Abstract
This paper is a speculative discussion on the cultural use of the terms schizophrenia and stereotypy in Deleuze’s schizoanalysis, and a formulation of a dance-equation based on the notion of paradox: I am not I. I argue that paradox is a concept that can be transposed from the realm of (mathematical) logic to ontology, and to a corporeal level. Paradance is a term advanced here to describe movements that are self-cancelling and where the subject of a movement is denied by its predicate, where movement leads to non-movement or to a return to stasis. Movement that remains undecided between communication and non-communication, between stillness and locomotion, is hereby discussed within a corporeal semiotic approach that offers stereotypy (exemplified by autistic people or captive animals) as one emblematic example of how paradox may be embodied, or how a Deleuzian schizobody might be rendered choreographically. The article concludes with observations drawn from practical work conducted by the author on the subject of paradox as a choreographic devise, using topological objects (lemnsicates) as choreographic models.