Tolken, in "The anguish of snails: Native American Folklore in the West offers an interesting account of the development of Native American dance as a reflection of the changes in the Native American Society.
The part of her analysis that caught my attention even more was when she suggests a new kind of inquiry. She suggest: "—for our inquiry and insight—let’s ask not, “Why are they dancing?” or “What are they dancing about?” but rather, “What are they dancing?” That is to say, what is embodied in a particular dance while people are performing it? What do the accumulated patterns “say” to us?"
" Just as visual art allows us to create concrete objects to articulate complex cultural values, just as stories and songs allow the expression of cultural ideas in the patterns of oral performance, so dance allows us to dramatize, to act out, to embody a set of
ideas or values which otherwise would remain unarticulated" (80).
As an illustration for this idea (with some refrence to last week's discussion)
I would like to share with you this image:
Moriya, 120/90 cm
I would like to share with you this image:
Moriya, 120/90 cm
And what meaning do you see in this...what made you share it...how does it embody the essence of the "what" that you explain above?
ReplyDeleteI was refering to the non verbal expression in art and dance.
ReplyDeleteAS a paraphrase on "not why are they dancing, not what are they dancing about but rather: what are they dancing"
In my artwork I was hoping that the "what did she paint" will speak to the group, and did not find it necassery
to go to the why, and what is she painting about.
However, now that you bring up this question, I wonder: did you feel that you need more clarification?
What would you like me to say about it?