Paul Nervy Notes
“Jokes, poems, stories, and a lot of philosophy, psychology, and sociology.”


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Arts, dance.  ---  .This section is about dance.  Topics include: ( ) Body and dance.  ( ) Movement and dance.  ( ) Language aspects of dance.  ( ) Music and dance.  ( ) Physical aspects of dance.  ( ) Roots of dance.  Historical origins.  ( ) Types of dance.  ---  1/24/2006


Arts, dance.  ---  (1) Involuntary dance: unconscious toe-tapping and finger-snapping.  vs.  Voluntary dancing: conscious and planned.  (2) Dance without music.  vs.  Dance with music.  vs.  Dance with spoken words.  (3) The body.  The position of the body.  The movement of the body.  The space the body moves through.  You make tracks on the floor.  You make tracks through the air.  (4) What exactly are you communicating when you dance?  A thought?   An emotion?  Something else?  Do we have a word for it?  Is it non-linguistic?  If so, how does it differ from what we express through music and the visual arts which are also non-linguistic?  ---  4/1/2002


Arts, dance.  ---  (1) Joy of physical movement: running, climbing, and their relationship to sports, kinesthetics.  (2) Joy of expression through movement: communication.  (3) Beauty of physical movement (audience observation).  Moving from one shape to another, skill.  ---  12/30/1992


Arts, dance.  ---  (1) Pro.  (A) It's an outlet.  (B) It's a step in courting.  (C) It's good physical exercise.  (D) If you feel like doing it, do it.  (2) Contra.  (A) Don't do it if you don't feel like it.  (B) Social dancing is b.s.  (C) It's auto-erotic.  ---  12/30/1992


Arts, dance.  ---  Altered mental states and dance.  Trance and dance.  For example:  Whirling dervishes.  American Indian dances.  ---  10/15/2004


Arts, dance.  ---  Art dance vs. pop dance.  ---  12/30/1992


Arts, dance.  ---  Because dance does not rely on spoken language, dance is an international form of communication, much like music.  When you combine dance and music, you have a very expressive international communication system that does not rely on spoken language.  ---  5/27/2007


Arts, dance.  ---  Body and dance.  (1) Embodiment.  To have a body.  To know how it feels to have a body.  (2) There is the way your body feels (size and shape), and then (3) There is the way your body feels in different bodily positions, and then  (4) There is the way the body feels in movement (muscle exertion), and then (5) There is the way the body feels in space (gravity), and then (6) There is the way they body looks in movement.  At least six different things involved in kinaesthetic activities.  ---  03/01/1997


Arts, dance.  ---  Body and dance.  Being aware of your body.  Developing the capabilities of your body.  Accepting your body.  Feeling comfortable with your body.  And the bodies of others.  ---  10/15/2004


Arts, dance.  ---  Dance and its relation everyday movement, body language, posture and gesture.  (1) Coordinated and graceful movement is often interpreted, rightly or wrongly, as mature, intelligent, calm and stable.  Bumbling, clumsy movement is often interpreted, rightly or wrongly, as immature, unintelligent, nervous or erratic.  (2) In everyday movement, people often consciously or unconsciously, "say" things (i.e., express through movement) and people often consciously or unconsciously "hear" things (i.e., perceive and interpret movement).  ---  4/8/2001


Arts, dance.  ---  Dance as moves.  (1) Any expressive physical activity (movement, kinaesthetics), such as dance, martial arts, skateboarding, climbing, love making, or any sport, or just being (walking, standing, sitting, lying, or any awareness of the body in space) etc., all these things have something in common.  (2) All of the above can be thought of as consisting of "moves" or "tricks".  Moves have starting positions, middle transitions, and ending positions.  Moves can be grouped into styles (ex.  Break dance, ballet, tap dance, etc.).  Classification systems of moves can be made and recorded and studied or used later.  Moves can be re-combined in different sequences in order to produce different effects on the dancer and audience, much like words in a sentence, or like notes in a bar of music.  (3) Moves can be considered a language of movement, i.e. moves have meaning.  Moves can have emotional meaning, that is, they evoke emotions.  Moves can also have an intellectual meaning, in that they call to mind other things, that is, they are associated with other images.  ---  03/01/1997


Arts, dance.  ---  Dance as pure physical movement vs. dance as a response to music.  ---  12/30/1992


Arts, dance.  ---  Dance is moving sculpture.  ---  4/27/2006


Arts, dance.  ---  Dance is not so much about semiotics, symbolism and narrative as it is about the joy of physical movement and the beauty of physical movement.  In this way dance is closer to sports than it is to literature or theater.  ---  6/4/2000


Arts, dance.  ---  Dance is public display of emotion.  Women enjoy it, guys don't.  ---  12/30/1992


Arts, dance.  ---  Dancing as exercise.  A million years ago a primitive person gets tired of sitting around the campfire.  The person stands up and stretches, twisting from one side to the other.  The person moves around to get their blood flowing by using simple, repetitive motions.  Soon the person is dancing!  Dancing is rooted in our need to exercise our bodies.  Dancing is natural.  Humans have always danced.  Cultures that prohibit dancing (and singing), such as many workplace cultures, are over-civilized and repressed.  ---  7/3/2000


Arts, dance.  ---  Dancing as: (1) Physicality.  (2) Body.  (3) Position.  (4) Movement.  ---  3/29/2002


Arts, dance.  ---  Dancing in public vs. in private.  ---  12/30/1992


Arts, dance.  ---  Energy and dance.  (1) Dance as releasing physical energy.  (2) Dance as releasing sexual energy.  (3) Dance as releasing emotional energy.  ---  10/05/1997


Arts, dance.  ---  Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.  Pairs figure skating.  Strollers on the boardwalk.  Things couples do in public.  ---  10/17/2005


Arts, dance.  ---  How good do you have to feel before you start dancing again?  Pretty damn good.  How happy do you have to feel to spontaneously dance?  Pretty damn happy. :)  ---  6/8/2004


Arts, dance.  ---  How gracefully, acrobatically, meaningfully can one move?  ---  12/30/1992


Arts, dance.  ---  How much can you say with dance?  ---  12/30/1992


Arts, dance.  ---  I can imagine some repressed military types who break into calisthenics upon hearing an especially emotionally moving piece of music.  ---  1/4/2002


Arts, dance.  ---  I like to watch people dancing on rollerblades more than I like to watch people dancing on foot.  It is smoother, like a milkshake.  ---  1/1/2000


Arts, dance.  ---  If there was no spoken language then perhaps humans would communicate with gesture and dance.  Gesture morphs into dance.  Dance is body gestures.  ---  5/27/2007


Arts, dance.  ---  Just as video and music don't mix, dance and music don't mix?  ---  12/30/1992


Arts, dance.  ---  Many people are repressed in regard to the expression of their mental states via bodily movement.  ---  1/1/2006


Arts, dance.  ---  Movement and dance.  Various ways of naming, describing and classifying dance positions, moves, steps, etc.     (1) Positions: holding the body still in various positions.  (1.1) Standing.  Standing on one one leg.  Standing on two legs.  (1.2) Crouching.  (1.3) Sitting.  (1.4) Laying down.     (2) Body movements while standing in one place.  (2.1) Head and neck moves.  Tilt head up or down.  Turn head left or right.  Tilt head left or right.  (2.2) Arm moves.  From the shoulder.  From the elbow.  Hand moves.  Opening arm movement.  Enclosing arm movements.  (2.3) Leg moves.  From the hip.  From the knee.  Foot moves.  (3) Body movement across the floor or stage.  (3.1) Steps.  Slow steps vs. Fast steps.  Small steps vs. Large steps.  (3.2) Forward movement (toward the audience) and backward movement.  Left or right movement.  Angular movement - for example, a left turn.  Curving movement - for example, an arcing curve.  Circular movement.  (3.3) Direction facing.  Facing the audience.  Facing left or right.  Facing away from the audience.     (4) More types of moves.  (4.1) Spins - on a vertical or horizontal axis.  (4.2) Jumps.  (4.3) Hops and skips.  (4.4) Calisthenic, gymnastic and acrobatic movements.  Rolls.  Somersaults.  Cartwheels.  ---  7/24/2004


Arts, dance.  ---  Music and dance.  Dancing a rhythm is common.  Dancing a melody is less common.  ---  4/8/2001


Arts, dance.  ---  Music does not have to be present for dance to be performed.  ---  03/01/1997


Arts, dance.  ---  Related subjects.  (1) Athletics and dance.  Some dancers consider themselves to be athletes as well as artists.  Some athletes talk about the dance-like aspects of their sports.  (2) Martial arts and dance.  Many martial arts moves are dance-like.  (3) Everyday motions and dance. Standing.  Walking.  Posture.  Gracefulness.  Coordination.  Balance.  Flexibility.  Power.  Endurance.  Economy.  (4) Psychology and dance.  Kinesthetics.  Sense of balance.  (5) Sociology and dance.  Pairs dancing.  Group dancing.  Dance and rituals.  Dance and magic.  (6) Work and dance.  Rhythmic work motions.  Shoveling.  Sweeping. Harvesting. Picking.  ---  12/29/2003


Arts, dance.  ---  Repetition of movements vs. variations of movements in dance.  ---  7/24/2004


Arts, dance.  ---  Robot dance.  When humans dance like a robot, what is that all about?  Is it like when robots dance like humans?  ---  6/9/2006


Arts, dance.  ---  Robot dance.  Would it make sense to talk about a dancing robot?  What if the robot was not shaped like a human?  For example, what if you had a robot shaped like a triangle and you programmed it to move in a pattern across a stage, or move in a three dimensional space.  Would that be dance?  What if you had a dozen triangles moving in a pattern on a dance floor or across a computer screen?  Would that be dance?  Dance is about the movement of objects in space.  Dance is about the change in position of objects in space through time.  ---  4/16/2006


Arts, dance.  ---  Roots of dance.  (1) Involuntary physical expressions of emotion (laugh, cry).  (2) Voluntary physical communication (gesture etc.).  (3) Physical activity (fu*king).  ---  12/30/1992


Arts, dance.  ---  Roots of dance.  Stomping mad, jumping for joy, thrashing in grief.  Raving lunatics.  Psyching up (war dances), and celebrations (sack dances).  ---  12/30/1992


Arts, dance.  ---  Social dance and solo dance.  (1) Dancing in front of an audience is a social phenomena.  What does it do for the dancer?  What does it do for the audience?  (2) Dancing alone.  Some people dance in front of the mirror.  What is that all about?  ---  10/17/2005


Arts, dance.  ---  The physical act of making love is a very expressive communication system that does not rely on spoken language.  Thus, there are links between dance and sex.  Mattress dancing.  ---  5/27/2007


Arts, dance.  ---  The split from pairs to solo dancing, let it all hang out.  ---  12/30/1992


Arts, dance.  ---  Types of dance.  (1) Some types of dance:  Solo dancing.  Pair dancing (touch and no touch).  Group dancing (line dances, square dances).  (2) Some styles of dance: Bellydancing.  Breakdancing.  The Robot.  Moonwalking.  Whirling dervishes.  (3) Some influences on dancing:  Gymnastics.  Martial arts.  Pantomime.  Gestures and sign languages.  ---  10/25/2001


Arts, dance.  ---  Types of dance.  Alone vs. group: cakewalk.  Ballet.  Formal: formal movements, formal occasions.  Informal: free form movement, any occasion.  Folk, stage or musical, jazz, tap, square dance, waltz, jitterbug, lambada, macarena, hustle, tango.  ---  12/30/1992


Arts, dance.  ---  Types of dance.  Charleston.  Lindy Hop.  Jitterbug.  Tap dancing.  Break dancing.  ---  10/15/2004


Arts, dance.  ---  Types of dances.  (1) Happy, sad, angry, sexual.  (2) Planned vs. spontaneous or improvisational.  ---  12/30/1992


Arts, dance.  ---  Why dance?  How important is dance?  ---  12/30/1992


Arts, dance.  ---  Wide definitions of dance.  (1) Dance defined as any physical movement.  (2) Dance is not only about the physical expression of emotions.  Dance is about the physical expression of all mental states, including memories, emotions, thoughts and attitudes.  (3) Dance is not for women only.  Men also express their mental states through physical movement.  ---  1/1/2006




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Paul Nervy Notes. Copyright 1988-2007 by Paul Nervy.