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s Dance knowledge through the body: Gender roles within contact improvisation
- Source: Journal of Dance & Somatic Practices, Volume 16, Issue 1-2: 6th International Dance and Somatic Practices Conference - Reconnections: Looking back, moving forward, enacting change, Dec 2024, p. 13 - 27
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- 18 Sep 2023
- 19 Aug 2024
- 06 Dec 2024
Abstract
This article challenges the assumption of contact improvisation (CI) as a gender-neutral dance form, as it has been claimed since the emergence of the dance form in the 1970s and pertained until recent times. Drawing on ethnographic research in Montreal (2019), the investigation combines autoethnography and participant observation to examine the influence of gender roles and power dynamics on the dance floor. To understand the claim of egalitarianism in CI, the study first exposes a discourse analysis of CI’s initial gender egalitarian ideology (1970s) and its reaction against dominant dance forms like ballet. The article discusses the role of the body in ethnographic work, suggesting that the researcher’s sensorial and affective experiences can challenge scholarly assumptions and fieldwork’s discourses. By highlighting how knowledge is embodied, the article emphasizes anthropology’s contribution to dance theory through the disclosure of knowledge via somatic experience.
Funding
- SNSF-Swiss National Science Foundation (Award P2LAP1_184157)