| Description |
This research considers how the body serves as evidence of human mortality, and subsequently how the body is treated in Western dance and society at large. Drawing heavily upon the writing of Ernest Becker and Stephen Cave, my research revolves around theories of how humans are driven through life because of their fear of death, subscribing to a vast array of Immortality Narratives to manage their death anxiety. I argue that forms of terror management mainly rely on assumptions of the duality of the mind and body. Because the body serves as evidence of one's mortality via its process of aging and decay, the inner Self (the mind) is tasked with the challenge of reigning in control over the body, reinforcing mind-body duality. Through an examination of my Modern Dance lineage and thesis production, The End of Sisyphus, I identify imbedded ideologies of the Classical body within my choreography. I look specifically at ableism and ageism, values that directly manifest from my fear of the impermanence and the loss of control of my own body. I look closely at the desire for control over the body in relationship to an artist's drive to evade death by living vicariously through others and by proving one's unique worth, or "cosmic significance." This striving for personal significance is further discussed through the mythical story of Sisyphus, positing his impossible task of pushing his boulder to the mountain's summit as a metaphor for harnessing control over one's corporeality. Drawing upon the work of Mark Johnson, I conclude that by rejecting mind-body iv duality to instead embrace body-mind integration, the Immortality Narratives become unnecessary, allowing for the acceptance of life's ephemerality and the body. With this acceptance, the existential struggle for cosmic significance and control of the body becomes unnecessary, as well. By reframing the narrative of Sisyphus in these terms, I discover a path toward shedding Classical ideologies, wherein the body is embraced for its aging, fragility, and impermanence, offering a new approach toward the ephemeral charge that is both making dances and living to die. |
