John Blacking quotes
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“The ultimate aim of dancing is to be able to move without thinking, to be danced.”
-- John BlackingSource : John Blacking, Association of Social Anthropologists of the Commonwealth (1977). “The Anthropology of the body”, Academic Pr
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“...we may be able to prove conclusively that all men are born with potentially brilliant intellects...and that the source of cultural creativity is the consciousness that springs from social cooperation and loving interaction...the majority of us live far below our potential, because of the oppressive nature of most societies.”
-- John Blacking -
“We must ask why apparently general musical abilities should be restricted to a chosen few in societies supposed to be culturally more advanced. Does cultural development represent a real advance in human sensitivity, or is it chiefly a diversion for elites and a weapon of class exploitation?”
-- John BlackingSource : John Blacking (1974). “How Musical is Man?”, p.4, University of Washington Press
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“Thus, if a composer wants to produce music that is relevant to his contemporaries, his chief problem is not really musical, though it may seem to him to be so; it is a problem of attitude to contemporary society and culture in relation to the basic human problem of learning to be human.”
-- John BlackingSource : John Blacking (1974). “How Musical is Man?”, p.104, University of Washington Press
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“Tshikona is lwa-ha-masia-khali-i-tshi-vhila, "the time when people rush to the scene of the dance and leave their pots to boil over." Tshikona "makes sick people feel better and old men throw away their sticks and dance." Tshikona "brings peace to the countryside...." It is an example of the production of the maximum of available human energy in a situation that generates the highest degree of individuality in the largest possible community of individuals.”
-- John Blacking