Paper short abstract:

The research, based on an ethnographic study of Japanese perception of body in the world of Nihon Buyō, describes the training of the body to obtain certain movement, as well as cultural codes. Thus we learn that the research of the dance is the exploration of the embodied knowledge in society.

Paper long abstract:

The research, based on an ethnographic study of Japanese perception of body in the world of Nihon Buyō, describes the training of the body to obtain certain movement, as well as cultural codes. Based on Bourdieu's concept of habitus and the assumption that embodiment is crucial to social-cultural learning, the paper demonstrates the complex interweaving of social meanings that may be experienced through, and read into, the practice of dancing.

The idea of learning through the body is very strong in Japan, because everything is learnt through physical activity of the body. True knowledge, according to the Watsuji's (1994) opinion could not be obtained through theoretical thinking, but only through "bodily recognition" (tainin) or "physical realization" (taitoku), this is through the use of body and mind. Thus learning or "cultivation" (shugyō) is a practice, which seeks the right knowledge with the full use of the mind and body. Such learning is particularly characteristic to Zen Buddhism, the arts and martial arts, where is also reflected general thinking and philosophy found in everyday life. (Yuasa 1987)

Dance has the function of social control and according to Spencer (1985) has a major educational role, as it carries cultural codes to the younger generations. Other key features of dance education are mutually co-operation and preservation of common emotions, symbols, values, morality and harmony.

Specific teaching process in Japan is the result of long-standing tradition of individual transmission of cultural information in dance, where the exercises involve all three modalities (auditory, visual, and kinetic) and not just one. This way of learning is called "in-body learning" and thus the embodied habitus and practical sense can be viewed as forms of knowledge, or "tacit knowledge". Through the body learning (body hexis) the whole cosmology, ethics, metaphysics, politics, etc. could be imprinted in human. Learning a set of movement phrases through physical imitation rather than verbal description helps a pupil develop a high level of somatic awareness. The increased level of awareness has the advantage of absorbing large quantities of non-verbal clues in dance as well as in everyday social situations (Sellers-Young 1993).