Embodied Philosophy in Dance

EMBODIED PHILOSOPHY IN DANCE GAGA AND OHAD NAHARIN’S MOVEMENT RESEARCH Einav Katan Performance Philosophy Series Editors Laura Cull Ó Maoilearca Department of Dance, Film and Theatre University of Surrey Guildford , United Kingdom Alice Lagaay Zeppelin University Friedrichshafen , Germany Freddie Rokem Faculty of the Arts Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv , Israel Will Daddario Independent Scholar Asheville , North Carolina , USA Performance Philosophy is an emerging interdisciplinary fi eld of thought, creative practice and scholarship. The newly founded Performance Philosophy book series comprises monographs and essay collections addressing the relationship between performance and philosophy within a broad range of philosophical traditions and performance practices, including drama, theatre, performance arts, dance, art and music. It also includes studies of the performative aspects of life and, indeed, philosophy itself. As such, the series addresses the philosophy of performance as well as performance-as-philosophy and philosophy-as-performance. Series Advisory Board: Emmanuel Alloa, Assistant Professor in Philosophy, University of St. Gallen, Switzerland; Lydia Goehr, Professor of Philosophy, Columbia University, USA; James R. Hamilton, Professor of Philosophy, Kansas State University, USA; Bojana Kunst, Professor of Choreography and Performance, Institute for Applied Theatre Studies, Justus- Liebig University Giessen, Germany; Nikolaus Müller-Schöll, Professor of Theatre Studies, Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, Germany; Martin Puchner, Professor of Drama and of English and Comparative Literature, Harvard University, USA; Alan Read, Professor of Theatre, King’s College London, UK http://www.performancephilosophy.org/books/ More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/14558 Picture: Gadi Dagon 2015, from: Last Work, Ohad Naharin , Batsheva Dance Company , 2015 Einav Katan Embodied Philosophy in Dance Gaga and Ohad Naharin’s Movement Research Einav Katan Humboldt University of Berlin Germany Performance Philosophy ISBN 978-1-137-60185-8 ISBN 978-1-137-60186-5 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/978-1-137-60186-5 Library of Congress Control Number: 2016950477 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2016 The author(s) has/have asserted their right(s) to be identifi ed as the author(s) of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifi cally the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfi lms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specifi c statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. Cover illustration: © Gadi Dagon Printed on acid-free paper This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by Springer Nature The registered company is Macmillan Publishers Ltd. London To John Michael Krois ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Embodied Philosophy in Dance: Gaga and Ohad Naharin’s Movement Research is a hermeneutical account of the comprehensive processes within dance. Accordingly, dance is related as a means of both expression and physical research. As an aesthetic medium, dance enables articulation of ideas according to perceptual processes of confi guring its own subject matters. Inquiring the perceptual processes in dance is based on the prem- ise that linguistics is only one medium among other media for creating understanding, knowledge and thoughts. Alongside linguistics dance is also a medium for communicative expression. Thus, dancing embodies processes of reasoning. The point of departure for the examination is, fi rst and foremost, that there is neither idea nor form without matter. Fittingly, one of the main arguments is that the human body is already a medium for meaning. The body is involved in communicative processes since the physical habitus is cultural and individual at the same time. Correspondingly, the body takes part in acts of sense making. The investigation here is primarily phenomenological and it starts from the body as the origin for understanding. For this reason Embodied Philosophy in Dance follows Gaga, the movement research developed by Ohad Naharin, the choreographer of Batsheva Dance Company . Hence, the physical habitus of dancers, their practical research and their movement patters are the subjects of this inquiry. Alongside his choreographies, Naharin’s movement research marks him as a groundbreaking creator that has been redefi ning the dancing body. Gaga is the main training method of Batsheva Dance Company , which helps the dancers develop and advance their movement’s precision and sensibility. The training is dynamic and ix x ACKNOWLEDGMENTS the research follows a variety of instructions. For this reason, Gaga cannot be easily outlined. Yet, there are clear tendencies in Gaga; accordingly it is possible to defi ne its emphases. The focal points of the training are its sensual inquiry, the direction of the dancers’ attitude toward the physical research, and the buildup of the practice upon layers of researches—thus, there is an integration of varied physical inquiries at the same time. These tendencies within the movement research directed the philosophical inquiry, its questioning and its structure. Since the philosophical approach is phenomenological—namely, the claim is that the body supplies the theory concerning it—all parts of the book start with a description of an experience. The questions the physical and the aesthetic experiences open are investigated in the following chapters. I would like to acknowledge the people that infl uenced this inquiry and escorted me in bringing it to its current shape. First and foremost I would like to express my appreciation to Prof. Moshe Zuckermann, from The Cohn Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Ideas at Tel Aviv University. Throughout my exchanges and discussions with Prof. Zuckermann, I could always fi nd new directions for research. I am also obliged to the active support of Naharin in this research. Naharin’s accessibility and profound generosity to share with me his knowledge, his work and his art have qualifi ed this work. From the very beginning of this research, Batsheva Dance Company granted me any necessary access to research Gaga and Naharin’s choreographies. Naomi B. Fortis, Dina Aldor and Yossi Naharin ensured my exchange with Batsheva Dance Company and Gaga People , and I am very appreciative of their help. I am also indebted to every one of the company’s members; all staffs and dancers in the seasons of 2003–2015. I want to acknowledge especially the work of Sharon Eyal. Alongside Naharin’s choreographies, her dance- works and her aesthetic approach are other resources that have been directing my refl ections. I am grateful to Luc Jacobs, the rehearsal director of the company, and to Dalit Itay, Noa Ron and Hadar Stav that provided all my technical needs. I am also appreciative to Gadi Dagon, the company’s home photographer, for the permission to use his wonderful, mov- ing images in the book. I wish to acknowledge Kobi Alexander Nathan, who was the deputy director of content and communications at Batsheva Dance Company , and who passed away in April 2014. His practical help was essential for this research to come forward. Bringing together practical insights from dancing into philosophical discussion is an interdisciplinary challenge. This inquiry sought to ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xi incorporate a variety of discourses and within them to fi nd correspond- ing voices that could be consolidated into one comprehensive theory. For this reason, alongside the physical study of Gaga, the research was depen- dent upon my theoretical experiences within the research groups I was engaged with. Each experience was infl uential and has shaped further the arguments, the insights and the style of this book. During the time of studying on behalf of this inquiry, I spent one year as a visiting scholar at Boston University and an additional semester at The Juilliard School, NYC. Throughout the semester at Juilliard , I observed the teaching meth- ods in the dance division and had insightful conversations with students and faculty. I acknowledge this time as important for shaping a broader perspective on dancing and dance. I am very grateful to Lawrence Rhodes for allowing it and to Dawn Lille for fi rst insights and encouragement. I am also very appreciative to Deborah Jowitt from NYU Tisch Department of Dance for our exchanges during that time. From Jowitt I have learnt the remarkable impact of truthful description that concentrates, fi rst and foremost, the dance. I am whole-heartedly grateful to Prof. John Michael Krois from Humboldt University of Berlin. Krois introduced me to the discourse of embodied cognition, and his inspiration on this project and its discourse is indispensable. In April 2010 I have joined as a research fellow at the Collegium of Advanced Studies in Picture Act and Embodiment that he has founded together with Prof. Horst Bredekamp. Few months later Krois had passed away unexpectedly. Krois’ philosophical legacy is noteworthy to future researches concerning the embodiment of thinking. Thereupon, this book is dedicated to him. The Collegium of Advanced Studies in Picture Act and Embodiment (Kolleg-Forschergruppe Bildakt und Verkörperung ) continue to work under the guidance of Prof. Horst Bredekamp and Prof.

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