Understanding dance

Book Cover......Page 1
Title......Page 4
Contents......Page 5
Introduction......Page 10
The project......Page 11
Style, structure and audience......Page 12
Autonomy for dance studies?......Page 14
Rigour......Page 15
Philosophy......Page 17
Acknowledgements......Page 20
Basic Concepts for Aesthetics......Page 24
Definition and \'definiteness\'......Page 25
The objectivity of appreciation......Page 30
The artistic and the (merely) aesthetic......Page 47
Conclusion......Page 53
Dance as Action......Page 58
The importance of the issue......Page 59
Dance as a \'special kind of movement\'......Page 60
Understanding action......Page 61
People, not machines......Page 64
Two ways of talking......Page 66
The importance of context......Page 67
Insights from the two-language view......Page 68
A technical point: defeasibility......Page 70
Conclusion......Page 74
Dance as Art......Page 76
Conventions and understanding......Page 78
An institutional account of art......Page 80
A fundamental objection to institutional theories of art......Page 83
A reply to this objection......Page 84
A diagnosis of the origin of the objection......Page 88
Digression: the \'community\' view of concepts......Page 91
Outcomes of the institutional analysis......Page 93
Conclusion......Page 95
Dance as a Performing Art......Page 97
Type/token......Page 99
The creation of the type-work......Page 103
The thesis of notationality......Page 106
Interpretation and performance......Page 108
Performers\' interpretations......Page 112
Further considerations......Page 113
Re-evaluation......Page 115
Variety among performances......Page 117
Conclusion......Page 119
Dance as an Object of Understanding......Page 121
Meaning, understanding and explanation......Page 122
Meaning and institutional concepts......Page 125
Two difficulties for the dance/language analogy......Page 126
Objections from structural linguistics: an example......Page 129
An area of disanalogy?......Page 131
Interpretation and performance (again)......Page 132
Conclusion......Page 134
Understanding and Dance Criticism......Page 138
Two unsatisfactory accounts of criticism: \'rules\' and scrutiny......Page 140
A modest proposal for the extension of the critic\'s cognitive stock......Page 144
Two provisos for an account of criticism as noticing......Page 147
The restrictive proviso reconsidered......Page 149
Arbitrariness and \'reading in\'......Page 151
Some criticisms of the view of criticism as noticing......Page 154
Understanding, Experience and Criticism......Page 157
Dance as an object of understanding......Page 158
The \'meaning\' of dances identified with informed criticism......Page 161
Interpretation and emotional education (I)......Page 163
Interpretation and emotional education (II)......Page 166
The knowledge-base of criticism......Page 168
Conclusion......Page 169
The Point of Dance......Page 173
Purposive versus artistic justification......Page 174
Emotional education and conceptual change......Page 177
The objects of emotions......Page 180
Art and life issues......Page 182
Art works and art forms......Page 188
Two theses for an account of art......Page 191
Life issues and \'the familiar\'......Page 194
Conclusion......Page 200
Style and Technique......Page 206
Two characteristics of style......Page 207
The place of technique (I)......Page 210
Four notes of caution......Page 213
Outcomes of the style/technique connection......Page 214
Condition three: psychological reality......Page 217
The place of technique (II)......Page 220
Conclusion......Page 221
Imagination and Understanding......Page 223
Imagination and perception......Page 224
Some objections considered......Page 227
Three other ideas of the imaginary......Page 229
Conclusion......Page 234
Intention and Understanding......Page 235
The public character of intention......Page 241
Choreographer\'s intention and Black Angels......Page 246
Expression in Dance......Page 251
Expression and artistic concepts......Page 254
Expression and understanding......Page 257
Expressive of what?......Page 263
Conclusion......Page 267
Aesthetic Education: Some Myths......Page 272
The very idea of a kinaesthetic sense......Page 273
The importance of performance......Page 282
The \'creative process\'......Page 285
The very idea of an aesthetic education......Page 291
Dance and Society......Page 293
Dance as \'natural\'......Page 301
An \'art-shaped hole\' in the theory......Page 303
A sense of history......Page 306
Relativism and understanding......Page 310
Conclusion......Page 318
Conclusion......Page 319
Methods and a key assumption of the text......Page 320
Two fundamental principles of aesthetics......Page 322
Dance in education......Page 323
Notes......Page 324
Bibliography......Page 337
Index......Page 348