Overview

Within intellectual paradigms that privilege mind over matter, dance has long appeared as a marginal, derivative, or primitive art. Drawing support from theorists and artists who embrace matter as dynamic and agential, this book offers a visionary definition of dance that illuminates its constitutive work in the ongoing evolution of human persons. Why We Dance introduces a philosophy of bodily becoming that posits bodily movement as the source and telos of human life. Within this philosophy, dance appears as an activity that humans evolved to do as the enabling condition of their best bodily becoming. Weaving theoretical reflection with accounts of lived experience, this book positions dance as a catalyst in the development of human consciousness, compassion, ritual proclivity, and ecological adaptability. Aligning with trends in new materialism, affect theory, and feminist philosophy, as well as advances in dance and religious studies, this work reveals the vital role dance can play in reversing the trajectory of ecological self-destruction along which human civilization is racing.

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9780231171045

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Reviews

A brilliant, pioneering work. Readers join a rich, deeply informed, erudite conversation with thinkers in various fields and rewarded with LaMothe's original insights and vision of the profound purpose and promise of dance to transform individuals, communities, and the world we create together with our movements. -- Miranda Shaw, University of Richmond This is a rare and welcome book. It offers a view of the world from the perspective of one who has woven together within her life three experiential bodies of knowledge that are crucial in gaining some insights into the terrible fractures that are eroding our human life. In addition to being both a dancer and scholar of dance, she is a mother and a farmer. Her writing has the feel of the kinds of wisdom that are cultivated in older cultures, close to the earth and to the weakest among us, and cultivated through rituals rooted in the ancient patterns of the cosmos--a kind of wisdom too often muted in academic texts. She has succeeded in bringing her considerable experience of moving to bear on the basic questions that engage us all: mattering, meaning, connecting, healing, loving, and caring for the earth. -- Don Hanlon Johnson, PhD, founder of the first graduate degree program in Somatics, located at CIIS in San Francisco, author There are two liberating reasons to read this book: because you already want to dance, or because you are waiting to be convinced that you truly want to dance. Kimerer LaMothe gracefully reminds us that every part of our life is in motion and that when we dance we are healed, renewed, and made whole by the natural movement of our moving nature. This book brings an extraordinary wake up call, an energized jolt reminding us that all professions and practices need to give birth to movement-oriented ways of knowing. Why We Dance holds a moving answer that will touch the heart and intellect of all. -- Bradford Keeney, PhD and Hillary Keeney, PhD, co-authors of Seiki Jutsu: The Practice of Non-Subtle Energy Medicine, Way of the Bushman As Told by the Tribal Elders, and Circular Therapeutics: Giving Therapy a Healing Heart.

A brilliant, pioneering work. Readers join a rich, deeply informed, erudite conversation with thinkers in various fields and rewarded with LaMothe's original insights and vision of the profound purpose and promise of dance to transform individuals, communities, and the world we create together with our movements. -- Miranda Shaw, University of Richmond

A brilliant, pioneering work. Readers join a rich, deeply informed, erudite conversation and are rewarded with LaMothe's original insights and vision of the purpose and promise of dance to transform individuals, communities, and the world we create together. -- Miranda Shaw, author of Buddhist Goddesses of India A rare and welcome book. LaMothe offers a view of the world from one who has woven together three experiential bodies of knowledge crucial to gaining insight into the terrible fractures eroding human life. A dancer and a scholar of dance, she is also a mother and a farmer. Her writing has the feel of the kinds of wisdom cultivated in older cultures, through rituals rooted in the ancient patterns of the cosmos. She brings her considerable experience of moving to bear on the basic questions that engage us all: mattering, meaning, connecting, healing, loving, and caring for the earth. -- Don Hanlon Johnson, author of Body, Spirit, and Democracy LaMothe gracefully reminds us that every part of our life is in motion and that when we dance we are healed, renewed, and made whole by the natural movement of our moving nature. This book brings an extraordinary wake-up call, an energized jolt reminding us that all professions and practices need to give birth to 'movement-oriented ways of knowing.' Why We Dance holds a moving answer that will touch the heart and intellect of all. -- Bradford Keeney and Hillary Keeney, coeditors of Way of the Bushman: Spiritual Teachings and Practices of the Kalahari Ju/'hoansi LaMothe's book breaks new ground... Philosophers interested in writing about dance may find this book as a source of thoughtful provocation. -- Edyta J. Kuzian Metapsychology Highly recommended. Journal of Dance Movement and Spiritualities Kimerer L. LaMothe has danced her way into the creating of an ambitious and important book that answers the question of why we dance. Journal of Religion The author supports her argument for embodied scholarship by employing experiential and reflective writing throughout the book. Every chapter punctuates nuggets of theoretical reflection with rich descriptive accounts from her lived experience in ways that tinge this philosophical treatise with personal investment. Dance Chronicle

Author Information

Kimerer L. LaMothe is a dancer, philosopher, and scholar of religion who lives in upstate New York. She is the award-winning author of five books, including Nietzsche's Dancers and Between Dancing and Writing: The Practice of Religious Studies.

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