Two bodies one mind, acrylic, 21x30cm, after Allen Jones
During tango dancers can feel their individuality
dissolving into a unity with their partner giving rise to feelings of aesthetic bliss. But like all
artistic practices that demand great skill, it also presents a puzzle. How do
dancers configure their minds and bodies so that they move in such dramatic
harmony? Recent research suggests how people achieve this fusion of ‘two
bodies one mind’ in tango.
Our brains create a mental representation of the physical
self, what scientists call ‘a body schema’, that enables us to move through
space without bumping into things. Our brains learn to identify the edges of
our bodies using information from multiple senses to create or mental
representation of our body and its boundaries. This body schema is fluid and can incorporate
objects that we interact with, for example after using a tool for some time,
people become aware of the end of that tool just as they are aware of the edge
of their hand. The brain learns to treat a much-used tool as an extension of
their hand until it feels like it is part of the body. Physical actions with
other humans can lead us to integrate their bodies into our own body schema. Dancers in tango sense their partners as physical extensions of
themselves.
The way a person’s body schema relates to other human beings
is influenced by their culture and by learning. Some cultures are more ‘physical’ in
accepting physical contact between people, being more ready to kiss, hold hands
or embrace each other. Tango, which
relies on physical entanglement, originated in an Argentina where physical contact and social interdependence already was part of their culture. Coming from a less
‘physical’ culture it took me time to accept close physical connection with
my partners and to feel their bodies as extensions of my own.
Tango, like culture, is learned through repeated practice.
When people regularly move together to a beat, rather
than moving independently or to different beats, it creates a greater sense of
interdependence, cooperation and their partner becomes an extensions of themselves.
Tango is not merely a dance form, it creates a unique interdependent relationship
between two people that can endlessly be filled with wonder and surprise. In tango you have another body with which to express yourself.
Adapted from ‘Can Another Body Be Seen
as an Extension of Your Own?’ Surprising results show the fluidity of the ‘body
schema’ by Julie Sedivy, Scientific American, January 12, 2016 http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/can-another-body-be-seen-as-an-extension-of-your-own/
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