SOMATIC ATTENTION AS A PHENOMENOLOGICAL APPROACH IN THE FUNDAMENTALS OF DANCE BY HELENITA SÁ EARP

Abstract

The work analyzes the legacy of Helenita Sá Earp in the construction of dance as a field of knowledge in Brazil. It argues that artistic quality in dance comes from intuitive awareness, expressed in creativity and mindfulness of movement, rather than following predetermined patterns. The interpretation is based on Thomas Csordas' anthropological approach, taking the notion of "somatic attention" as central. The research highlights attention as a phenomenological posture in the Fundamentals of Dance by Helenita Sá Earp, which goes beyond a mentalist view, promoting a connective and open corporeality, where vital energies generate "germinal" movement. Each corporeality has specific practices, and this proposal, characterized by openness to infinite paths, applies to different contexts, transcending a specific emergency of time or place, in an incessant dialogue between flow and form in the praxis of performers-creators-artists-teachers-researchers in dance.