What is aesthetically pleasing? Public perception changes, and while external forms are still thrilling (see the usual activities promoted e.g. by the Red Bull sports “circus”), other circus artists develop performances which move me deeply, only because I feel with them. Not the danger, not the difficulty of the tricks … but their play with the experience of the moving body. Internal martial arts like Taijiquan have a long tradition of cultivating the sense of the moving body, not the least because of the effectiveness of this practice. Nowadays, “internal arts” have become object of aesthetic appreciation, or what Richard Shusterman aptly called “somaesthetics“.
Beautiful examples shows this short ARTE video: A trampolinist indulging in the experience of the mid-air turning point, a trapezist sensing and playing with the shifts of gravity in her body, an equilibrist enjoying the play with balance.