Animal Etude: Searching for the Archetype

 


I

Introduction

The concept of an archetype appears in areas relating to behavior, historical psychology, and literary analysis. An archetype is a primitive generalized plan of structure deduced from the characters of a natural group of plants or animals and assumed to be the characteristic of the ancestor from which they are all descended. In the psychology of C. G. Jung, it is an inherited idea or mode of thought that is derived from the experience of, in this case the animal,  and is present in the unconscious of the individual.

 

II 

Learning Objectives

Understand  the meaning of the term archetype

Explain the use of the concept of archetype in structuring movement

Gain an awareness of the role that the archetypal movement phrase plays in the overall understanding of your solo dance

Experience the integration of the archetypal phrase with the rest of your piece.

 

III

Main Lesson



 1

Open the link and read.

LINK:
(Paragraph 8) 
 
Question 1

In which way are Simone Forti's ideas useful when embracing animal movements in dance?
 

2
 




Question 2

What animal did you identify with during the meditation?


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IV

A Note to Remember

  According to Jung, the animal is sublime and, in fact, represents the “divine” side of the human psyche. He believed that animals live much more in contact with a “secret” order in nature itself and—far more than human beings—live in close contact with “absolute knowledge” of the unconscious. In contrast to humankind, the animal is the living being that follows its own inner laws beyond good and evil—and is, in this sense, superior. 
 
 
V
 
Case Studies 
 


Heron Dance



Deer Dance




Question 3

Write your response to the representation of these animals in the two dance pieces above. Compare and contrast.


VI 

Activities


Activity 1
 
Discuss with your group your reflection on the videos above. Write a statement in which you reflect on the value of observing animal behavior for the purpose of creating animal-like archetypal movement phrase.
 
-----------------------------------------


Activity 2

Based on your meditation:

  • Choose an animal of your preference

  • Observe its movements through videos & poses through pictures

  • Begin to pay attention to each part of the animal's body

  • Extend your own movement capacities

  • incorporate the animal's forms of locomotion

  • Strive to move non-stylistically

  • Challenge your upright human body by adopting the animal's movement

  • Explore your archetypal capacity to express  


Based on you exploration:

Create an eight moves (or more) phrase; find music for it; record it and post it on Discussion Board.

----------------------------------- 
 
VII 
Journaling

Write a brief reflection about your process.

 

 VIII

 Glossary 

Archetype: Generally, the original model from which something is developed or made; in literary criticism, those images, figures, character types, settings, and story patterns that, according to the Swiss analytical psychologist, Carl Gustav Jung, are universally shared by people across cultures.

 

IX

Sources

Archetypal Symbolism of Animals. https://chironpublications.com/shop/archetypal-symbolism-animals/

The Bedford Glossary of Critical and Literary Terms. http://www2.hawaii.edu/~davink/MYTHOLOGY%20CLASS/DEFINITIONS/archetype.html

 

 

X

Students' Work


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