Disputatio on Dance

by Abbas F. Villalon

March 31, 2017

April 21, 2017
DANCE
 “Dance is the art of
creating beautiful forms
in motion in time and
s p a c e by m e a n s o f t h e
human body” (228)
 arrangement
of bodily bodily
movements movements
beauty in time and dancer
space
 When does bodily movement
become dance
1.  NOPE - INFANT – natural movements as he begins to move
around in space, learns to walk, and runs
•  END: utility
2.  ALMOST BUT NOT YET – CHILD – plays at moving himself in a
certain manner and instinctively calculates the movements
he plans to make
•  END: to take pleasure in these movements
3.  YEP- when the natural bodily movements are ordered by
imparting to them a form which is pleasing in itself,
independent of any other end
•  END: beauty
Stage  1  
Stage  3  
 On dance
•  “brings us to a wholly special order of the arts whose aim is
to impart formal beauty to the human being himself: to his
body, his soul, or to both taken together” (213)
•  “the body in motion is the material of the dance, but
intelligence is another requisite of the dancer, and the gifts
of the body should be complemented by the gifts of the
mind” (221)
Ø  “the dance is preeminently the domain of the
substantial union of the BODY and MIND” (221)
•  since every dancer is a distinct human being, his art will
necessarily bear the imprint of his personality, his body as
well as his soul/mind
 If the dance is an art of the
beautiful, then its end is the
exaltation of the human body.
 Dance
art of creating beautiful forms in
motion in time and space by
means of the human body
 EXALTATION
•  exaltatio: act of raising high
•  feeling of happiness or delight in

HUMAN BODY
The beauty of dance manifests
the beauty of the human body.
 MANIFEST
make it come out/ make it clear/
make it apparent to the eye
 middle term

TRANSFERENCE
process of acquiring
aesthetic bias
 transference from attention and
appreciation of beauty of the
arrangement of the bodily
movements to the attention and
appreciation of beauty of the body
itself
 AESTHETIC BIAS
-  result of transference from
attention and appreciation of
beauty of the arrangement of
the bodily movements to the
attention and appreciation of
beauty of the body itself
-  may be positive or negative
 CHINESE  BALLET  HAND  IN  HAND  
(by  dancers  with  disabili?es)  
-­‐they  have  an  objec?ve  lack  (limbs)    
-­‐the  viewers’  apprecia?on  of  their  dance  is  not  aesthe?c    
but  it  is  brought  by  their  sympathy  for  the  dancers  
 STREET  DANCE/MEK  IT  BUNX  CHOREOGRAPHY  
(by  dancers  with  finely  shaped  bodies)  
-­‐they  do  not  have  an  objec?ve  lack  because  they  have  “dancer  bodies”  
-­‐the  viewers’  apprecia?on  of  their  dance  is  aesthe?c;  in  fact,  viewers  find  their  dance  
beau?ful  because  they  were  accustomed  to  dancers  with  bodies  like  these  (neither  tall  
nor  short,  neither  fat  nor  thin  –  “katamtaman”  lang)  
 HAWAII  HULA  DANCE  
(by  male  dancers)  
-­‐viewers  are  exposed  to  seeing  female  dancers  dancing  the  hula  dance  
(so  they  are  by  nature  shorter  and  slimmer  than  men)  
-­‐these  male  dancers  are  tall  and  have  large  bodies  but  they  dance  gracefully  
and  add  a  different  flavor  to  the  dance  
-­‐the  transference  makes  the  viewer  look  at  the  propor?ons  of  the  “macho”  male  hula  dancers  
without  having  to  compare  them  with  female  hula  dancers  
 SVETLANA  ZAKHAROVA  
(TALL  ballet  dancer)  
-­‐does  height  maaer  for  a  ballet  dance  to  be  beau?ful?  
 GELSEY  KIRKLAND  
(SHORT  ballet  dancer)  
-­‐height  doesn’t  maaer  for  a  ballet  dance  to  be  beau?ful  
-­‐the  transference  makes  the  viewer  look  at  the  propor?ons  of  Gelsey  Kirkland’s  body  
without  having  to  compare  it  with  Svetlana  Zakharova’s    
-­‐they  both  dance  gracefully  and  beau?fully;  height  does  not  maaer;  VIEWER  LOOKS  AT  
THE  BODY  IN  ITSELF  AND  NOT  IN  RELATION  TO  OTHER  BODIES  
-­‐thus,  instead  of  calling  Kirkland  “bansot,”  the  viewer  who  acquires  a  posi?ve  aesthe?c  bias  
from  the  transference  would  now  call  her  “pe?te”  
 
 
TRADITIONAL  TAP  DANCE  
 
BOOTMEN  TAP  DANCE