Philosophy of Dance - Ollivier Pourriol

The dancer detaches his body from natural functions to achieve pure expression. Dance frees life from what was only survival in it. Paul Valéry, in his Philosophy of Dance, evokes “the mystery of a body that, suddenly, as if by the effect of an internal shock, enters into a kind of life that is both strangely unstable and strangely regulated”. This “kind of life” is the inner life, the real life, the one where the body frees itself from its utilitarian destiny, to invent purely expressive gestures. Paul Valéry, Hegel, Rousseau, Alain for philosophers, Nijinsky, Isadora Duncan or Pina Baush for dancers, Billy Elliot, Rize or The Red Shoes for films, all will help us grasp the meaning of this higher life that seems to pass through the body when it dances.” Ollivier POURRIOL Ollivier Pourriol, a philosophy professor and film specialist, likes to mix the two. From scenes from famous films, he explains the concepts of philosophy, which take shape in reality. Claude COLOMBINI FRÉMEAUX CD 1: ABSOLUTE LANGUAGE • MEANING IN ART • SELF-GOVERNMENT • RHYTHM AND HARMONY • SPORT AND DANCE • THE BEAUTIFUL AND THE USEFUL • THE EXPERIENCE OF ONESELF AND SIMILAR • THE DANCE SHOW • BETWEEN THEATER AND DANCE • BODY CONSCIOUSNESS • FREEDOM OF THE MIND • I DANCE THEREFORE I AM. CD 2: THE POETRY OF HUMAN MOVEMENT • THE LIBERATION OF PERCEPTION • PINA BAUSCH AND THE GAZE • A WORLD WITH ITS OWN LAWS • A STRUGGLE AGAINST THE USEFUL • FRICTION WITH THE REAL WORLD • AN EXTERIORIZED INNER LIFE • DANCING AGAINST AND WITH THE WORLD • THE WINGS OF DESIRE, WIM WENDERS • RECONCILIATING BODY AND MIND. CD 3: THE RED SHOES, 1948 • A FIGHT BETWEEN DANCE AND LIFE • THE RISK THAT SUBLIMES BEING • BLACK SWAN, 2010 • GRACE IN ABANDONMENT • TRANSFIGURATION THROUGH DANCE • BILLY ELLIOT, 2000 • THE LAW OF THE HUMAN FORM • DANCING YOUR RAGE • FORGETTING YOURSELF • ESCAPING GRAVITY • RIZE, 2014 • DANCING AND FIGHTING • THE VALUE OF DANCE. ARTISTIC DIRECTION: CLAUDE COLOMBINI