The Formation of Personal Value Systems as a Basis for Artistic Expression
Presented at the I International Scientific and Practical Conference
Kyiv, Ukraine – May 15-17th, 2025
Abstract
In this presentation, I will discuss my observations both as a dance artist and as an oral historian who has engaged deeply with numerous life histories. As an oral historian, I create verbal historical records from the non-logocentric art of theatrical dance. These biographies—or better anti-biographies—including my own, reveal how personal value systems are inseparably shaped by their social and cultural environments. The immediate history is often first expressed through artistic impulses—through dance, plays, music, and performance—long before it can be analysed or consciously reflected upon.
My own coming to age as an artist during the Brazilian Military Regime (1964–1985) saw dance, music, and drama assumed distinct forms rooted in resistance. Comparable patterns can be seen among Irish, German, and Balkan artists working under political and social duress. While oral history is transmitted through the voices of living individuals, their artistic works often embody a broader, more nuanced spectrum of lived experience—transcending what can be directly articulated in words.
