Why We Dance

A Philosophy of Bodily Becoming

By: Kimerer LaMothe

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eBook | 7 April 2015

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320 Pages

Age
22+

Dimensions(cm)
22.86 x 15.24

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Within intellectual paradigms that privilege mind over matter, dance has long appeared as a marginal, derivative, or primitive art. Drawing support from theorists and artists who embrace matter as dynamic and agential, this book offers a visionary definition of dance that illuminates its constitutive work in the ongoing evolution of human persons. Why We Dance introduces a philosophy of bodily becoming that posits bodily movement as the source and telos of human life. Within this philosophy, dance appears as an activity that humans evolved to do as the enabling condition of their best bodily becoming. Weaving theoretical reflection together with accounts of lived experience, this book positions dance as a catalyst in the development of the brains, compassion, ritual proclivities, and ecological adaptability characteristic of human beings. Aligning with trends in new materialism, affect theory, and feminist philosophy, as well as advances in dance and religious studies, this book argues that dancing has a vital role to play in reversing the trajectory of ecological self-destruction along which human civilization is racing.

Industry Reviews

A rare and welcome book. LaMothe offers a view of the world from one who has woven together three experiential bodies of knowledge crucial to gaining insight into the terrible fractures eroding human life. A dancer and a scholar of dance, she is also a mother and a farmer. Her writing has the feel of the kinds of wisdom cultivated in older cultures, through rituals rooted in the ancient patterns of the cosmos. She brings her considerable experience of moving to bear on the basic questions that engage us all: mattering, meaning, connecting, healing, loving, and caring for the earth.