Art and meaning have always been symbiotic.

As a form of expression that transcends the limitations of language, especially written text, art serves as a highly versatile medium for artists to convey vague emotions and ideas, and explore philosophical topics that may otherwise be too complex to be discussed with words. It is through art that many of the intangible aspects of our personal experiences are captured and conveyed to our audiences.

The word “art” originates from the Latin word “ars,” meaning “practice, skill, craft, or work of art.” It is apparent that early civilizations viewed art as a practical skill, and it was often aimed to either imitate the objective world or serve practical functions, such as honoring the gods and royalty, educating the public, and recording historical events. However, as we enter a new artistic era characterized by modern and postmodern thinking, the meaning of art has undoubtedly shifted to a form of more personalized, creative, and free expression of the artist, and its form has become increasingly diverse. Thus, in today’s world, art is associated with meaning in many ways. However, dance, as a very important art genre, often does not receive the examination of meaning that it deserves, unless presented in a manifestly abstract way. Nevertheless, its many traits set the genre apart from other arts, allowing it to be an ideal and one-of-a-kind tool for the expression of meaning.

One of the most important characteristics of dance is its transience. Marcia Siegel, a renowned dance critic, wrote in 1972 that dance “exists as a perpetual vanishing point” and that it occurs in “an event that disappears in the very act of materializing.” It is precisely this characteristic of dance that makes it unique in its role as a means of the exploration and representation of meaning. Though pre-choreographed in many cases, it is almost impossible for even the same dance to be identical in every performance, making it impossible to replicate, which means that it has a strong connection with time, nature, and existence itself. Therefore, it is suitable for both the dancer and the audience to examine and contemplate meaning during this fleeting, unrepeatable experience.

A renowned contemporary dancer who made use of this characteristic to express meaning in his work is Bill T. Jones, who was not only a choreographer during his career but also an activist addressing social issues such as racism and AIDS. In his controversial work Still/Here, Jones implemented a number of media, including images, audio, text, and music, into this dance to capture the experience of living with a terminal disease. The ephemerality and non-replicability of dance served as a strong reminder of the transience and fragility of life in this work, and expressed the inquiries the artist had about our existence.

Another unique characteristic of dance is that it is a physical narrative, which leaves much room for storytelling. For instance, Martha Graham, who is often referred to as the “mother of modern dance,” utilizes physical narrative to express meaning about her identity and community. Her innovative method, known as the “Graham Technique,” includes an alternation of muscular contraction and relaxation, as well as cooperation between the breathing and physical movements of the dancer. Her famous piece Appalachian Spring tackles topics that are important to American values, such as courage, resilience, optimism, and the pioneer spirit, as well as shapes the American collective identity by adopting new stories and moving away, to some extent, from the strict rules of traditional ballet, defying the norms of the industry. Through this work of hers, Graham explored America’s social constructs and ideologies and expressed the meaning of her American identity.

Many other contemporary dancers were also devoted to expressing meaning in their work through multiple creative approaches, including Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Pina Bausch, and Crystal Pite. They embraced dancing as a means of examining the meaning of life, their own spirituality, and the connection between humans and nature. For artists, dance is important as a medium of artistic expression in the way that it concretizes abstract feelings and thoughts and blurs them into an obscure somatic narrative at the same time.

Additionally, an artist’s perception of meaning would in turn affect the way they construct and deliver the choreography. For example, a dancer most familiar with African culture may choose a different movement or symbolism to represent a certain emotion in their work than a dancer with an Asian background, since movements have different meanings under distinct social, cultural, and even personal contexts. This allows the artist’s work to be more personalized and carries meaning about the identity and ideals of its creator. In short, dance can be affected by personal perceptions of meaning.

In conclusion, though the works of artistic pioneers such as Martha Graham might not seem novel to today’s audiences, they were revolutionary in their time. They opened the world’s eyes to new perspectives of how dance can be more than a tool of entertainment and storytelling, and paved the way for future explorations and experimentations by their successors. Dance as we see it today, which may be extended to art in general, is crucial to our journey in the search for and representation of meaning, and its creation is in turn affected by different perceptions of meaning, showcasing an interactional relationship.

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