ABSTRACT
This is a chapter about the phenomenon of entrainment, a discussion that the author would like to motivate by a short case study from the field of contemporary dance. It charts a path beginning and ending with the practice of choreographer William Forsythe: from the motivating artistic example of Forsythe's choreography Duo, through the scientific literature, and then returning with a refrain to entrainment in ballet history and the examples of Forsythe's contemporary pieces Artifact and Eidos:Telos. Forsythe understands entrainment as a confluence of musical, motor, social and communicative competencies – again, it involves much more than being in-sync or aligned with the music. The physics of entrainment describes only self-sustaining, coupled independent harmonic oscillators, which over time come in-sync or into a consistent rhythmical relation. The chapter highlights several areas of entrainment research in different domains for the purpose of framing the specific concern – that of entrainment in dance.
