Choreographies of Landscape DANCE AND PERFORMANCE STUDIES General Editors: Helen Wulff, Stockholm University and Jonathan Skinner, Queen’s University, Belfast Advisory Board: Alexandra Carter, Marion Kant, Tim Scholl In all cultures, and across time, people have danced. Mesmerizing performers and spectators alike, dance creates spaces for meaningful expressions that are held back in daily life. Grounded in ethnography, this series explores dance and bodily movement in cultural contexts at the juncture of history, ritual and performance, including musical, in an interconnected world. Volume 1 Dancing at the Crossroads: Memory and Mobility in Ireland Helena Wulff Volume 2 Embodied Communities: Dance Traditions and Change in Java Felicia Hughes-Freeland Volume 3 Turning the Tune: Traditional Music, Tourism and Social Change in an Irish Village Adam Kaul Volume 4 Dancing Cultures: Globalization, Tourism and Identity in the Anthropology of Dance Edited by Hélène Neveu Kringelbach and Jonathan Skinner Volume 5 Dance Circles: Movement, Morality and Self-Fashioning in Urban Senegal Hélène Neveu Kringelbach Volume 6 Learning Senegalese Sabar: Dancers and Embodiment in New York and Dakar Eleni Bizas Volume 7 In Search of Legitimacy: How Outsiders Become Part of an Afro-Brazilian Tradition Lauren Miller Griffi th Volume 8 Choreographies of Landscape: Signs of Performance in Yosemite National Park Sally Ann Ness Choreographies of Landscape Signs of Performance in Yosemite National Park q Sally Ann Ness berghahn N E W Y O R K • O X F O R D www.berghahnbooks.com First published in 2016 by Berghahn Books www.berghahnbooks.com ©2016 Sally Ann Ness All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purposes of criticism and review, no part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without written permission of the publisher. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Ness, Sally Ann. Choreographies of landscape : signs of performance in Yosemite National Park / Sally Ann Ness. pages cm — ( Dance and Performance Studies ; 8) Includes index. ISBN 978-1-78533-116-9 (hardback : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-1-78533-117-6 (ebook) 1. Human geography—California—Yosemite National Park. 2. Cultural landscapes—California—Yosemite National Park. 3. National parks and reserves—Public use—Yosemite National Park. 4. Ethnology—California— Yosemite National Park. 5. Performing arts—Philosophy. 6. Ethnology— Philosophy. 7. Landscapes—Social aspects. 8. Symbolism. I. Title. GF504.C2N47 2016 979.4’47—dc23 2015028312 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN: 978-1-78533-116-9 Hardback E-ISBN: 978-1-78533-117-6 Ebook Th is book is dedicated to Yosemite’s visitors, past, present, and future; and especially to my daughter, Anna Lucile Reck, and those of her millennial generation. Chinese tourists taking photos of themselves at Tunnel Viewpoint, Yosemite National Park, June 2012. Photo by Sally Ann Ness. Contents q List of Illustrations viii Acknowledgments x I. Approach Landscape Performance Th eory, an Introduction 3 II. Visiting 1. Bouldering: Movements of the Unforetold 43 2. Climbing: Scenic-Obscenic Movement 72 3. Hiking: Self-World Transformations 101 III. Moving On 4. Unwinding and Changing Course 129 5. Th e Spartanburg Coincidence 155 Index 171 Illustrations q Frontispiece. Chinese tourists taking photos of themselves at Tunnel Viewpoint, Yosemite National Park, June 2012. Photo by Sally Ann Ness. vi Figure 0.1. Visitor Anna Reck choreographing a “small fact” of visitor experience inside a living oak tree in Yosemite Valley, 4 July 2005. Photo by Erich Reck (from the collection of Sally Ann Ness). 5 Figure 0.2. Visitors performing on boulders beside the trail to Lower Yosemite Fall Viewpoint, April 2009. Photo by Sally Ann Ness. 9 Figure 0.3. Amna Shiekh climbing on the Columbia Boulder, October 2008. Photo by Sally Ann Ness. 15 Figure 1.1. Alan Moore preparing to climb the route Jacob’s Ladder, April 2008. Photo by Sally Ann Ness. 42 Figure 1.2. Moore climbing Jacob’s Ladder, April 2008. Photo by Sally Ann Ness. 51 Figure 2.1. Jamcrack’s vertical crack, a typical feature in Yosemite’s granite walls. Photo by Derick Fay, May 2010 (from the collection of Sally Ann Ness). 80 Figure 2.2. Author climbing on the unnamed crack before the incident occurred. Photo by Darrell Logan, May 2010 (from the collection of Sally Ann Ness). 81 Figure 2.3. Author at the top of the unnamed crack climb after the speech act occurred. Photo by Charlotte Tonnies Moore, May 2010 (from the collection of Sally Ann Ness). 95 Figure 3.1. Half Dome seen from Glacier Point, July 2005. Th e face of Tis-se-yak is said to be visible in the upper right quadrant of the north face. Photo by Katie Manduca (from the collection of Sally Ann Ness). 104 Illustrations ■ ix Figure 3.2. Vernal Fall Bridge, June 2012, taken at around 8:00 am, at the beginning of an overnight trip to the summit of Half Dome. Photo by Sally Ann Ness. 106 Figure 3.3. Backpackers on the alternate route up to the top of Nevada Fall, June 2012. Photo by Sally Ann Ness. 108 Figure 3.4. Bridge at the top of Nevada Fall, June 2012. Photo by Robert Finch II (from the collection of Sally Ann Ness). 109 Figure 3.5. View of summit from the end of the fourth stage, June 2012. Photo by Sally Ann Ness. 111 Figure 3.6. View from the top of Subdome, June 2012. Photo by Sally Ann Ness. 112 Figure 3.7. Cables of the fi nal stage of the Half Dome hike, June 2012. Photo by Sally Ann Ness. 114 Figure 5.1. Yosemite Valley’s eastern end, October 2008. Half Dome is to the right. Royal Arches and Washington Column are in the center. Photo by Sally Ann Ness. 154 Figure 5.2. A frontal view of Royal Arches, September 2008. Photo by Sally Ann Ness. 162 Figure 5.3. El Capitan, October 2005. Photo by Sally Ann Ness. 163 Figure 5.4. Ranger in Camp 4, Yosemite Valley, October 2008. Photo by Sally Ann Ness. 167