What is it about?
In this essay I argue that the word language when used in relation to the arts and especially to dance is best undertood as a metaphor and that dance itself cannot fulfil most of the conditions that rule verbal language. I also account for the ways in which dance analysis and general discussion of the art form usefully employs tgerms such as vocabulary and syntax and also that ballet mime is quasi-performative because there are gestures which correspond to verbal declamations.
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Why is it important?
The essay clarifies the special expressive nature of dance and how it transcends what can be said in verbal language and also emphasises the communication specificity of ballet mime.
Perspectives
I worked on this essay for a long time and it is the result of much research and analysis. I wanted to critique the general use of words such as language and performative in relation to dance as an art form.
Dr henrietta lilian bannerman
Conservatoire of dance and drama
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Is Dance a Language? Movement, Meaning and Communication, Dance Research, May 2014, Edinburgh University Press,
DOI: 10.3366/drs.2014.0087.
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