The title of this post is an age-old philosophical question, but I think it’s good to ask ourselves this question from time to time. Particularly as dance becomes a more common element in mass media, it’s important to think about what we value in dance and in art. Some might argue with even the practice of putting labels on things, but this is a blog about dance, I am passionate about dance, and given that, there are obviously some boundaries in my mind as to what constitutes dance and what does not.
I also ask, is all dance art? And if all dance is art, then how do we classify movement that is not art? What is art?
The source of all this soul-searching was this video that Loren sent me:
Without question, this is an incredible video. According to YouTube, these are the 100 dancers and acrobats of the Great Chinese State Circus; I believe the title for the work would be “Swan Lake on LSD.”
The ballet in this is not bad at all. Very technically proficient, and beautiful lines. I can’t fathom the amount of center and control it takes to dance en pointe on that guys’s head and shoulders while he is walking around. The frogs were very frog-like and very entertaining. But I ask, if all the acrobatics and head pointe dancing were taken out, would this video have had over 3.3 million hits on youtube? More importantly, would it be seen as anything special by dance and art lovers, other than another nice execution of swan lake?
Are acrobatics dance? Are acrobatics art? The following video of the Pilobolus “Dance Company” (I’ve added the quotation marks, more on that later) made me ask those two questions when I first saw it on Ariel’s blog:
For me, this is definitely art– a fantastically creative and sculptural treatment of the human body. But I’m not so sure that it’s dance. To me it falls more into the categories of acrobatics and contortionism. Yes Pilobolus calls itself a dance company. Is that because it holds that movement + art = dance? Yet take some of the mindless pap you see on shows like Dancing With the Stars…it’s definitely dance, but it sure ain’t art. At least not in my book. Even on the shows I enjoy, such as So You Think You Can Dance, acrobatics are often thrown in the mix in order to pander to attention-deficient viewers who need explosive movements and crazy physical feats to hold their attention. The line between dance and acrobatics is often blurred, as is the line between what I consider art and what I would not consider art, but nonetheless find fun and entertaining.
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May 24, 2008 at 5:04 pm
Alex
Fantastic post, I think that the best forms of dance are the ones which allow creative self expression – like belly dancing.
May 24, 2008 at 6:07 pm
Anna Brady Nuse
I recently read somewhere that entertainment tells you what you already know and art is about what you don’t know. This seems to speak to the feeling that entertainment is reassuring, familiar, and spectacular. It’s all the surface of things. Art on the other hand, delves below the surface and tackles paradox and often raises more questions than provides answers. I think that there is a line between entertainment and art, but I’m not sure if there is a line between movement and dance, or acrobatics and dance. To me dance could be any movement, its simply in the eye of the beholder (or body of the mover). Dance is a gigantic container, and it could fall in either the entertainment camp, the art camp, or the ritual/folk camp. The thing to remember is that it is all subjective.
May 25, 2008 at 8:25 am
dancekitty
Really interesting post, this is such a sticky question, for me it is especially interesting to hear what people day when you ask if gymnastics used in dance is art. To me everything is dance and art, that is a touch abstract, but I tend be post-modern philosophically speaking. Thanks again for your post, cheers.
May 25, 2008 at 11:58 am
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May 26, 2008 at 9:25 pm
Loren
It’s fascinating to me where you went with this. Do you think that acrobatic dance can be art and dance? I do, but I don’t believe this one was well integrated. Very showy, but not really Swan Lake… But then that raises the question of what is good art? And given that I personally love to perform, and hope some consider it dance and art, but… the quality of my technique leaves much to be desired, I’m not sure I want to go there .
Keep writing, keep thinking, keep dancing! Thanks, Maria.
June 3, 2008 at 4:54 pm
Camille
I agree a lot with Anna’s comment. I just want to add that I think all sorts of movement can be considered dance depending on the intent given. A lot of obvious distinctions between an artist and an entertainer in the dance world can be seen with this factor as well. Intent is key for me. Seeing and feeling the thought behind the movement becomes a power to transform otherwise ordinary movement into art.
April 17, 2009 at 3:34 pm
Art or Not? | Dance Advantage
[...] regular updates.Powered by WP Greet BoxA Time to Dance recently featured a post titled “What is dance and what makes it art?.” I just wanted to share this thoughtful post and its thoughtful responses, plus add my [...]