Body and Performance

Book excerpt: The first volume in this series, Nine Ways of Seeing a Body, explored different conceptions of the body in recent Western history (body as object, body as subject, somatic body, etc.).This new collection highlights 12 contemporary approaches to the body (lenses) that are currently being used by performers or in the context of performance training. The lenses draw on somatic practices like the Feldenkrais Method, the Alexander Technique and Body-Mind Centering, and approaches like Object Relations, Corporeal Feminism and Embodied Cognition. Other chapters illuminate the role of the body in music and devised performance, in experimental opera and in classical Sanskrit theatre. Instead of trying to 'improve' or 'enhance' the performer's body or vocal output, all 12 lenses emphasise the interdependence of body andplace, society, culture and other bodies. They also share the idea of the body as flux rather than fixed identity. Each approach is interlaced with a case study showing how it can be applied in practice. Students, dancers, performers, singers, musicians, directors and choreographers can find their own preferred approach(es) to the body-in-performance amongst the lenses described here and can explore alternatives that might enrich their current vocabulary.