Back to the Dance Itself by Sondra Fraleigh

Lately i'm reading a lot and Sondra Fraleigh's books, articles, thoughts are starting to be embedded in my mind, body, thoughts, manners.. Her's work will definitely help me to set my mind, philosophy movement and the whole context around my master thesis 'Embodied flow in motion'. Actually, through my Module 1 and 2 I realized that  I am swirling around the same key words such as conscious movement, meaning, intentionality, playfulness,creativity,  being in body, awareness, action. reaction, perception, motility,...Sondra's influence is amazing and huge, yet so powerful and simple. Through her books, podcasts, movement philosophy I finally found explanation for my thinking in dance, being in body and phenomenological concept. Here I will extract some profound thoughts for Journal of Dance and Somatic Practices, Vol 9, NR 2, 2017 by Sondra Fraleigh, 'Back to the Dance Itself: in three acts.

So, how does meaning arise in dance? why is intentionality important? According to great german philosopher Husserl, intentionality considered to be primary topic of phenomenology. The act of phenomenology is a performance that involves insight of the artist, which include intuitive descriptions, philosophical investigation on experience and study of phenomena. Intentional stance "holding that the body is not an instrument to be trained as a tool for choreography, because it is alive with subjectivity and can not exist as an object" (236). Merleou Ponty was strongly influenced by the Husserl's model of intentionality. Dance can reveal what lies hidden in the psyche of the truth. Dance seeks experienced truth. Husserl defines consciousness as "awareness of the one's own psychic experiences" (237). M. Ponty find symbiotic flow in the phenomena that presents itself to sight an touch. He brings sight and touch into a symbiotic space between self-sensing with the movement. The language of perception and intentionality sets and orient body and mind. When we change, fall, move to other direction, our consciousness also changes through attention. Intention and action are merging into extraordinary experience. We finding our feet doing attention in action, attending to what we are doing, as we falling, moving, dancing, sightseeing either cutting a tomato with a sharp knife. Husserl explains that movement perception "relate to I CAN as a crucial component of ability to move spontaneously and responsively" (238). We learning through action, through doing. "We embody our lives interactively and psycho-physically whether reaching, resting or dancing" (Ibid). Perception is always present in our action as the foundation of everything else.  Experiences all kinds, starting from motility, kinaesthetic consciousness and lived body are inseparable from the biggest picture of environment and world we live in. He sees creativity as a connection between individual intentionality and the world. M. Ponty argue consider " as we move our senses out towards the world and a sense of the world returns to us, there is folding reciprocal play in consciousness" (239).

If we understand dance as consciously oriented action than we can understand movement power actions and aesthetic of that power.  action has a purpose and movement is in a process of constant change; power that enables my action, fulfill the idea. According to Ricoeur, french philosopher, acting and moving has reciprocal possibilities. Movement is ongoing activity and needs a body, a situation, an orientation, possibilities but also a realization. Intentionality concerns the whole course of intentional activity. We need a purpose, we can't move without intention. The dancer/mover needs to be an excessive observant and memorized many patterns that would later link in a dance and movement journey. The power of choice in action is more interactive, symbiotic and powerful when is our embodied Self part of vivid materials of the world or when we see ourselves as a linkage in nature and culture either when our intentions have been already embodied somatic responsivity through practice or habits. 

how we live habits, act and how do we recognize and move past habits....? i will explore further and let you know here...:)