Dancing in the service of thought

Transpontine

history is made at night
Soren Kierkegaard has a great line about ‘dancing in the service of thought’. I don’t think he was really talking about dancing, but it got me thinking about dancing and thinking. Reading lots of books about dance it has struck me how little consideration is given to what is going on in people’s heads when they are dancing. I guess there’s this Cartesian notion that dancing is something done with the body, whereas thought, the work of the mind, is best suited to quiet contemplation. Hostile critics see dancing as mindless, while others enthuse over the body in motion.

Sometimes its possible to be lost in music, but in my experience there’s often a lot of thinking going on – sometimes a stream of consciousness, sometimes flashes of insight – ‘I love this tune – I recognise this sample – I remember dancing to this in Ibiza – I loved that crème brulee we used to have in the café in the old town when we couldn’t be bothered to go clubbing – they’re cute – have I got enough money for another round – I wish life could be like this all the time – I hate my job – what time’s the last bus - I love this tune’. I would like to invite anybody who’s dancing this weekend – whether in a club, a field or on their own in the kitchen – to observe what they’re thinking and report back. Obviously the act of being conscious of consciousness probably invalidates the thought experiment, but I would like to know what you think (or if you have a good memory for the past what you thought).
 
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mixed_biscuits

_________________________
I'm usually thinking, 'nice tits.'

Or: 'If I stop dancing now and go back to playing the quizzer in the corner, everyone will think I'm a square.'
 

Transpontine

history is made at night
I'm usually thinking, 'nice tits.'

Not sure that Kierkegaard explicity discusses the admiration of the female form on the dancefloor, but he might have said that your comment suggests that you are stuck in an aesthetic sphere of being, with your life governed by passing pleasures and sensations. Eventually the boredom of living life as a spectator will set in. Your only hope is to make the leap into what we he calls an ethical sphere by choosing to make a commitment to another human being. Obviously this would involve the risk of crossing the abyss and talking to her...
 

Pulchritude

Active member
I think the only time I've ever wondered what another person is thinking whilst dancing is when a nearby friend looks like they're about to drunkenly throw up on my shoes.

I've recently come back from holiday and, for two weeks, I spend every night going out dancing in clubs and bars with my friends. So it is pretty fresh in my memory. I think certain songs causing me to recall previous encounters when that particular song was being played was a common thought, and the only other main thought I can think of is thinking of moves that will fit the song that's being played. I guess that's not as enlightening as you'd like it to be.
 

mistersloane

heavy heavy monster sound
I was thinkinng about this when I watched the Phillipino prisoners doing the re-enactment of Thriller


last night, funny enough. Dancing in the service of thought, indeed.
 

Transpontine

history is made at night
Phillipines prison dance

I was thinkinng about this when I watched the Phillipino prisoners doing the re-enactment of Thriller


last night, funny enough. Dancing in the service of thought, indeed.

Yeah what's going on there? I keep expecting Spike Jonze is going to come forward and admit the Phillipines thing is a fake, like the community dance troupe in the Fatboy Slim 'Praise You' video.

Assuming its real, is it a case of dancing the dream of liberation within the confines of the prison, or is the dancing imposed as part of the compulsory disciplinary regime (like some North Korean state ceremony)?
 

mistersloane

heavy heavy monster sound
Yeah what's going on there? I keep expecting Spike Jonze is going to come forward and admit the Phillipines thing is a fake, like the community dance troupe in the Fatboy Slim 'Praise You' video.

Assuming its real, is it a case of dancing the dream of liberation within the confines of the prison, or is the dancing imposed as part of the compulsory disciplinary regime (like some North Korean state ceremony)?

Prisoners dancing as zombies as revolutionary statement against fascist dictatorships and imprisonment? I really wish Foucault was still alive sometimes. I was really stoned when I watched it and just sat there going 'wow'. 'wow'. 'oh wow'.'oh WOW'.

I think in actuality it's a governor that's a real hippy, so a bit of both, liberation within discipline I think, and dance as liberating. From what my mate says Phillippino people will dance to anything, line dancing is huge out there.
 

zhao

there are no accidents
what goes on in my head while dancing -- "this girl who is rubbing her ass against my area, who has been riding my right leg for the past 20 minutes, would look nice in my bed in the morning... :) "

"but what are the chances. really. :(
 
Am I missing something?
Zhao isn't the type for strip clubs is he?
Whenever I have had girls rubbing against me it's always meant they were into me.
I need to get out more? .....confused
 

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
It's a territorial scent-marking thing.

So that if another woman comes up to you later, she can sniff you and tell that you're already 'taken'.
 

swears

preppy-kei
I don't think you can ever really assume a girl likes you. I've had girlfriends who I'd been seeing for months that didn't even like me. lol
 

Pulchritude

Active member
I don't think you can ever really assume a girl likes you. I've had girlfriends who I'd been seeing for months that didn't even like me. lol

How do you know they didn't like you? If they only revealed that they didn't like you after you'd broken up, then I don't think their information was very reliable.
 

swears

preppy-kei
How do you know they didn't like you? If they only revealed that they didn't like you after you'd broken up, then I don't think their information was very reliable.

Nah, I'm the classic "inbetweener". Going out with me while they're waiting for someone who actually has something to offer comes along, I don't think I even technically count as a "man".
 

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
Nah, I'm the classic "inbetweener". Going out with me while they're waiting for someone who actually has something to offer comes along, I don't think I even technically count as a "man".

I know your game...you're angling for a sympathy shag from someone on here, aren't you? ;)
 
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