Una Popović, The Subject of Dance, Kultura 2018.pdf (original) (raw)

Despitethefactthatdanceisinconceivablewithoutabody dancing,thesoulwastraditionallyunderstoodasthesubjectofdance. Giventhefactthattheartofdanceunderwentitsfirstaestheticalanalysis duringthemodernera,asoneofthefinearts,itwasphilosophically understoodagainstthebackgroundofdualism,ofsoulandbodybeing separated and mutually exclusive entities. In such context, the body wasseenasamerematerialobject,deprivedofanyfeaturesrequired for the subject of any art. On the other hand, the soul was seen as active, productive, creative, as the origin of meaning and as using bodytoconveymeaningstootherminds.Therefore,forthefirstdance aesthetics the soul was interpreted as the subject of dance, and the bodyasitsinstrument.However,themodernideaofdancebecamethe basisforitstheoreticalinquiry,tobequestionedonlyinthesecondhalf of the 20 th century. Relying on phenomenology, contemporary dance aestheticiansinvertedsuchidea,proclaimingbodyasthetruesubject of dance, and ascribing to the body all creative and artistic features thatweretraditionallyascribedtothesoul.InthisessayIwillexamine suchinversion,bycomparingthemostimportantconsequencesofthe traditional idea with new, contemporary and alternative solutions, basedontheideaofbodyasаkinaestheticphenomenon.Theanalysis willshowtheproblemsofsuchinversion,aswellaspossiblefurther consequencesoftheideathatbody,akinaestheticphenomenon,isthe truesubjectofdance.