Embodied Philosophy in Dance

"Throughout the many years of knowing each other, Einav Katan has - every time anew - articulated ideas that enable me to better understand what beforehand was hidden to me." (Ohad Naharin, artistic director and choreographer, Batsheva Dance Company) "This book might not only become a landmark in philosophical dance-studies but also in the philosophy of embodiment and enactivism in general, and in this an eye-opener towards spheres that teach a philosophy of and through the moving body." (Professor Horst Bredekamp, the Collegium for the Advanced Study of Picture-Act and Embodiment, Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany) "Philosophizing dance is relatively new, yet not entirely new. But human bodies enacting cognition? And bodily movements as materializations of knowledge? This is not only new, but groundbreaking. Einav Katan has written a pioneering book indeed." (Professor Moshe Zuckermann, the Cohn Institute for Philosophy and History of Science and Ideas, Tel-Aviv University, Israel)

Representing the first comprehensive analysis of Gaga and Ohad Naharin's aesthetic approach, this book follows the sensual and mental emphases of the movement research practiced by dancers of the Batsheva Dance Company.Representing the first comprehensive analysis of Gaga and Ohad Naharin's aesthetic approach, this book follows the sensual and mental emphases of the movement research practiced by dancers of the Batsheva Dance Company. Considering the body as a means of expression, Embodied Philosophy in Dance deciphers forms of meaning in dance as a medium for perception and realization within the body. In doing so, the book addresses embodied philosophies of mind, hermeneutics, pragmatism, and social theories in order to illuminate the perceptual experience of dancing. It also reveals the interconnections between physical and mental processes of reasoning and explores the nature of physical intelligence.