{"id":1373,"date":"2019-05-04T13:15:53","date_gmt":"2019-05-04T12:15:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worlddanceheritage.org\/?p=1373"},"modified":"2023-07-15T17:54:46","modified_gmt":"2023-07-15T16:54:46","slug":"phenomenology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worlddanceheritage.org\/phenomenology\/","title":{"rendered":"Using Merleau-Ponty: Phenomenology for Dance Heritage (3.4)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/worlddanceheritage.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/phenomenology-of-dance.jpg\"><img data-src=\"https:\/\/worlddanceheritage.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/phenomenology-of-dance.jpg\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/worlddanceheritage.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/phenomenology-of-dance.jpg 560w, https:\/\/worlddanceheritage.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/phenomenology-of-dance-300x169.jpg 300w\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" alt=\"Phenomenology of dance\" class=\"wp-image-1393 lazyload\"  sizes=\"(max-width: 560px) 100vw, 560px\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/worlddanceheritage.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/phenomenology-of-dance.jpg\" alt=\"Phenomenology of dance\" class=\"wp-image-1393\" srcset=\"https:\/\/worlddanceheritage.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/phenomenology-of-dance.jpg 560w, https:\/\/worlddanceheritage.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/phenomenology-of-dance-300x169.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 560px) 100vw, 560px\"><\/noscript><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_88 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6ab5bb7a3c1c2\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6ab5bb7a3c1c2\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/worlddanceheritage.org\/phenomenology\/#Merleau-Ponty_Phenomenology\" >Merleau-Ponty: Phenomenology<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/worlddanceheritage.org\/phenomenology\/#Cartesian_Dualism_of_Mind_and_Body\" >Cartesian Dualism of Mind and Body<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/worlddanceheritage.org\/phenomenology\/#Habit_and_Corporeal_Schema\" >Habit and Corporeal Schema<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/worlddanceheritage.org\/phenomenology\/#Body_Scheme\" >Body Scheme<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/worlddanceheritage.org\/phenomenology\/#Acquisition_of_a_Habit\" >Acquisition of a Habit<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/worlddanceheritage.org\/phenomenology\/#Perception_in_Phenomenology\" >Perception in Phenomenology<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/worlddanceheritage.org\/phenomenology\/#Feeling_and_Emotions\" >Feeling and Emotions<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/worlddanceheritage.org\/phenomenology\/#Phenomenological_Holism\" >Phenomenological Holism<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/worlddanceheritage.org\/phenomenology\/#Tarab_and_Embodying_the_Music\" >Tarab and Embodying the Music<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-10\" href=\"https:\/\/worlddanceheritage.org\/phenomenology\/#Kinesthetically_and_Emotionally_Empathetic_Responses\" >Kinesthetically and Emotionally Empathetic Responses<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-11\" href=\"https:\/\/worlddanceheritage.org\/phenomenology\/#Space_Time_and_the_Body\" >Space, Time, and the Body<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-12\" href=\"https:\/\/worlddanceheritage.org\/phenomenology\/#Bourdieu_and_Merleau-Ponty\" >Bourdieu and Merleau-Ponty<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Merleau-Ponty_Phenomenology\"><\/span>Merleau-Ponty: Phenomenology<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The use of Merleau-Ponty\u2019s phenomenology has been established for a while in the field of dance studies, to overcome the dualism between the body and mind in the process of dance-making and to bring to the fore the lived experience of dancers and audiences alike (Horton Fraleigh, 1995, 2004; Sheets-Johnstone, 2015).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Cartesian_Dualism_of_Mind_and_Body\"><\/span>Cartesian Dualism of Mind and Body <span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Merleau-Ponty wrote <em><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"Phenomenology of Perception (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/2Vf5HPX\" target=\"_blank\">Phenomenology of Perception<\/a><\/em> in 1945, when Western thought was dominated by the Cartesian dualism of mind and body. Merleau-Ponty argued instead that mind and body are a unity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He drew this conclusion by observing war veterans injured during the war, analyzing phenomena that showed an interaction of mind and body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One such phenomenon was the phantom limb, whereby a veteran could feel his missing limb that had been amputated, as though it was still present and attached to him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Observing these phenomena, led Merleau-Ponty to deduce that mind and body are not two separate entities, but they are one thing and they act like one in every moment of our lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He postulated that \u2018the union of soul and body is not an amalgamation between two mutually external terms, subject and object . . . it is enacted at every instant in the movement of existence\u2019 ([1945] 1992, p. 102).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Habit_and_Corporeal_Schema\"><\/span>Habit and Corporeal Schema <span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">People learn and act in the world through habit. Habit is the physical manifestation of culture, as the body is the physical manifestation of consciousness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to Merleau-Ponty ([1945] 1992, p. 158), \u2018consciousness projects itself into a physical world and has a body, as it projects itself into a cultural world and has its habits\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hence, the body is the link between the physical and the cultural world, because it assimilates habits, which are culturally influenced. People acquire habit, Merleau-Ponty argues, through \u2018corporeal schema\u2019 and the acquisition of habit is nothing more ([1945] 1992, pp. 164\u2013165) than the:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rearrangement and renewal of the corporeal schema . . . it is the body which \u201ccatches\u201d (kapiert) and \u201ccomprehends\u201d the movement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The acquisition of habit is indeed the grasping of a significance, but it is the motor grasping of a motor significance.<\/p>\n<cite>Merleau-Ponty  (1945) <\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Body_Scheme\"><\/span>Body Scheme<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A body schema is, Bullington (2013, p. 31) explains, \u2018a description of the intuitive understanding of one\u2019s own [<em>sic<\/em>] the body and its position in space\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To clarify this concept, Merleau-Ponty gives various examples, one of these being learning to type.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Once we have learned how to type we do not need to think about where our fingers are but the movement is &#8216;knowledge in the hands\u2019 ([1945] 1992, p. 166).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So, for Merleau-Ponty, habit is the way in which the body learns in a cultural world through movement, since our movements are culturally influenced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The keyboard is a good example because there are different types of keyboard layouts, depending on the countries and the languages, thus these are cultural artifacts and we learn to type according to the keyboards we use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Acquisition_of_a_Habit\"><\/span>Acquisition of a Habit<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Similarly, <a href=\"https:\/\/worlddanceheritage.org\/transmission-cultural-heritage\/\">learning how to dance<\/a> is the acquisition of a habit. The dancer\u2019s body comprehends the movements, to the point where s\/he does not need to think about them when performing, they become knowledge in the body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These dance vocabulary movements belong to culturally influenced traditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hence, cultures become embodied in dancers. As Butterworth argues (2012), a dancing body can transmit to others: where the dancer comes from, his\/her attitudes, and what kind of previous training they have experienced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to Sklar (2001, p. 92), \u2018movement systems are . . . ways of thinking that embody different structures (and habits) for thinking\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Perception_in_Phenomenology\"><\/span>Perception in Phenomenology<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In phenomenology, perception is the unifying\nelement, the post-dualist link between body and mind, tangible and intangible.\nAs Kearney (2008, p. 211) posits regarding cultural heritage,\nMerleau-Ponty\u2019s phenomenology:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Renders distinctions of tangible and intangible almost redundant as the only imperative status of tangible is held by the human actor and agent, as physical embodiment of culture and heritage.<\/p>\n<cite>Kearney (2008)<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Through this &#8216;being&#8217;, human heritage is always and at once tangible and intangible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-very-light-gray-background-color has-background wp-block-paragraph\">As Lo Iacono and Brown (2016, p. 92) argue, \u2018the mind corresponds to the intangible elements, the body to the tangible elements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As body and mind are a unity, they are constituted of a holistic amalgam of tangible and intangible elements of being\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Indeed, in dance, Preston-Dunlop (2010, p. 7) contends, \u2018embodying . . . fuses the ideas with the movement and with the performer of the movement . . . embodying a dance work fuses all the participants in the event in a multilayered tangible process\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter\"><img data-src=\"https:\/\/worlddanceheritage.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/drum-workshop.jpg\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/worlddanceheritage.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/drum-workshop.jpg 497w, https:\/\/worlddanceheritage.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/drum-workshop-300x193.jpg 300w\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"497\" height=\"320\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1485 lazyload\"  sizes=\"(max-width: 497px) 100vw, 497px\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"497\" height=\"320\" src=\"https:\/\/worlddanceheritage.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/drum-workshop.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1485\" srcset=\"https:\/\/worlddanceheritage.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/drum-workshop.jpg 497w, https:\/\/worlddanceheritage.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/drum-workshop-300x193.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 497px) 100vw, 497px\"><\/noscript><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Myself on the far right, trying to learn the drums on a workshop in Morocco.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Feeling_and_Emotions\"><\/span>Feeling and Emotions<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The realm of the mind includes feelings and emotions, which are inseparable from individuals and from culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hence, Merleau-Ponty\u2019s phenomenology helps to connect emotions to the holistic picture of dance\/heritage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Emotions were mentioned in <a href=\"https:\/\/worlddanceheritage.org\/history-unesco-ich-definitions\/\">2.2 (Unesco definitions)<\/a>, as one of the elements connected to heritage by Smith (2006).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They are also important for dance and audiences\u2019 connection with performances (Hanna, 1983, 1999; Reason and Reynolds, 2010).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Phenomenological_Holism\"><\/span>Phenomenological Holism<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Phenomenological holism shows how heritage, dance, and emotions are deeply connected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">An example can be found in Egyptian dance. When a dancer performs to traditional music, according to Bordelon (2013, p. 39):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Arabic customers see movement they know and understand, recognize it as part of their cultural heritage, and echo that movement in their own bodies . . . Some people get up and dance on stage, there is . . . a physical empathy in the room.<\/p>\n<cite>Bordelon  (2010)<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When\nthe dancer performs to traditional music, s\/he feels the emotions transmitted\nby the music and translates them into the body, creating a shared sense of <em>tarab<\/em>, which in Arabic means ecstasy,\ntranscendence, enchantment:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The dancer evokes feelings and emotions from the music and lyrics and invokes images and memories from the past. The feelings produced by those memories, are, in turn, transferred to the current performance environment inching the dancer, the musicians, and the audience, towards a state of tarab.<\/p>\n<cite>Bordelon, 2013, p. 42) <\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Tarab_and_Embodying_the_Music\"><\/span>Tarab and Embodying the Music<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Through <em>tarab<\/em>, the dancer connects with the audience, sharing feelings and memories with them, embodying the music, so that \u2018the audience members can identify with the dancer and thereby access the music in an entirely unique, physical fashion\u2019 (Bordelon, 2013, p. 45).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Indeed, as Horton Fraleigh (1995, p. 61) states, \u2018A good dance moves the dancer and the audience toward each other\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 3.3, I mentioned that <a href=\"https:\/\/worlddanceheritage.org\/missing-body-heritage-studies\/\">the unity of body and mind<\/a> is supported by the work of the neuroscientist Damasio (2012, p. 21), who posits that \u2018body and brain bond\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Moreover, Barsalou at al. (2003, p. 44) highlights how the body can re-enact memories:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When an event is experienced originally, the underlying sensory, motor and introspective states are partially stored. Later, when knowledge of the event becomes relevant in memory, language or thought, these original states are partially simulated.<\/p>\n<cite>Barsalou  (2003)<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This explains why, as Reason and Reynolds state (2010, p. 62), \u2018with trained dancers the responses are more heightened and precise in their imagination of details and movements\u2019 when they watch somebody else dancing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sedlmeier, Weigelt, and Walther (2011) uncover the connection between body movement, emotions, and musical taste, stating that:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When . . . music is listened to in situations in which &#8220;positive&#8221; body movements and muscle inner actions are frequent, this positive affect could become strongly associated with the music . . . dancing might increase the liking for the music one is dancing to. (p. 303)<\/p>\n<cite>Sedlmeier, Weigelt and Walther (2011) <\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Kinesthetically_and_Emotionally_Empathetic_Responses\"><\/span>Kinesthetically and Emotionally Empathetic Responses<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At the\nsame time, Reason and Reynolds\u2019 (2010) study showed that,\namong the audiences who watch dance performances, \u2018a positive response to the\nmusic appeared to facilitate a kinesthetically and\/or emotionally empathetic\nresponse to the dance\u2019 (p. 63).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The connection of music with embodiment introduces aural elements, light, space and time in the holistic picture of heritage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Indeed, Adshead (1988) includes in her model of dance analysis: aural elements (sound); light and spatial elements (such as location and natural and built environment).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This connection is aided by Merleu-Ponty\u2019s phenomenology, who posits that \u2018by considering the body in movement, we can see better how it inhabits space (and, moreover, time) because movement is not limited to submitting passively to space and time, it actively assumes them\u2019 ([1945] 1992, 117).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Space_Time_and_the_Body\"><\/span>Space, Time, and the Body<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Thus, for Merleau-Ponty, space and time are interwoven with the body. Dance illustrates this; as Lo Iacono and Brown (2016, p. 93) state, \u2018the dancer, through movement, interacts actively with time . . . space . . . and light (such as \u201cmood\u201d lighting in performances) each occurring through the body-mind as a perceptual unity\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Horton Fraleigh (1995, p. 183) goes even further, by stating that in dance \u2018we actually embody time and space in our movement\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Merleau-Ponty\u2019s phenomenology is a useful conceptual tool to integrate body, mind, space, time, and aural and visual elements into dance\/heritage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Indeed, Horton Fraleigh (1995, p. 13) posits that Merleau-Ponty phenomenology gives rise to a lived-body theory that \u2018provides a means toward overcoming dualistic concepts of dance, which regard the body as an instrument, movement as the medium, and mind or soul as the mover or motivational source for dance\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Denying the body-mind dualism is the first step towards moving from a dualism of tangible\/intangible in heritage, to a duality, as all the elements analyzed so far cannot be disentangled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, Merleau-Ponty\u2019s phenomenology does not allow for a deep enough analysis and integration of culture into the holistic heritage model. <a href=\"https:\/\/worlddanceheritage.org\/theory-practice\/\">Bourdieu\u2019s theory of practice<\/a> provides the next conceptual tool to fill this gap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Bourdieu_and_Merleau-Ponty\"><\/span>Bourdieu and Merleau-Ponty<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Although Bourdieu and Merleau-Ponty come from different disciplinary positions (Merleau-Ponty from phenomenology and Bourdieu from philosophy\/sociology\/anthropology), their theories have been used before as complementary tools for a better understanding of the body in culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Csordas (1993, p. 137) comments that:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Merleau-Ponty . . . recognized that perception was always embedded in a cultural world . . . at the same time, he acknowledged that his own work did not elaborate the steps between perception and explicit cultural and historical analysis . . . at this point where Merleau-Ponty left off, it is valuable to reintroduce Bourdieu&#8217;s emphasis on the socially informed body as the ground of collective life. <\/p>\n<cite>Csordas  (1993)<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-vivid-red-color has-white-background-color has-text-color has-background wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Next Page &gt;&gt;  <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/worlddanceheritage.org\/theory-practice\/ \"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>Bourdieu&#8217;s Theory of Practice and heritage<\/strong><\/span><\/a><strong>.<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/worlddanceheritage.org\/theory-practice\/\"><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Phenomenology for dance. Using Merleau-Ponty&#8217;s phenomenology to overcome the dualism of body and mind. Lived body theory, emotions and kinaesthetic empathy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1393,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1373","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-framwork"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Using Merleau-Ponty: Phenomenology for Dance Heritage Studies.<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Phenomenology for dance. Merleau-Ponty&#039;s concepts for the dualism of body and mind. 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