“Salto Ergo Sum” in Latin translates to
“I dance therefore I am”
But what is it about? Is it a tribute to René Descartes’s philosophy “Cogito ergo sum” translating to “I think, therefore I am”?
Well, if you are curious enough to dig deeper the 3 famous words can actually be read another way. Due to Elaine Bennett from Bennettink.com Descartes actually wrote, “Dubito, ergo cogito, ergo sum” – “I doubt, therefore I think, therefore I am“. But she states that the root of the Latin word cogito is the verb agitare — which means “to put something in motion” or even to shake. So you might think of cogito, ergo sum as meaning, “I shake things up, therefore I am.” and I really liked her article and took this inspiration a step further and turned it into “I dance therefore I am.” Google translates this exact sentence to “Salto ergo sum”, which became a catch phrase, but translating it back was disappointing as it translated sometimes to “I jump therefore I am” or even to “So I am alone“. And as much as I love trampolines and solitude, none of these 2 made sense for a project that is supposed to change the world and touch as many hearts as possible.
In fact, that’s the meaning I went with and I’m going to adopt today and in the future.
“Salto Ergo Sum is an art project transformed into a social enterprise”
