Beyond the parts Charles Feitosa
Everything that philosophy sees becomes raw material for the spinning wheel of thought. Look at the most recent choreographic work of the Dani Lima Dance Group, Falam as Partes do Todo? (Do the Parts Talk about the Whole?) It inspired a whirlpool of ideas in me. And what do I see? Through dance, Dani Lima touches on one of the most fundamental questions of philosophy, the relationship between the parts and the whole. I see this relationship as being exposed through themes that are apparently dispersed, such as the usual understanding of the human body, the insertion of man in society and even the possibility of a new conjugation between dance and cinema. Here are some thoughts that seized control of me during and after the performance.
Traditionally, the human body has been interpreted as an organism, or in other words, a harmonious system (the whole), composed of organs and limbs (the parts), where each element has a programmed and specific role. According to this point of view, the health of the whole depends on each part performing its respective function. The organism becomes ill when a limb or organ of the body stops working or begins to work autonomously (like a tumor). In this case, traditional medicine only knows two types of therapy; rehabilitate or remove the debilitated organ. The idea of the body as an organism, as a whole composed of parts, is radically deconstructed in Dani Lima´s performance.
In the interaction of dancers with the works of Tatiana Grinberg, the spectator circulates between the bodies and objects on stage. At each instant and through various different angles, the spectator observes detached limbs that are hanging and autonomous, such as a tongue without a corresponding mouth, a hand without an arm to support it, or an isolated leg without a torso. This vision of the parts without the whole sometimes has a comic effect, and other times it seems profoundly strange, but it never leaves anyone feeling indifferent. The organs without the body are strange because they affront the usual organization of nature that exists within us, i.e. a whole constituted of parts. It is, therefore, the first step for the construction of another body, one that exists beyond the organism like a field where forces circulate with constantly different intensities and directions, and where each limb can assume an infinite diversity of functions. The very body is not defined as an essential totality, but instead as a singular and unpredictable event.
The other theme brought to life by the choreography of Dan Lima in my opinion is the place of the individual in society. Again, traditional political thinking tends to interpret society as a collective body (the whole) where each individual (the part) has a specific and planned function. In the ideal city of Plato, for example, the Republic, each citizen has a specific duty: prepare bread, construct houses or guard the city. The citizen who refuses to perform his/her role would be subject to a re-education therapy or a surgical intervention through exile. In the dance of the Dani Lima Company, I see the part/whole relation in society being re-invented, especially in the last choreography, which is for me the most beautiful and moving of them all. In this last act, dancer Vivian Miller moves about the entire stage for an intense 15 minutes, without even once touching her feet to the ground. She is not simply carried, but rather sustained by the bodies of the other dancers, who alternate from one position to the next to allow the possibility of a new step, of a new escape. Vivian appears to have some gestures planned in a careful choreography, but at every instant she needs to re-structure her strategy, exploring the diversity and singularity of her colleague’s bodies, and even of the public present in the room. Like an alpinist, she climbs mountains, but in a sensual and mysterious way. The interesting thing is that neither the paths or the mountains are pre-existent, they are constructed where she ventures to step. The constant flow of dancers and the tension between planning and improvision, wrapped up in the music of Felipe Rocha, constitute a hypnotic scene.
In the choreographic work of Dani Lima, I see a subtle rupture with traditional political theory that places the whole (society) as the purpose of the parts (the individuals). The performance does not only deal with an inversion, as if now the purpose was to make the group work for one of its members (sustaining the dancer, for example). The choreography throws us much further out there, to a place where a closed system no longer exists, and consequently, where the individuals are no longer parts (it only makes sense to speak about the parts where there exists a totality). What we have then, are simply different, unstable, autonomous beings that touch each other and distance themselves from one another in many ways that associate and disassociate depending on the context and the situation. Therefore, to dance together does not necessarily mean anymore that the parts are seeking to merge in a harmonious and synchronous community not even if a totality places itself at the service of one of its members. To dance in a company is shown as a festive experience, where singularities find other singularities in an asymmetrical way; they themselves become others, many, plural. I see in this a rich metaphor for living as a whole, in short for any ethics or politics of the future.
Finally, I find in the performance Falam as Partes do Todo? some ideas about the relationship between dance and cinema. I confess that I extrapolate a little here, but philosophy, in the way that I understand and practice it, consists of creating a reflection of the last consequences, even though it seems strange or exaggerated. We know that both dance and cinema are arts of movement, but while dance can expose the movement of the body in a multiplicity of perspectives, cinema is restricted to bi-dimensionality on the screen. There seems to be a fundamental incompatibility between choreography and film; while the language of dance can work with the volume of the body (in its totality), cinematographic language deals essentially with cuts, planes and frames (the parts). Fred Astaire, for example, the great dancer of North American cinema, insisted that the camera never focused only on his feet, arms or hips while he was dancing. For him, the esthetic effect of his choreography depended fundamentally on the spectator having access to his entire body and not only to parts of it. In many of his films, the camera is restricted to follow his steps like a faithful and submissive slave in long sequences. We know that film can do much more than simply continuously register the movement of the body, but I do not believe that until now there has never been a meeting between dance and cinema in such a way that one does not repress the other or even itself in some way.
In my opinion, the performance by the Dani Lima Dance Company reveals a new perspective on the relationship between dance and film by demonstrating that it is possible to permit the dancer’s body to be constantly divided and literally framed without allowing such actions to diminish the esthetic perception of the choreographic movement. Dance is carried to the limits of bi-dimensionality and it surprisingly remains dance. What could arise from this, I sincerely cannot predict, but I suspect new possibilities of exploring dance through the lens of cinema will arise. For me at least, the movements of the body have already transmuted in circle of ideas and thoughts.
Charles Feitosa is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Freiburg, i.B./Germany, Professor and researcher for the Scenic Arts graduate studies department at UNIRIO.
idança - 10/20/2005
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