In this day of indulgence, family, friends, rivalries, advertisements, and football, my thoughts turn to competition. And of course, dance.
Below is an excerpt from an article written by Ed Hirsch - "In the Spirit of Caissa: the Art of Chess" (Kun-Yang gave us this article to read as part of his own research process for One. As a performer, I do my own research, but I also appreciate having an insight into what my choreographer is thinking/ exploring/ observing/ researching.)
"In a deep way, the team of chess units represents different aspects of the whole person, from physical to spiritual: the King represents the self or spirit (which can never be captured, but only bound), the Queen represents the mind (since she makes the most connections on the board), the Bishop represents the emotions (the diagonal being more indirect or subtle), the Knight represents the vitality (being able to jump over pieces) the Rook represented the body (the square symbolizing matter), and the pawns represent the senses (serving as the "feelers"reaching out into the board). (In this respect, the Queening of a pawn represents the senses elevated to the realm of mind.) You will note that the correspondence is not exact, most notably in the exchange value of the Rook, where the physical is worth more than the emotional or vital. This is a matter of geometry: the Rook, moving along the squares, controls more space than the Bishop, for example. Symbolically, this suggests the strong value of the physical on the chess board (the physical dimension).
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| from http://www.tenthousandvillages.com/soapstone-chess-set |
I love the way Hirsch makes correlations between the game of chess and the lived experience of the game of life.
Enjoy your fruit and veggie trays, cheese dip, potato skins, organic seasoned kale, or whatever your Superbowl traditions are, and the spirit of friendly competition. Happy Superbowl Sunday!
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