Dance as Embodied Philosophy

Abstract

Katan suggests a comprehensive conception of dancing as a means of expression. The chapter discusses existing arguments in pragmatism, enactivism, and aesthetic theories in order to integrate them into a broader understanding of dance as a physical medium of thinking. Following Susanne K. Langer’s definition that the semblance in dance gestures is entailed in the actual motion, Katan specifies the perceptual process of dancing as the embodiment of expressed meaning. The chapter stresses the two directions of embodied philosophy in dance. First, human bodies enact cognition. Second, bodily movements are materializations of knowledge that were activated in the process of their shaping.