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This book investigates how Pragmatist philosophy as a philosophical method contributes to the understanding and practice of interdisciplinary dance research. It uses the author's own practice-based research project, Later Rain, to illustrate this. Later Rain is a post-dramatic dance theater work that engages primarily with issues in the philosophy of religion and socio-political philosophy. It focuses on ecstatic states that arise in Appalachian charismatic Pentecostal church services, states characterized by dancing, paroxysms, shouting, and speaking in tongues (glossolalia). Research for this work is interdisciplinary as it draws on studio practice, ethnographic field work, cultural history, Pentecostal history and theology, folk aesthetics, anthropological understandings of ecstatic religious rituals, and dance history regarding acclaimed works that have sought to present aspects of religious ecstasy on stage; Doris Humphrey's The Shakers (1931), Mark Godden's Angels in the Architecture (2012), Martha Clarke's Angel Reapers (2015) and Ralph Lemon's Geography trilogy (2005). The project thereby demonstrates a process model of dance philosophy, showing how philosophy and dance artistry intertwine in a specific creative process.
List of contents
1. Sources beyond the Pale.- 2. Pragmatist Methods: Experimental Inquiry, Somaesthetics, and Performance Praxis.- 3. Religious History: Spirit Poured out on all Flesh.- 4. Dance History: The Rolling Deep.- 5. Ethnographic Research: Signs Follow Them That Believe.- 6. Movement Research: The Most Originally Mine.- 7. Religious Experience: William James, Ecstasy, and Christian Fundamentalism.- 8. Conclusions: On Pragmatist Performance Philosophy.
About the author
Eric Mullis is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Queens University of Charlotte, USA. He is also a dance artist and scholar whose work is grounded in interdisciplinary research and creative processes. He has written on topics in Chinese Philosophy, American Pragmatism, Philosophy of Embodiment, Somaesthetics, Dance and Philosophy of Technology, and Dance and Political Engagement. He currently lives and works in North Carolina and is continually investigating the role of the dance artist in the Southeastern United States.
Report
"Pragmatist Philosophy and Dance undoubted value is that if offers an example of how to expand the toolbox for an interdisciplinary research work on dance that fully capitalizes philosophical thought. ... Mullis contributes to affirming that performance goes beyond presenting philosophical content and develops an effective theory-in-process methodological approach to sustain performance research and generate practical and theoretical knowledge extremely useful for the artistic process." (Susanne Franco, European Journal of Pragmatism and American Philosophy, Vol. 13 (1), 2021)
