Non-expression and expression

In post-modern dance, choreographers try to create movements that are not representational or expressive. This is opposed to the idea that the human body, and hence dance, is inherently expressive.
By considering works that intend to remove expressiveness from dance, I may learn about elements that could be useful for expressing emotions.

For example, Rainer's Trio A has no climax, no key images or poses that I could easily identify to you, no repetition of segments or variations on a motif, no clear floor plan, no tempo developments, just a moment-to-moment presence as a moving point in space, according to Carroll.



Even in such non-expressive dances, though, we might think of dance as being expressive by its discursive nature. In this case, because of contextual knowledge of the developments within dance history and Rainer's intent to create non-expressive dance, this dance still expresses something about a belief in non-expressive dance. (It's kind of like Duchamp's urinal "Fountain" having ironic status as art; the statement and meaning comes from context about it, not from the object itself.)

Dance communicates ideas as much as it does emotions; it can show us what the choreographer wants to show us of their view of the world more so than it gives us an expression of the dancer's own present emotions. For my project, my dances will show my understanding of invocation of emotions, what cues them, and somewhat how they feel to experience (thought that is more the audience's role). I can consider the many things that are absent from Trio A as tools for that expression, which Rainer was attempting to get away from.

Resource:
Carroll, N. (1981). Post-modern dance and expression. In G. Fancher & G. Myers (Eds.), Philosophical essays on dance (pp. 95-114). Brooklyn, N.Y.: Dance Horizons.