"Shame on me... or Shame on You": The Connection Between Arts and Decision-making

Abstract

Over time artists have grappled with the experiences of the soul, particularly the human struggle to be virtuous. In this research project, choreographic tools are used to examine expressionistic links between the movement of Auguste Rodin’s sculpture The Gates of Hell and the narrative of Dante Alighieri’s Dante’s Inferno. These works were intended to persuade men to be righteous instead of committing sin. Rodin’s attention to human anatomy centers the importance of the body’s organic creation of movement in this struggle. Attention to the physique and emotion of the human body in motion has enabled Rodin’s work to transcend “generations and nationalities with the utmost ease”. The choreographic research aims to connect the links between emotion, expressions, and narrative of the souls to today. In contrast to sin simply being a conscious individual choice, an individual could be influenced to engage in “unethical behavior” by a group. Using dancers’ interpretation of ‘moral injustices’ as a guide for motifs, the choreography entitled “Shame on Me… or Shame on You?” will be a group work embodying the struggle of humanity to be good in real time.