PoD#3: Philipa Rothfield, "Between the Foot and the Floor, Thinking Dance Through Nietzsche"

Philipa Rothfield (La Trobe University)

Philosophies of Difference Seminar #3: Thursday 8th September, 6pm @ RMIT City Campus

"Between the Foot and the Floor, Thinking Dance Through Nietzsche"

Philipa Rothfield (La Trobe University)

Abstract:

The notion of difference within dance—between modes of practice, kinaesthetic value, style and technique—is largely thought through notions of representation and/or phenomenological subjectivity. This paper aims to think the nuances (and differences) of dance practice through the notion of force within Nietzschean thought. Assisted by Deleuze’s reading of Nietzsche, the activity of dancing will be discussed in relation to force and the will to power. According to this way of thinking, the body becomes a momentary, complex configuration that forms and reforms. The body arises out of these relationships, as does the subjectivity of the dancer. The typology of force allows us to discern the difference between activity (the dancing/the active type) and experience (the dancer/the reactive apparatus) in motion. It also allows us to see the ways in which subjectivity can be strategically deployed towards the production of corporeal difference beyond the givens of the subject-position.

Bio:

Philipa Rothfield is now Honorary staff in Philosophy at La Trobe University. She is also Creative Advisor for Dancehouse, Co-convenor of the Choreography and Corporeality working group of the International Federation of Theatre Research, sometime dancer, reviews dance for Realtime and Momm magazines, and leads the Editorial Board of the Dancehouse Diary. She has published on the work of Merleau-Ponty, Klossowski, Deleuze, Ravaisson and Nietzsche, in relation to dance.

WHEN:

6PM – 7:30PM, Thursday 8th September 2016

WHERE:

Building 9, Level 3, Room 6A

RMIT City Campus (cnr Bowen & Franklin)

* Free, no registration required *

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