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International Studies in Phenomenology and Philosophy

Journal | Volume | Article

143011

Practice makes perfect

the effect of dance training on the aesthetic judge

Barbara Montero

pp. 59-68

Abstract

According to Hume, experience in observing art is one of the prerequisites for being an ideal art critic. But although Hume extols the value of observing art for the art critic, he says little about the value, for the art critic, of executing art. That is, he does not discuss whether ideal aesthetic judges should have practiced creating the form of art they are judging. In this paper, I address this issue. Contrary to some contemporary philosophers who claim that experience in creating art is irrelevant to one's ability to judge that art form, as well as to some dance critics who see dance training as possibly even detrimental to one's aesthetic judgment, I suggest that having practiced dancing makes one a better observer of certain aesthetic qualities of dance. Dance training, I argue, can facilitate a kinesthetic experience upon watching dance without which some aesthetic aspects of a dance performance—such as grace, power, and precision, as perceived kinesthetically—may go unnoticed.

Publication details

Published in:

Hagendoorn Ivar (2012) Dance and cognitive science. Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences 11 (1).

Pages: 59-68

DOI: 10.1007/s11097-011-9236-9

Full citation:

Montero Barbara (2012) „Practice makes perfect: the effect of dance training on the aesthetic judge“. Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences 11 (1), 59–68.