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).
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).
Last edited: