Dancer – Dance – Spirituality: A phenomenological exploration of Bharatha Natyam and Contact Improvisation

This article explores the intersections between the dancer, forms of dance and emergent spiritual experience. It articulates different kinds of dancing experiences that are co-created while practicing two forms of dance: Bharatha Natyam (a classical Indian dance) and Contact Improvisation. Inquiry into the phenomenology of dancing reveals commonalities in the emerging spiritual experience, while also recognizing their distinctive techniques and artistic forms. The exploration suggests that the dance, dancer and emerging spiritual experience co-create each other within the process of dancing irrespective of its form. This exploration and inquiry also offers a descriptive language for what is spirituality in dance.