tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4327778596766133211.post9059911661448376018..comments2012-07-02T18:05:56.939-07:00Comments on Dancing with Joy: The Challenge of ContrastsSusan R Linhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03212125861847049699noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4327778596766133211.post-91458601423390963642012-01-17T12:06:08.444-08:002012-01-17T12:06:08.444-08:00Hello, Mike! I'd actually never quite thought...Hello, Mike! I'd actually never quite thought of the spatial experience in that sense, and tried to figure out how I negotiate my body in space when I dance. You're right that what I was referring to as 'up' or 'down' is more or less a vertical phenomenon. I think I switch gears a little when I'm dancing Chinese ethnic styles, though, since I tend to assess my body within the presence or absence of curves I'm making. It's more a relationship of where the curves are made and the proportions thereof. Then there's the degree of concavity or convexity of the chest, which is also key in Chinese dance. Have you ever come across these in your research?Susan R Linhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03212125861847049699noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4327778596766133211.post-66773879595718326722012-01-15T21:48:14.464-08:002012-01-15T21:48:14.464-08:00An interesting post Susan. Of course, up and down ...An interesting post Susan. Of course, up and down refers to the vertical posture of body in this case. However, it also significantly affects the bodies position in space. I read an interesting anthropological article recently about the ethnocentricity of thinking about dance and space as being on up/down and left/right planes. For example, Aboriginal Tiwi do not think of dance as movement in such directions but as movement relative to their perception of body in relation to traditional land. This undoubtedly results in dance of a style unusual to our western eyes.Mike Barneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05236313082135324652noreply@blogger.com