Moving Together: Affect, Time and The Political in-between Bodies

Abstract

This thesis investigates the affective, temporal and political aspects of dancing together. I endeavour to theorize the affective field in-between dancing bodies with references to transmission of affects, imitative and emotional contagion, attunement, rhythmic entrainment, and mimicry. The temporal aspects of dancing together is understood in terms of Deleuze’s philosophy of time, particularly his concepts such as the Aion, the event, caesura, the virtual, and the three syntheses of time. At the intersection of affects and time, the potentials of the virtual imply the political. The political is conceived as the potential of the creative endeavours and the affective intensities activated by dancing together besides more overt political implications of the various political movements and historical moments. In order to develop these arguments in case studies, I introduce the experiences of a dancing community in Istanbul (Cati, Association of Independent Contemporary Dancers); dancing rhythmically as part of political struggles during protests, strikes and the Gezi Uprising; and the relationship between the dancer and the audience in Hallo!, a choreographic work by Aydin Teker which is co-composed affectively by the spectators and the performer.