The performance and perception of being: ethos, eidos and pathos.
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Abstract
This performative demonstration assumes Heidegger’s stance on Dasein as ‘being-in’ when he discusses issues arising from Dasein conceived of as subject and object in Being and Time. Heidegger proposes that Dasein is always already ‘seen’ in a certain way, which is mostly mis-interpreted, or interpreted in an ontologically inadequate way. The mis-interpretation of Dasein has been particularly noted historically by feminist dance practitioners in the US and UK, such as Jacky Lansley, Emilyn Claid, Yvonne Rainer and Trisha Brown. Their practice and writing highlights the perception, interpretation and definition of female dancers’ ethos as objectified within the limits of their outward appearance (eidos). This has often been theorized in relation to Laura Mulvey’s essay on the male gaze titled ‘Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema’ (1975). Through performed relationships between speaking and dancing, the dancer and perceiver identify with each other (pathos) and transcend dualistic categories.