Prof. Joseph Houseal, executive director of Core of Cultural Dance Preservation, presented a series of seven lectures where he gave an in-depth analysis of the history of Eastern and Western dances during his two-week stay at TNUA the invitation of the Department of Dance.
Prof. Houseal's lectures covered a wide range of topics: "The Untold History of Dance from the Dawn of Time Until Now"; "Ajanta Dambullah, Dunhuang Dance in Buddhist Cave Art"; "A Dancer's Journey to Remote Bhutan"; "Dance in Museums: An Emerging Dance Museology"; "Dance Writing as a Way to Learn to See"; "Dance as a Technology of Consciousness"; and "Case Studies in Asian Dance History: The Iranian National Ballet; and Designing an Exhibition for the Beijing Ballet Invitational."
Prof. Houseal emphasizes dance as a technology of consciousness. Technology is a form of system tool that can produce and create.
Dance can be seen as a form of technology where people can, through the body movements, organize, present and even change one's mind.
He illustrated his point with the Japanese "Gagaku," which has its origin in the ancient Chinese court dance during the Tang Dynasty. Such a form of dance is a ritual by which gods' messages are conveyed.
It means that dance is connected to the consciousness, allowing the imperial leaders to understand towards which direction they should lead their nation.
It was Prof. Houseal's second visit to TNUA. He last visited in 2005 to take part in a symposium on Prof. Lin Hwai-min's art, presenting a paper analyzing Cloud Gate's work "Cursive."