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This article investigates the dialectical tension inherent in the dancer’s dual role as object and subject within performance. The article begins by noting that the dancer and choreographer’s investment in a somatic understanding of movement privileges the dancer’s subjectivity within the creation of dance, inviting the audience to engage empathetically with the dancer’s work. This proposition is explored through a brief analysis of Steve Paxton’s early presentations of contact improvisation. The question of how a somatically informed choreographic framework might encourage alternative modes of spectatorship is then explored through a more sustained investigation of Joyride – a solo made by the independent dance artist Colin Poole in 2008.