Why We Dance: A Philosophy of Bodily Becoming (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9780231171045)

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 with accounts of lived experience, this book positions dance as a catalyst in the development of human consciousness, compassion, ritual proclivity, and ecological adaptability. Aligning with trends in new materialism, affect theory, and feminist philosophy, as well as advances in dance and religious studies, this work reveals the vital role dance can play in reversing the trajectory of ecological self-destruction along which human civilization is racing.

Author: Kimerer Lamothe
ISBN-10: 0231171048
ISBN-13: 9780231171045
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Language: English
Published: 04/07/2015
Pages: 304
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.10lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.10w x 0.80d

Review Citation(s):
Choice 10/01/2015