Hidden Essence: Is Your Dance a Forgery?
I love TED Talks; they have more awesome videos than I have time to watch! Yesterday I listened to Paul Bloom talk about how knowing the essence of something can make it more or less pleasurable. How could this not relate to dancing, and to our everyday lives? Here are some of the highlights of the talk (at least for me):
First, a few sentences from Bloom that sum up his argument. As you read this, think about the hidden essences that you look and feel for when you’re dancing:
“Humans are to some extent natural-born essentialists. What I mean by this is we don’t just respond to things as we see them or feel them or hear them. Rather our responses are conditioned by our beliefs about what they really are, where they came from, what they’re made of, what their hidden nature is. I want to suggest that this is true not just for how we think about things but how we react to things. So I want to suggest that pleasure is deep… Even the most seemingly simple pleasures are affected by our beliefs about their hidden essences.”
I also love his thoughts about why the distinction between an original work of art and its forgery is (or should be) so important to us:
“I want something that has a specific history. In the case of artwork the history is special indeed. Dennis Dutton, in his wonderful book, The Art Instinct, makes the case that the value of an artwork is rooted in assumptions about the human performance underlying its creation. And that could explain the difference between an original and a forgery. They may look alike, but they have a different history. The original is typically the product of a creative act; the forgery isn’t.”
After I typed this out I read it several times just to let it sink in more! I think about this when it comes to the relationship between movement in the dance and the connection and musicality that inform it. What is the worth or quality of a movement if it is imposed from the outside instead of inspired from within? Is this similar to what Bloom says about only one of the two – the art and the forgery – being the product of a creative act? If we are moving apart from the connection and the music, is that an act of dancing forgery?
Finally, I love the quote that Bloom chooses to close out his talk. These words from the poet John Milton remind me of how much my mind – my connection to what I’m doing and how I’m moving – plays a role in the level of pleasure I give and receive in the dance.
“The mind is its own place,
and in itself
Can make a Heaven of Hell,
a Hell of Heaven”
I hope by now you’re interested in listening to the entire TED talk by Paul Bloom. Take a listen and then come back and answer a question or two below.
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In what ways have history, context, and hidden essences made your dance more pleasurable? Have you ever felt like your dancing was a forgery? Do you think you can tell when others are “forging” their dance?
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