Hello, I don't want to open a big and painful thread, nor I have the intention to make a fight with Robert that I love as a person and as an artist and with whom I worked and will work (more post to come about that), but I'd like to point something in his mail although it's not the center of Robert's posting. Unfortunately I have no time to go to make a speach to next COSIGN too. I'd just like to ask him (and all) why dance is considered a language in his (your) mind. I'm not so sure. And for many reasons. 1) We should make a difference, in my opinion, between "the dance" and "a dance ". "The dance" is like "the language" or "the blindness": it just doesen't exist as it. I think I should explain priefly my point of view. There are languages, there are blind people, but "The Language" and "The Blindness" do not exist out ph philosophical discourse. The latter are abstract categories. In fact abstract categories do not exist in certains native american languages... So my question is (I only have questions) : knowing that cerain styles of dance (certain dances, certain techniques) are based on a vocabulary, is "The dance" (as an abstract category) a language? I have difficulties in thinking Contact Improvisation as a language. Does it means that Contact Improvisation is not a dance? I think I understand Robert's point of wiew: if I don't mistake his thougt he's pointing the fact that certain dances have a precise vocabulary (Vaganova's classical technique or Cecchetti's for instance) and that we might be able to discuss it from a semantic point of view. I agree wth him but this leads me to another problem with subsequent question. 2) I'd like to make a difference between a choreography and a dance. Choreography in my opinion is the sequence of certains movements in time and space, while the quality of these movement is the dance. If you see a Cunningham's choreography danced by the NYCB or by Cunningham's company you see the same choreography but a different dance. To analyze a choreography from the semiotic point of view seems difficult to me (should we extract the dance to see only the choreography like a labanotation score? Is it possible to analyze a dance regardless of the choreography?). When I go to see Swan Lake I know the choreography, I want to see the dance (interpretation) of a dancer. INterpretation is more difficut to categorize as a language.... I'm sorry for the questions, but maybe we could work on some of it. > Dance is, after all, a language of >symbols and -- to my way of thinking, has something important to contribute >to semiotics. i would like to encourage more dancers to send something in >-- a piece description with supporting material, video (any format) if >possible. -- ______________________________ Armando Menicacci (Paris 8 University 75 rue Caulaincourt 75018 Paris ______________________________
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