In 1872 Friedrich Nietzsche argued that art is born from two gods: Apollo, the god of dreams, light and clear shapes, and Dionysus, the god of music, wine and the dancing crowd. For the rest of his life he wrote about dance as the highest form of freedom.
After 1945 his name was tied to the Nazis, who had used it. But dancers, composers and rock musicians had been reading him in other ways for fifty years. This lesson reads Nietzsche’s own words first, then follows them through modern dance, the music of noise and silence, Andy Warhol’s show with the Velvet Underground, and Jim Morrison of the Doors.