Bodily narratives: creating sense through dance

Abstract

Since humanity’s origin, dance has felt permanent need to be qualified as an art. Lack of codes to read it, legitimacy’s absence in powerful circles, as well as the emergence of contemporary dance, –which blew up classical ballet’s parameters– have hamper the Great Disciplines’ rapprochement. Philosophy, Anthropology and History have made an insufficient definition of dance, in order to contribute today to approach to its real complexity. It is then normal that we are facing the rise of a new multidisciplinary research line, still looking for its roots to consolidate and based on dancing practices: dance research. What is dance? What does a dancing body transmit? How does dance communicate? To answer to these questions, we will start from a historical journey of contemporary dance beginnings, and we will explore its narratives ways. Our conclusion –far from being definitive– will determine that dancing is deeply related to the body and determined by memory, emotions, perception and otherness. It is related as well with creating sense, as Aude Thuries, French dance researcher’s PhD, pointed out recently. This is a proposal that we could call “dance linguistics”.