Prototyping the mise-en-corps stems out of the study of the concepts of capacity and state of the practitioner’s body within a somatic approach. In the field of somatic epistemologies, the soma is all the parts integrated and constituted in structures, functions, and processes beyond the physical aspect of the body, its objectification, and the modern dualistic body-mind assumptions of it. Fernandes (2015) points out that in somatics the holistic expansion of the living body and the acknowledgment of vital power is interacting/integrating into “everyone and everything” (14). I have decided to do a somatic approach during this research because of its technical value, the possibilities of mindful embodiment (similar to some other theatrical techniques that have inspired me but with the need of integrating more interdisciplinary knowledge), the proximity to artistic-social-ethical engagement, and the dynamics of its aesthetic application.
In the experience of doing a teaching assistantship for the course “Somatics and Activism” in the Department of Theatre, I had the opportunity to explore and integrate technique, language, and literature on the field. As part of my individual laboratory, I took two workshops in the Body IQ Somatics Festival 2021 (https://www.bodyiq.berlin/).
The experience resulted in a two hours laboratory in which I included part of my personal training and some exercises based on African Holistic Dance: grounding and home movements. The body in motion seeks creativity and there is a spiritual and healing dimension in African rhythms and moves. Some of the questions proposed by Sandra Golding to navigate were: Where are our movements grounded? How can rhythm be located and felt in different parts of the body? Which movements make the body feel “at home”? This workshop was an invitation to connect with the awareness of energy, movement, and intention.
In the workshop "Somaticizing the camera", Ben Spatz presented four process focuses which are: inter/intra-relations, the external view, and the video-graphic relation. I produced this brief documentation (see fig.2) exploring the idea of the video essay as a useful tool to understand how embodied research can be documented, how the metaphor of the (theater) laboratory provides new knowledge production, its later dissemination, and generation of data. Nevertheless, this is still under the supremacy of the visual image. How to frame a sensorial exploration for the analysis of embodied research?
Winter 2022
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