Some dancers you watch and say, "boy she's a great dancer. That was, what, six pirouettes?"
Other dancers you watch and you say, "I must change my life."
....not in that you want to become a dancer, but that you want to achieve the same integrity, to allow that same beauty to manifest itself in you as you perceive in the dancer. (Rilke capture this perfectly in that poem about the torso of Appollo.)
I think when people talk about "God," as Nureyev does, they are pointing to an experience that transcends the ego, not to an old guy with fluffy white hair who pulls strings so you won't get laid off, or so you'll get a good parking spot.
(Sorry, got layoffs on the brain, being in the middle of one.)
Anyway, I think all of Nureyev's analogies are accurate.
Whatever I think about scriptures, whether beautiful or not, none of it ever resembles any part of God.
Joanna
John Thornton wrote:
>joanna wrote:
>
>
>>Skimming through the latest issue of Dance Magazine, I ran across the
>>following:
>>
>>"When you listen to a piece of music written by Bach, you hear a part of
>>God. When you watch a well-acted Shakesperean play, you see a part of
>>God. When you watch me dance, you see a part of God."
>>
>>
>>Rudolph Nureyev
>>May 1990
>>
>>
>
>How is this different than the logic behind ID? This is not a rhetorical
>question but rather a genuine inquiry.
>
>When I hear Bach I hear the skill of a great composer. Skill built upon
>a history of music by great and not so great composers before him.
>Brought to life by talented musicians whose skill is likewise built upon
>the work of countless previous generations.
>
>When I watch my wife dance (ballet also) I most definitely do not see
>god or anything supernatural nor something beyond human comprehension.
>I do see beauty, grace, and hours upon hours of hard work.
>All that I see is what is made possible by the endeavours of hard
>working humans.
>To imagine some sort of supernatural agent behind the scenes making it
>all possible seems to me to belittle the efforts of eons of human
>effort. Something I cannot make myself do.
>
>Can someone please explain why a material human explanation is
>insufficient?
>
>John Thornton
>P.S. I'll add the obligatory note that there are some beautifully
>lyrical verses in religious scripture so as to avoid the inevitable
>objection to my question on those grounds.
>
>___________________________________
>http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk
>
>
>