Abstract
This article is part of a larger project in which I construct a historically informed philosophy of dance, called “figuration,” based on new interpretations of canonical philosophers. Figuration consists of two major parts—namely, (a) four basic concepts, or “moves”—positure, gesture, grace, and resilience—and (b) seven types, or families, of dance—concert, folk, societal, agonistic, animal, astronomical, and discursive. The present article is devoted to the first of these moves, positure, regarding its importance for Aristotle and its applicability to my seven families of dance. One goal of figuration, and the central goal of this essay, is to model and justify a dancing aesthetic education, pursuant to psychological and political flourishing. More specifically, figuration holds that a maximally virtuous and flourishing community is one that facilitates dance, which requires dance education (in both theory and appreciation). Within this philosophy, positure’s specific contribution to aesthetic education lies in the concept of positure itself, which I define as “a poetically creative, politically situated, dynamic imitation of stasis.”
