Dance as Aesthetic Behavior
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Dance as Aesthetic Behavior
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We have analized simple dance forms from the perspective of our approach - aesthetics as
behavior. Dance has
been viewed as a fluent art form that is regulated by the dancers while it is being
developed. An important
question remains: does this perspective provide some insight for understanding aesthetics?
This view of aesthetics stresses other factors than those elaborated through the analysis
of literature, painting,
sculpture, etc. We will discuss here the two most important ones: the dynamics of
aesthetics and the social aspect
of aesthetics.
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Theodor Adorno (22) said that there is no question that art does not begin with works", he
then went on to speak
of aesthetic behavior." This term is ideal to characterize what happens in dance:
perception (aisthesis) and
behavior - often thought of as being, the opposite - are strongly linked in dance. The
S-TS must be created by
the dancers, and this creation can only take place if already created elements (spatial
configurations as well as
temporal structures) are perceived. This unity of perception and movement was described by
Viktor von
Weizsäcker as early as 1940 (23), and Rudolf zur Lippe (24) expanded on this matter in his
"anthropological aesthetic."
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Aesthetic behavior in dance means perception of the ongoing movements and modification of
one's own
movements while perceiving those of others. lt seems that we share this behavior with
animals, as some birds
modify their movements while dancing" in relation to the mate's movements. One of the most
beautiful examples
is the mating dance among the male birds of paradise, in which they coordinate their
movements on the pairing
tree. But this behavior does not comprise the creation of a S-TS because there is no
continuity that indicates
intentionality. A S-TS can only be established if the projection of temporal and spatial
structures is possible: the
dancer must know in advance exactly when he wants to be where. It is not enough to react
to a partner; this will
always be too late.
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Intentionality is, therefore, crucial. It enables the dancers to plan their movements to
be in the right place at the
right moment. It is astonishing, how often children, energetically perceiving and moving,
try to get into such a
STS (Figs.20 and 21), and it is wonderful to see their happiness when they are in phase
with the group. After a
certain time, the maintained S-TS may become boring, so that varlations within the
structure may begin.
Sometimes these variations lead to the end of the dance; sornetimes they are the beginning
of a transformation phase from which a new S-TS evolves.
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The creation of common norms, their maintainance, their variation, and their
desintegration are not only stages
of dance events, they also correspond to important phases in problem solving (25) and
creative processes. (26) The
stages can be detected in both the individual process of creation, as in the development
of Picasso's Guernica" (27)
and in phenomena of art history, such as the construction, variation, and destruction of
linear
perspective. (28,29) As dance leaves no traces or constructions, there is nothing left to
be destroyed. In dance,
something, is or is not. To dance means to transform. (30) Destruction is linked to
construction - to material
objectification that can be destroyed. The density of such objectification on our planet
demands objectless" art,
through which we can relearn transformation instead of destruction. (31)
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The first essential change caused by the dance model" was to abandon the common
supposition that aesthetics
predominantly deals with ideas fixed in works of art (objectifications). The triangle -
creator, work of art, and
receptor - is replaced by the moving subject that is at once creator, vehicle of the
message, and receptor. The
comprehensive term for this changed attitude is aesthetic behavior. The specificity of
this behavior lies in the fact
that it is not a simple action or reaction but a permanent play with the self-created
rules.
The rules provide a framework within which the dancer can cause shivers by trying new
exciting movement
combinations. The power lies in his hands.The pure shock does not provoke the aesthetic
thrill but the fear that
there is no more possibility to handle it. Therefore, the playful character of aesthetic
behavior is important. It
permits regulation of thrill, stimulation, and the degree of novelty, which make art
experiences so wonderful.
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Another common supposition concerning the relationship between aesthetic events and the
social context has
been amended. The belief still prevails that creation occurs in solitude. From our
perspective of group dancing,
creation cannot be an act of just one individual- only the consent of the participants
leads to a group dance (Figs.
23 and 24). The consent is expressed in the S-TS, which can be considered a unifying norm.
Tbe group-binding
function" of dance, described by Eibl-Eibesfeldt (32), may have one of its roots in this
common S-TS. Strong and
weak individuals must integrate, if they do not want to be excluded from the dance event.
The norm binding the
paritcipants does not mean that individual display is suppressed. lt is this very common
S-TS that allows and
even demands individual variation. (33) This is especially true for small groups. The
rhythms of very big groups
dominate the individual movements without being influenced by their specific dynamics. The
rules become laws
and lose their playful character. The dance has changed into a military march. Instead of
encouraging variation, it
dictates uniformity.
Human movement - a very simple form of creation - needs the answering movement of other
human beings.
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Only if these movements are authentic expressions of personalities and not the jerking
movements of
marionettes, can real communication occur. Only in small groups will individuals be able
to learn to trust their
own rhythms, dynamics, and movements. Sometimes, society delegates the creation of
aesthetic norms and their
maintenance to a few specialists. Then the aesthetic domain loses not only wide ranges of
individual variations, it also risks being increasingly secluded from everyday life. The
public may be confronted with works of art,
whose meaning is no longer comprehensible to them. The works of art denote a foreign world.
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The masses, who are condemned to passive spectatorship or are forced to perform in a
preconceived manner, lose interest in experimenting with their individual possibilities.
Instead of revealing their personalities to others
and having fun, they become narcissistic, or worse, just boring.
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<u>Dr. Walter SIEGFRIED, Munich, Germany <mailto:waltersiegfried@t-online.de></u>
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