"patrick leader" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: >i think the original quote is "writing about music is like dancing about >architecture" and i think joni stole it (as she so often does) from >nietsche. usually she gives him credit, though. > >i hate the comment, though, whether it's from joni, jerry garcia, or >nietsche. i think, at the minimum, it displays ignorance about the >possibilities of dancing. as a visual art, dancing is actually well-suited >to be "about" architecture ...
I've always seen the quote attributed to Thelonious Monk, but who knows who really said it. In any case, I totally agree with Patrick; this ubiquitous quote has always been one of my pet peeves. Beyond choreographers who have created dances about architecture (and there have been more than a few), dance itself is all about architecture! It's about weight, balance, shape, form, perspective, and the interdependent relationship of these. And it's eminently possible to write about music; it can be done well or not, just like anything else. All that aside, however, there is a sense implied by that quote that there are intangible but nevertheless quite real things pure music can express which words (or dance, or architecture, or anything else) cannot, and that is very true. -Fred
