Dancing-the-Religious with Ruth St. Denis and Mary Wigman: A Philosophical Perspective on Esotericism and Occultism in Early Modern Dance
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Roehampton
Department Name: School of Arts
Abstract
The role of the religious and spiritual in western dance practices has been under theorized in dance
scholarship. This project traces this insufficiency to a blind spot in dance history and philosophy: the
renaissance of esotericism and occultism that shaped the historical moment when modern dance emerged at
the turn of the twentieth-century. The aim of this research is to illustrate the simultaneous development of this
new form of dance (modern dance) with new religious and spiritual practices, towards articulating a philosophy
of dance as embodied religious experience. The suggestion is that unearthing this history, and fundamentally
engaging with these spiritual philosophies themselves, may illuminate a new understanding of dance as that
which reveals and expresses the religious - an important conception which defines a crucial moment in early
dance history with lasting influence.
The project turns to American and German early modern dancers Ruth St. Denis (1879-1968) and Mary
Wigman (1886-1973) as case studies. Both dancers encountered or directly practiced a variety of esoteric
religions, while through their dances and written works, also advocated for dance as religious experience in its
own right, thus providing the grounds to investigate possible influences of esoteric and occult philosophy on
dance philosophy.
This is a multi-faceted, interdisciplinary project with a three-pronged approach. (1) Close readings of key texts
in esoteric/occult practices (which St. Denis and Wigman themselves read, or likely read). (2) Archival
research on their contemporaneous dances and written works. (3) Placing both readings in dialogue with
compatible contemporary thought in philosophy of religion to support a philosophy of dance as religious
embodiment.
By working across disciplines and perspectives, the project provides both dance philosophers and historians,
as well as philosophers of religion, with an augmented vocabulary for historicizing and theorizing the fluid
relationship between dance, embodiment, and religious experience
scholarship. This project traces this insufficiency to a blind spot in dance history and philosophy: the
renaissance of esotericism and occultism that shaped the historical moment when modern dance emerged at
the turn of the twentieth-century. The aim of this research is to illustrate the simultaneous development of this
new form of dance (modern dance) with new religious and spiritual practices, towards articulating a philosophy
of dance as embodied religious experience. The suggestion is that unearthing this history, and fundamentally
engaging with these spiritual philosophies themselves, may illuminate a new understanding of dance as that
which reveals and expresses the religious - an important conception which defines a crucial moment in early
dance history with lasting influence.
The project turns to American and German early modern dancers Ruth St. Denis (1879-1968) and Mary
Wigman (1886-1973) as case studies. Both dancers encountered or directly practiced a variety of esoteric
religions, while through their dances and written works, also advocated for dance as religious experience in its
own right, thus providing the grounds to investigate possible influences of esoteric and occult philosophy on
dance philosophy.
This is a multi-faceted, interdisciplinary project with a three-pronged approach. (1) Close readings of key texts
in esoteric/occult practices (which St. Denis and Wigman themselves read, or likely read). (2) Archival
research on their contemporaneous dances and written works. (3) Placing both readings in dialogue with
compatible contemporary thought in philosophy of religion to support a philosophy of dance as religious
embodiment.
By working across disciplines and perspectives, the project provides both dance philosophers and historians,
as well as philosophers of religion, with an augmented vocabulary for historicizing and theorizing the fluid
relationship between dance, embodiment, and religious experience
Organisations
People |
ORCID iD |
| Alana Reibstein (Student) |