Word: dionysian
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...like diastolic and systolic pressures, have always been at the heart of theater. With Jerzy Grotowski and the Polish Laboratory Theater, the emphasis is on the sacred, on a lacerating spiritual intensity, a stripping to the soul. With Hair and Oh! Calcutta! the emphasis is on the profane, on Dionysian revels, a stripping to the body. A reverse movement is also present, with Grotowski illuminating the profanation of the soul, and the nude shows illuminating the sacredness of the human body...
...theologians are hardly alone in recommending the rediscovery of joy to a new generation of believers. In fact, the emphasis on the Dionysian element in life-celebration, song, dance, laughter-is fast acquiring a theology of its own. In The Feast of Fools, Harvey Cox presents Christ as clown and Christianity as comedy, because the world "should not be taken with ultimate or final seriousness." Theologian Sam Keen, 38, pleads a similar case in Apology for Wonder. While he believes that "the wise man is a dancer," he insists that the "authentic" man temper his ecstasy with a sense...
...enthronement of reason included a universal belief in individualism and competition; now that myth is dying. Faith in science and technology has given way to fear of their consequences; traditional institutions and even authority itself are distrusted and often detested. The cultural revolution of the '60s that emphasized Dionysian rather than Apollonian virtues will continue into...
...freedom in the reigns of Elizabeth and James I was suddenly stifled by the Puritan Revolution in England, and staid Victorian laws followed the carefree boisterous spirit of the Regency. It may be that the early '70s will see a period of repressive reaction against the Dionysian tendencies of the young. There may also be a purely spontaneous swing back to discretion and suggestion. "Writers and film makers," predicts Arthur Koestler, "will discover again that pubic hair is less poetic than Gretchen's braids." It is possible, too, that a decline in the work ethic or a weakening...
...hippies than most people realize. "There has always been a potential for murder," he says. "Many hippies are socially almost dead inside. Some require massive emotions to feel anything at all. They need bizarre, intensive acts to feel alive-sexual acts, acts of violence, nudity, every kind of Dionysian thrill...