The Bodies We Are (Not): A Choreographic Research on Practicing Self-Distancing (Critical Dance Studies)

Cover
Contents
Acknowledgement
1. Introduction
2. State of the Art
	2.1 Sociological perspectives on the body as a medium and place for self‐formation
		Physical perception and sensing as the base of forming the self
		The body as carrier and representative of social roles
		The body as effect of the power of discourse
		The body as the place of hard work on the optimizable self
		Forming the self as a chance for self‐empowerment
	2.2 Self‐formation in contemporary dance practice and choreography
		Self‐formation in contemporary dance education and training
		Working with flexibility and potentiality of bodies in the choreographic context
3. On Methods
	Collecting
	Creating an archive of potential body images
	Individual process of perception & imagination
	Documenting the individual perception
	Building scores
	Moving the scores
4. The first artistic research project “The bodies we are”
	4.1 Preparing the research. A collection of bodies we are not
	4.2 Theoretical perspective: How the body image can be influenced by action and perception
	4.3 Artistic experiments: Appropriating unfamiliar actions and perceptions
	4.4 Theoretical perspective: How the body image can be influenced by labeling and naming
	4.5 Artistic experiments: Appropriating unfamiliar body descriptions
		Process of appropriation 1
		Process of appropriation 2
		Process of appropriation 3
	4.6 Theoretical perspective: The creative gap between sensory perception and processes of naming
	4.7 Artistic experiments: Appropriating an unfamiliar method. The body image as a role in Method Acting
	4.8 Conclusion first research project: The body as a sensitive container
	4.9 Sharing the first artistic research project with an audience
5. A historical perspective on the body and the ability to play with self‐distancing
	5.1 The body as something natural and impersonal in the Ancien Régime of the 18th century
	5.2 The body as an expression of the inner self in the 19th century
	5.3 The non‐social but intimate body in the 20th and early 21st century
6. The second artistic research project “Let’s face it!”
	6.1 Preparing the artistic research
	6.2 Artistic experiments: On a face without a body
	6.3 Theoretical perspective: Play as a process taking place “in between”
	6.4 Artistic experiments: On a body with plenty of faces & bodies without faces
		6.4.1 The practice of vanishing
		6.4.2 The practice of perceptual transformation
		6.4.3 The practice of playfully falling into and out of faces
	6.5 Conclusion – Second research project
	6.6 Sharing the second research project with an audience
		A space structured in layers
		Choreographic structure
	6.7 Reflections on the utopian potential of playing with self‑distancing
7. Conclusion
8. References
	Image Credits