The “Powers” of the Dancing Body. Philosophical Cues on the Symbolic Dimension of Dance Starting from Susanne Langer and Daniel Stern

Abstract

In Feeling and Form (1953) philosopher Susanne K. Langer elaborated one of the most interesting philosophical reflections on the symbolic nature of dance. The present article further elaborates on these reflections and integrates them into the analyses by Daniel Stern and Rudolf von Laban. The final aim is understanding how the symbolic character of dance can be concretely articulated through body, movement and space. The main argument of the essay is that dance is able to express awareness of life as a whole. Originally, the ecological dimension (being part of nature), the political dimension (belonging to a community) and the ecstatic dimension (being part of a whole) would all be intimately bonded. This bond would be represented by dance, which may be called «the most serious intellectual activity of primitive life ».