Friday, November 8 at 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm, Ruby Fridays, Ruby Lounge at the Rubenstein Arts Center, 2020 Campus Drive, Durham, NC 27705:
The Dancing Species: Human Bodily Movement and the Fate of the Earth - What if human beings evolved to dance? In her Ruby Friday talk, Kimerer LaMothe explores this question and its implications for addressing climate change. Can dancing in natural settings serve to generate theoretical insights into the human relationship with the earth? Can some kind of dancing serve as a practice for guiding the evolution of human culture in earth-friendly directions? Can the practice of dancing encourage humans to take greater responsibility for how their ways of life are impacting the earth? If so, how and why?
In this wide-ranging talk, LaMothe explores the relationship between practices of dancing and the earth in us and around us. Drawing insights from anthropology, neuroscience, philosophy, and evolutionary biology, as well as from indigenous ritual and modern concert dance, LaMothe sheds light on the role that dancing has played and continues to play in the process by which humans enact their relationship with the natural world. She argues that humans are better equipped to participate responsibly in the ongoing life of the earth when they cultivate the kind of sensory awareness that dancing can enable.
Short Bio:
Kimerer LaMothe, PhD, is a philosopher, dancer and scholar of religion. She is the author of six books, including Why We Dance: A Philosophy of Bodily Becoming (2015) and Nietzsche's Dancers: Isadora Duncan, Martha Graham, and the Revaluation of Christian Values (2006); as well as numerous articles and book chapters. She has received fellowships for her work from the Radcliffe Institute of Advanced Study, the Harvard Center for the Study of World Religions, and the Lower Adirondack Regional Arts Council of New York. Formerly on the faculty of Harvard University, she currently lives on a small farm in upstate New York. www.kimererlamothe.com www.vitalartsmedia.com
Dance Program