Nicole Voyles Dance to Natives. 2/15/11

Van der Leeuw describes the differences between the Apollonian and Dionysian dancers on page 60. He states that Dionysiac dance is based on tragedy and is based on Dionysus, a mindset being “dying and rising god” and “ecstatic intoxication.” Apollonian dance is more ordered, based on the god Apollo, who is the answer to the chaos. I'm one of those “primitive men” and I have to say Van der Leeuw actually captured the sentiment well of the Dionysian dancers' tendency to be overly passionate. The other text also mentions the primitive man and the way all forms of art roll together with science, religion and the everyday. To my culture, every utterance is straight to the spirits, every drop of water a sacrament, every fiber of the world a gift. I try to remember this in my every day interactions, and having heard it described so eloquently is a good reminder of how I am trying to live.