproductions: 4 illustrations
ISBN: 9781644231371
Retail: $15 | $20 CAN | £10.95
Status: Not Yet Published
ekphrasis
Dedicated to publishing rare, out-of-print, and newly commissioned texts as accessible paperback volumes the ekphrasis series is part of David Zwirner Books’s ongoing effort to publish new and surprising pieces of writing on visual culture.
Edwin Denby
The poet, dancer, and critic Edwin Denby (1903–1983) was born in Tientsin, China, and spent his childhood in Shanghai before moving to Vienna and later Detroit. Initially interested in psychoanalysis, he attended Harvard and the University of Vienna before studying modern dance at the Hellerau-Laxenburg School in Vienna. He performed as a company dancer for several years and returned to the United States in 1935. In 1936, Denby contributed articles to Modern Music, a journal for composers and musicians, where he also wrote on dance. In 1942 he took on the role of dance critic for the New York Herald Tribune, and he later contributed regularly to Ballet and Dance Magazine, among other journals. His writings on dance are compiled in Looking at the Dance (1949), Dancers, Buildings, and People in the Streets (1965), and Dance Writings and Poetry (1998). His poetry collections include In Public, In Private (1948), Mediterranean Cities (1956), Snoring in New York (1974), Selected Poetry (1975), and The Complete Poems (1986).
Cal Revely-Calder
Cal Revely-Calder is the literary editor of The Telegraph. His work has been published in Artforum, the London Review of Books, The Nation, and elsewhere. He has won awards for his criticism from Frieze and The Guardian.