1454  Lumpers vs Splitters

Date: Tue, 1 Jul 2003 05:39:06 -0700
From: Jonathan Thornton <jnt@NOYAU.COM>
Subject: Lumpers vs Splitters

* Subject: [TANGO-L] Bizarre cont.
* From: Charles Roques <Crrtango@AOL.COM>
Keith wrote:

<<<And here I thought I was just moving with a partner to music and that it
was my privilege, being alive, to live and dance in the moment. >>>

Charles wrote:

>a particular dance, not just the act of dancing. I don't disagree with
>any of your sentiments but why bother to distinguish one dance from the
>other if you don't accept each one's boundaries (including it's musical
>roots)? Isn't that what separates one from the other?

And I realized: This is a classic lumper versus splitter debate!

Well, I'm not sure exactly how classic it is, or if it is even classic,
but I do recognize one of the dynamics of these ongoing unresolved debates
is the different approaches of lumpers and splitters to defining what a
dance is; are general principles more or less significant than specific
details?

These kinds of debates are ongoing in biology, psychology, anthropology,
etc. But I suddenly realized that it's found among the posters to this
list also. I also realize that this means there isn't going to be a final
resolution. If scientists can't resolve this issue, I doubt dancers can.

peace,
Jonathan Thornton

the great globe itself, yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve; and,
like this insubstantial pageant faded, leave not a rack behind. We are
such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with a
sleep. -- Shakespeare, The Tempest, Act IV