A'isha made a good point about this dance celebrating the human, and the ongoing seeming human urge to attribute great things or big things to space aliens, magic, or God, rather than to themselves.
Andrea made a good point about the urge to reconstruct the past.
I suspect that most people, most of the time, just can't hack the idea that we are responsible for who we are, our culture, institutions, and behavior, how we manage our resources, and all the rest. It's just too scary to contemplate that there might not be anyone out there watching over us. That there may not be any other purpose or meaning. So if the purpose and meaning isn't handed to us, we make it up or latch onto one that works for us.
I sometimes think there must be a "God gene" because religion and superstition are so prevalent. I tend to think it all stems back to our need to rely on the group. Religion seems to be one of the very best ways to motivate and steer the group.
To me, dance is a way of getting beyond the limits of the self. This is a good thing. It feels vital and maybe it's all the more vital for atheists such as myself. A temporary, maybe partial cure for subjectivity. A connection to something bigger than oneself. The music? The group? Connection to other dancers past, present and future? The Mother Goddess? It all depends on how one sees things, what one wants to call them.
Cathy
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