Art and Environmental Sustainability. Forming Environmental Identity by Means of Choreography

In connection with the environmental problems that have become more acute at the global level, it has been recognized the need for society to take the path of sustainable development, the main principles of which are focused on a decent standard of living for each member of society, reducing the anthropogenic burden on nature and preserving the environment, including for future generations, as well as the integrated solution of environmental, social and economic issues at the global and local levels. In the process of implementing this concept, a fundamental role of culture was revealed, and a specific role of environmental culture as well, which would ensure a harmonious development of the society and the environment. In particular, it is necessary to transform the worldview, re-evaluate the values and shift the emphasis in consumption from material benefits to spiritual ones. This research is relevant because of the need to promote the principles of sustainable development in all areas of society that determine the current level of culture and civilization. This work is aimed at analyzing the potential of dance art as a source of indirect influence on the environmental consciousness and thought, reasonable attitude to nature during the environmental culture formation. Environmental culture is expressed in people’s perception of themselves as a part of nature. One of the elements of environmental culture is environmental consciousness. Having the ability to influence the emotional sphere of a person, art, in particular dance, is a useful tool for effectively perceiving environmental information and motivating environmental activities. Due to its polyfunctionality, art can aid to form the environmental identity at the level of the following components: cognitive (informational, gnostical, educational function), emotional (compensatory, suggestive one), instrumental (social-transforming function). Based on the analysis of scientific literature and some musical and choreographic works from the standpoint of the ecocentric paradigm, the article suggests that choreography in environmentally oriented performances can serve as one of the effective means of evoking empathy at the deep kinesthetic level, environmental empathy. Choreography can play the role of an emotional component in the process of forming environmental identity, which will in general contribute to the environmental consciousness formation at the individual level.