ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the author argues that beauty is not a reified quality, but rather an emergent phenomenon that serves to orientate collective sensory engagement across space and time. Beauty comes and goes in moments, as a result of constantly shifting relationships between persons, ideas, and things. It is recognized, acknowledged – indeed collectively created – by embodied persons moving within their environmental webs. The creative co-product of dancers, choreographers, and other artists is often referred to as either a 'piece' or a 'work'. The former term suggests an art object that maintains a similar ontological position to other Western fine art forms: a 'piece' is a discrete thing, something to be viewed and appreciated in a context that is removed, at least to some extent, from the everyday flow of life. The dancers immediately spring into motion towards one another with intensity.
