1768  The Subject(s) of one's dance(ing)

Date: Sat, 30 Aug 2003 20:11:43 -0700
From: Jonathan Thornton <jnt@NOYAU.COM>
Subject: The Subject(s) of one's dance(ing)

I was listening to a song I really liked and thinking about
how to express my interest in moving to it. How the quality
of a physical gesture had for me a felt meaning that followed
the auditory meaning for me of the melody and the singer's phrasing.
I found myself thinking, "the song has a subject, and so what is the
subject of my dance?".

I then felt that the word "subject" seemed a good way to refer to the
level of the dance above the vocabulary and technique. The subject of the
dance may collapse to being the "steps" but it can rise to refer to a
level of meaning that encompasses the whole brain function including not
only sensorimotor skills, but also feelings and intentions and conscious
experience. That dancers may not consciously consider the subject of their
dancing doesn't at all mean they don't have one.

Posters to this list have at various times mentioned such subjects as
ritualized courtship, seduction, "feeling" Argentine, feeling a sweetness,
feeling a sadness, looking elegant, experiencing a feeling of transcendent
flow. This is far short of a comprehensive listing.

Social dance doesn't usually discuss the subject of the dance beyond
steps, moves, technique, style and perhaps something spoken of as the
character of the dance. In folk dances the subject may be explicit as part
of an occasion such as a wedding, or harvest celebration. Social dancers
will tend to participate in the social meaning of the dance, but the
greater individuality of improvised partner dance creates conditions of
greater personal diversity of subject.

Always the challenge is to see that though our individual brain/body
conditioning defines our individual world that beyond our skins other
individuals often perceive, value, and feel differently than we do.

The introduction of the explicit concept of subject is a cognitive
activity to allow each individual to understand their dancing as well as
their partner's dancing. For example some dancers seem most interested in
doing complex steps with visually appealing style. Dramatic visual
expression is their subject. Others dance for a feeling of being included
in a social group activity. There are those who dance to seek partners in
either seduction, romance, or both. And no one is limited to one subject.
I think it's far more common that each person has several subjects that
shift in importance during the evening or even during a single dance.

What I think is important is to note that not all dancers of tango share
the same subjects of their dance. I personally don't have much grasp or
interest in being read visually. Partnering with someone whose main
subject is that of visual presentations of difficult, complex, or dramatic
moves will be frustrating for each of us.

I think this notion of subject also can be useful at the level of
instruction for both teachers and students. My personal interest lie
outside the mainstream of social dance in the area of how movement and
bodily presence shares feelings in the music. But others can clarify their
subject matter. Do they want to be visually more elegant? dramatic? or are
they wanting to be more seductive? I'm not going to cite the posts that
address these but I've read discussion on this list which focused on each
of these subjects. There is also the very real subject of dancing tango to
feel more Argentine. Some non natives have spent enough time in BsAs to
begin to take that as a subject, but for other's of us who were not born
Argentine that will remain outside our experience.

I would like to hear on the list or by email from anyone who has further
thoughts on recognizing the role of subject in their social dancing.

peace,
Jonathan Thornton