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Somatic Practices: How Motion Analysis and Mind Images Work Hand in Hand in Dance

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Book cover Handbook of Human Motion

Abstract

Somatic Practices are body-based movement practices that foreground self-awareness and a first person experience of moving. Increasingly, somatic practices are informing how dance is taught, created, and performed with many dancers turning towards somatics to ensure a healthy and holistic approach to dance. Several somatic practices draw on imagery as a source for moving, for stimulating a more sensorial engagement with movement and to encourage a sense of moving “naturally” and with respect for the “natural environment.” When somatic practices and the imagery that is important for many of these practices are coupled with motion analysis tools, the necessary processing of movement often requires an intervention that can disrupt the “natural” sense of moving somatically. This processing can thus appear to be at odds with a somatic approach to dance. However, there are many examples where motion analysis and mind images do work hand in hand in dance and can generate exciting new insights to the production, teaching, and making of dance. It is this intersection between somatic principles, imagery, and motion analysis tools that is the focus for this essay, which discusses projects that have explored and exploited the intersection between motion analysis, imagery, and somatic practices.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    See http://www.motekentertainment.com/

  2. 2.

    See Motion Bank website: http://motionbank.org/

  3. 3.

    For a valuable and extended account of the history of somatic practices as they have developed and in particular formed a relationship with HCI in thought and practice, see Thecla Schiphorst’s PhD thesis (2009): http://www.sfu.ca/~tschipho/PhD/PhD_thesis.html

  4. 4.

    There are many and varied theories of embodiment; in broad terms, embodiment refers to how our bodies and active experiences shape how we think, feel, and perceive.

  5. 5.

    The title Summerbranch is a pun as with many of Gibson/Martelli works. It is a play on the title of two choreographic works by Merce Cunningham, Summerspace (1958) and Winterbranch (1964).

  6. 6.

    The project, “Capturing Stillness” was the first study to interrogate SRT in the field of motion capture, computer game worlds and interactive virtual environments. It was funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council and took place at Coventry University (2010–2013).

  7. 7.

    WhoLoDance is a Research and Innovation Action funded under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Programme. The project’s aim is to develop and apply breakthrough technologies for dance learning; for practitoners, researchers, professionals, dance students and the general public. See http://www.wholodance.eu/

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Dance Research, Coventry University, Priory Street, Coventry, UK

    Sarah Whatley

Authors
  1. Sarah Whatley
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Correspondence to Sarah Whatley .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Motion & More, Barcelona, Spain

    Bertram Müller

  2. Klinik für Orthopädie und Unfallchirurgi, Universitätsklinikum Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany

    Sebastian I. Wolf

  3. Institut for Biomechanics und Orthopedic, German Sport University Cologne, Cologne, Germany

    Gert-Peter Brueggemann

  4. Houston, Texas, USA

    Zhigang Deng

  5. ACRISP, FedUniversity, Cremorne, New South Wales, Australia

    Andrew McIntosh

  6. Wilmington, Delaware, USA

    Freeman Miller

  7. Research, C-Motion, Inc., Germantown, Maryland, USA

    William Scott Selbie

Section Editor information

  1. Movement Analysis Laboratory, Clinic for Orthopedics and Trauma Surgery; Center for Orthopedics, Trauma Surgery and Spinal Cord Injury;Heidelberg University Hospital, Schlierbacher Landstr. 200a, 69118, Heidelberg, Germany

    Sebastian I. Wolf

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Whatley, S. (2016). Somatic Practices: How Motion Analysis and Mind Images Work Hand in Hand in Dance. In: Müller, B., et al. Handbook of Human Motion. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-30808-1_113-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-30808-1_113-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-30808-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-30808-1

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