Sometimes a great notion pops up. I suppose that if one throws seed as widely as I do, and one spreads the manure as freely as I do - working it into the soil - a great blossom of an idea every now and then is not too unexpected.
So the other day I wrote that Dance and Sports were similar enterprises of intelligence: both were structured and choreographed body movements, pursuits that play on the entire body and its make-up and its continuous interaction with its environment. Sports, and in particular I mentioned a basketball game, differs from what we expect of artistic pursuits in that its progress is more chaotic and unpredictable, whereas Dance is very predictable: we know pretty much exactly what is going to happen each year in The Nutcracker; in December 2011 the Mouse King will not pull off a major upset.
(Of course, Art like the paintings of Jackson Pollock come to mind, dependent as they are on a certain randomness of the application of paint.)
Recently I have listened to someone speak about being on stage and remark that during the long run of a play, they look forward to a mistake, because within that mistake is the potential for originality and creativity. It may have been someone speaking of Dance. It may have been in Black Swan, but that I seriously doubt, since it would have been an intrusive "thoughty" bit of dialogue.
Anyway, this shows the rigidity of the limits of Dance; Sports has so many accidents - fumbles, fouls, offsides, etc. - that they are hardly considered moments of creativity! However, both the Dancer and the Athlete spend hours and hours exercising and disciplining their bodies. They study the basic discipline of movements which they will employ in their respective "games". Each are well rehearsed.
Now, as serious acts of intelligent beings, what does Dance communicate to us? What does Sports? And what role does chaos play in our interpretation?
Addressing these questions will eventually lead us to the most important one: the place of intelligence in the universe.
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pix: http://lazymills1986.deviantart.com/art/basketball-dance-of-the-gods-107161482
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