Skip to content
1981
Volume 12, Issue 2
  • ISSN: 1757-1871
  • E-ISSN: 1757-188X

Abstract

In this short piece, I highlight the question of how to bring somatics skills acquired in a somatics class to bear upon other life contexts. I use the example of scholarly work: I show how I use somatic methods as I conduct research in the archives of the choreographer Jerome Robbins (1918–98), housed at the Jerome Robbins Dance Division of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center. I suggest that we need to pay more attention to the question of how students and practitioners could bring physical awareness into their various life scenarios and tasks. I propose that if we learn how to transfer our somatic knowledge into different life contexts, our lives can become more embodied and we can tap into the knowledge that emanates from the physical self.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1386/jdsp_00025_1
2020-12-01
2026-04-12

Metrics

Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Albright, A. C.. ( 2007), Traces of Light: Absence and Presence in the Work of Lois Fuller, Middletown, CT:: Wesleyan University Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  2. Albright, A. C.. ( 2018a), How to Land: Finding Ground in an Unstable World, New York:: Oxford University Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  3. Albright, A. C.. ( 2018b;), ‘ Touching history. ’, in Bill Bissell, and Linda Caruso Haviland. (eds.), The Sentient Archive. Bodies, Performance, and Memory, Middletown, CT:: Wesleyan University Press;, pp. 7381.
    [Google Scholar]
  4. Bissell, B., and L. C. Haviland. ( 2018), The Sentient Archive: Bodies, Performance, and Memory, Middletown, CT:: Wesleyan University Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  5. Brooks, L. M.. ( 2019), Dancing – Moving – Knowing, Paris:: Roundtable Panel at Columbia Global Centers;.
    [Google Scholar]
  6. Farge, A.. ( 2013), The Allure of the Archives, New Haven, CT:: Yale University Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  7. Foucault, M.. ( 1977;), ‘ La vie des hommes infames. ’, Cahiers du chemin, 29.
    [Google Scholar]
  8. Fraleigh, S.. ( 2018), Back to the Dance Itself: Phenomenologies of the Body in Performance, Urbana, IL:: University of Illinois Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  9. Jerome Robbins’s Personal Papers, ( n.d) *MGZMD 182, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts .
  10. JourneyDance ( n.d), http://journeydance.com/. Accessed 1 December 2020.
  11. LaMothe, K.. ( 2015), Why We Dance: A Philosophy of Bodily Becoming, New York:: Columbia University Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  12. Leavy, P.. ( 2015), Method Meets Art: Arts-Based Research Practice, New York:: The Guilford Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  13. Leavy, P.. (ed.) ( 2018), Handbook of Arts-Based Research, New York:: The Guilford Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  14. Mora, K.. ( 2019), Dancing – Moving – Knowing, Paris:: Roundtable Panel at Columbia Global Centers;.
    [Google Scholar]
  15. Rosas, R., and C. Rosas. ( 2005), The Nia Technique, Easton, PA:: Harmony;.
    [Google Scholar]
  16. Saumaa, H.. ( 2017;), ‘ Journeying from sensations into words: Dancing language in the Tamalpa Life/Art Process. ’, Somatics Magazine/Journal, 18:1, pp. 1619.
    [Google Scholar]
  17. Saumaa, H.. ( 2018;), ‘ Wisdom of sensations. ’, Alternative and Complementary Therapies, 244, pp. 15961.
    [Google Scholar]
  18. Srinivasan, P.. ( 2012), Sweating Saris: Indian Dance as Transnational Labor, Philadelphia, PA:: Temple University Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  19. SuryaSoul ( n.d), www.suryasoul.com. Accessed 1 December 2020.
  20. Tamalpa Institute ( n.d), https://www.tamalpa.org/about-us/our-process/. Accessed 1 December 2020.
  21. Wise, T.. ( 2018), The Art of Strength: Sculpt the Body – Train the Mind, New York:: Balboa Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  22. Saumaa, Hiie. ( 2020;), ‘ Somaticist in the dance archives: Exploring Jerome Robbins’ diaries through somatics. ’, Journal of Dance & Somatic Practices, 12:2, pp. 229238, doi: https://doi.org/10.1386/jdsp_00025_1
    [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1386/jdsp_00025_1
Loading
/content/journals/10.1386/jdsp_00025_1
Loading

Data & Media loading...

  • Article Type: Article
Keyword(s): archives; dance; dance writing; diaries; embodiment; Jerome Robbins; somatics
This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a success
Invalid data
An error occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error
Please enter a valid_number test