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Title: Empathie kinesthésique et recours à Merleau-Ponty dans la recherche en danse
Subtitle: Précurseur ou prétexte?
Author(s): LEROY, Christine
Journal: Etudes phénoménologiques - Phenomenological Studies
Volume: 4    Date: 2020   
Pages: 293-315
DOI: 10.2143/EPH.4.0.3286921

Abstract :
Given the fascination Merleau-Ponty’s thought exercises on the research in dance studies, I examine how legitimate it is to attribute a philosophy of the dance to Merleau-Ponty. I focus on the phenomenon of 'kinesthetic empathy' and show, first, how this phenomenon finds some resonance in Merleau-Ponty’s vocabulary and, second, how the phenomenology of the 'flesh' can offer a theoretical basis for kinesthetic empathy. I then consider the limitations such a phenomenological foundation has for a practice based on motricity, which can very well dispense with such a foundation. Finally, I consider Merleau-Ponty’s style and prose, which are best suited to contribute to the kinesthetic awakening of his readers and set them into motion. I thus claim that Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenology can, in fact, give 'the impression of dancing', that is to say, elicit a response in the form of a motor expression.

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