Alva Noe - present research

Alva Noe- Dance as a way of Knowing

Alva Noe is Professor of Philosophy at the University of California, Berkeley. He works principally on the philosophy of mind and cognitive science, with special interest in the theory of perception, and is also interested in the philosophy of art, the history of analytic philosophy and Phenomenology.


Just a few bullet points that I relevant to my recent curiosities:

• gates of access
• engagement with the living land
• human mind is influenced by the forgotten relations with the earth
• Gary Snyder
• weightlessness
• shifting the common state of consciousness in order to make contact with the other organic forms of sensitivity and awareness with which human existence is entwined
• intertwined matrix of sensations and perceptions
• encounter with other centres of experience, embodied subjects, receivers
• Space is earth
• introspection
• presence
• investigation how we perceive our body in relation to the world around us
• dance and philosophy of mind

This interview make me look back at different dance styles that fed my passion for moving and expressing myself. They all brought me here, at Coventry University for a dance degree- the place where I find and understand the threads that connect my moving principles and my thinking. It is interesting to notice how the principles of BMC have brought together all patterns from my background into the present and made me aware of their presence. This fact helps me embody a new concept of the word 'dance' as a state of myself, that comes from the inside and happens in me because if me and my choices.

BMC Body System and Everything

During the second BMC session we focused our attention on the Body Systems.

Arriving into space.

Movement exploration starting from the cell [freewriting]

dead cell, alive cell, slow, deep, inside and outside, sense and touch or touch and sense, continuous exchange, continuous negotiation between offering and receiving, pain and let go, softening the eyes socket, tension, vibrating, smal detail, small movement, move a mass of cell, at least try, it feels like removing an ocean, breathing is enough- even too much. Fluidity, gravity, expand and deflate, GAP.

-conscious?

-unconscious?

-responses?

-emotions?

My current curiosities

Thought of today

New beginning 

During recent movement explorations I became fascinated by the interactive relation between contemporary theories of cognitive science and dance making process. I am aiming to allow an ‘embodied thinking’ to feed my artistic dance practice as a new way of shaping values and challenges.

My main focus is to achieve access to the world around us through sensorial awareness, engagement and embodiment while aiming for another level of movement manifestation- a process of renewal, of ‘becoming the dance’.

Another layer of my interest is the notion of ‘presence’, how it is associated with the word ‘meaning’ and therefore a continuous experiential change of the thinking process. 

Being the dance / Doing the dance

There was a real questioning about being or doing or making the dance. Questioning a dancer's choices, or my choices while 'making a dance'.

Being the dance is more about allowing yourself to listen and respond naturally to your partner's movement, becoming his/her dance without making it happen.

Doing a dance involves decision making and playfulness with a various palette of choices and directions.
I felt responsible for her choices, for where she goes next, for her energy level, frame,  for dimension, for the space within our making.

[brain is a part of my body- thinking----> body-mind unity]

The notion of breathing was present throughout my making. As well as working through my senses. Listen. Accept. Respond. Honesty. React. Be.

7436 Steps and Counting...

Everything starts with a sensation, a memory, a sensation that one memory gives you.  So I think I am a a collection of memories.

At the moment I find myself revisiting my work throughout all years of study. There are a few strong memories coming out, there are stories I cannot remember, stories that don't make sense.
Some stories are still here, present across my body, slicing my body, lifting me up again.

There is a valuable memory:

7436 Steps and Counting ...