The dancing qualities of the cinematic space: a methodological experiment in order to perceive the motion picture as a dancing body.

Abstract: The thesis is proposing a method to perceive the cinematic space as a body in motion. The foundation for such an experimental method is traced within the investigation of the movement in the study of the motion picture, as well as in a phenomenological approach to dance, and in selected theories from the continental philosophy of the 20th century. In doing so, the paper aims to widen, examine and rethink the fundamental assumptions that are culturally and historically allocated to the cinematic expression. Therefore, a large amount of the thesis focuses on the juxtaposition of diverse theoretical approaches to construct a solid theoretical framework within which I will form the method. Furthermore, within a visual culture perspective, the thesis draws upon the debate between vision and blindness – what an audience sees and what it does not see in the experience of the motion picture – and it invites the reader to expand, challenge and deviate from a content-based approach in cinema. The genesis of such a method will enable me and the audience to experiment with an alternative way of visualising and perceiving the motion picture at large. Nevertheless, within this paper, my aim is to solely introduce and clearly explicate each of the given qualities of dance that can be applied to the cinematic space. To do so, my analysis will be limited to the realm of avant-garde cinema.