"Rituals of Dance"

Dance I
32" x 24"

Statement

We are continually developing an understanding of our physical presence
in the world. In many ways we are bound to our bodies of flesh and blood,
but it is through this framework that we are able to experience and begin to
understanding the eternal and spiritual forces of our universe. If you agree
with those who believe that action came before conjecture in human develop-
ment, then you will recognize in bodily movement man's most fundamental
and expressive act. It is the inclination of primal peoples to idealize action as
a magical force.
   Our understanding, emotions, and movements spontaneously fuse, in a direct,
non-verbal assertion called dance. This purely physical assertion allows us to
communicate not only interpersonally, and with culture, but also with the whole
of mankind. It ultimately offers a conduit with the very forces of nature. Be it a
courtship waltz, and aesthetic performance, or a tribal rite, dance has the ability
to transform us. The dancer becomes the movements. By this vehicle we touch
the unknown and unseen elements that we sense in the world around us.
    From the imaginary and irrational space of the danced dimension, a figure
remains in memory-a figure which transcends time, strength and space. It can
erase corporeality; the gesture becomes endless, like rays, like streams, like breath.
The totemic image recalls and reinforces our intimate experience of a primal rite.
Through dance we are engaged in an altered state that can empower or relieve, but
nonetheless transforms our living experience into a celebration.
    Daily physical exercise allows the dancer optimum performance. In a sense, he
makes a visual image with his body and movements. The visual artist also relies
heavily on his bodily movements to bring form and shape to his art. The collages
shown here are product of the daily practice of art. Similar to the dancer's morning
barre work, they and other similar works are made at sunrise, on a daily basis. The
human figure, its movements and the path of these movements, along with symbolic
imagery of Labanotation combine in an often totemic shape. Cutting and tearing
through paper in the same way a dancer slices through space has resulted in this
assemblage of images.

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  North Dakota Art Gallery Association.
Web Site maintained by Austin J. Pederson.