dance AESTHETICS

“Beauty is how you feel inside and it reflects in your eyes.”

_Sophia Loren

Aesthetics comes from the Greek word “aesthetikos” meaning to perceive by the senses. Its meaning has evolved over time, especially in art and design, to mean something related to the appreciation of beauty. Beauty is perceived through the sense, whether we are looking at a painting, or listening to music. In dance, this perceiving not only extends to include all the senses but that which is perceiving is also the perceived. There is no distinction between the dancer and the dance. An extension to the perception of beauty is the interpretation and evaluation through which we transcend the sensual in order to ascribe meaning.

In dance, there is no separation between what is being created or danced, and meaning. Dance doesn’t really stand for something else. Dance is the focus which makes it an extremely powerful medium for understanding and making sense not only of ourselves but the wider world too. Through dance, life in all its colours is embodied. This allows us not only to experience the dance sensually through kinetic senses and proprioception but to uncover hidden truths about ourselves and the world. The dance becomes a mirror reflecting the depths of human experience in a way that could not be expressed with words.

Dance offers us a profound means of self-discovery through the fluidity of movement that intermingles with the senses, emotion, and self-expression. It becomes a testament to the richness, beauty, and wonder of the human spirit which opens up a transformative journey – one that allows us to truly appreciate the aesthetic experience of being alive.

_Christos Daskalakos