4 weeks is such a short/long time.

 

We are a third into our last module - that seems totally amazing to me! 

The journey has been incredibly deep and yet really short at the same time. While zooming with some of my peers in Module 3 last week, we all agreed we have arrived in a totally different space, both mentally and emotionally, from where we were this time  last year, when we began Module 1.The world has changed around us, but somehow it seems as if this course has prepared us to step-up to the new challenges the world now forces upon us.

But where am I within Module 3, within my research?

I have just finished the data collection section - I am looking at how dance improvisation as play affects us through empathy, kindness and care. Over the last few weeks, we have danced on the beach, in the woods, in the park and in our homes connected through zoom. The experience has been glorious, the data collected, huge!

I have spent today taking stock sorting and organising data so I can begin the process of triangulation. Going back to the books and handbook to make sure I understand the task ahead. Now I have an indulgent few weeks planned reliving our 'days-out' - looking at it from every angle, rethinking what I saw — rehearing the words spoken — and re-experiencing and experiencing anew as I discover more questions and I am challenged by new ideas. I will be trying to see, feel and hear the experience of others. In short I hope to connect and research through embodied empathy.

Recently I read these words:

'That is being embodied implies being embedded as well - being embedded in a society, a culture, a language... We are not merely embodied as individuals. Our culture, our language and our art tell us that our way-of-being-in-the-world means being with others'. (Betty Ann Block, 2001)

Of course (I thought) dance's power is its embodied power, subsequently its embedded power. Maybe it's the world outside, but each literary path I take, leads me to the power of the politics of dance. Something I hadn't considered until now — Until right now dance, for me, was a very personal journey — how could I have forgotten 'The Personal is the Political!' Suddenly I have a new way of seeing, how this will affect my research I am not sure, but I am sure it should.

https://www.rigabiennial.com/en/riboca-2/programme/event-dance

This is a link to Andre Lepecki's talk: Movement in the Confinement (or: Choreopandemia) - it shifted my view on the politics of dance, a small shift in perspective and all the ideas across my life have begun to line up. 

I absolutely love the surprises discovered when researching and the effects they have on me.

I'm sorry this is a little meandering but it's the week I have been having, I'm also sorry for the weird paragraphing but I can't seem to fix the blogger glitch!

Block B, 2001 - The Dance: Essence of Embodiment - Article in Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics · February 2001