Experimental Dance and the Somatics of Language Thinking in Micromovement

This book is about dance’s relationship to language. It investigates how dance bodies work with the micromovements elicited by language’s affective forces, and the micropolitics of the thought-sensations that arise when movement and words accompany one another within choreographic contexts. Situating itself where theory meets practice—the zone where ideas arise to be tested, the book draws on embodied research in practices within the lineages of American postmodern dance and Japanese butoh, set in dialog with affect-based philosophies and somatics. Understanding that language is felt, both when uttered and when unspoken, this book speaks to the choreographic thinking that takes place when language is considered a primary element in creating the sensorium.

Chapter 1 -       Introduction.- Chapter 2 -     The Micropolitics of Micromovement.- Chapter 3 -  Interval: Trisha Brown and the Space Between Words.- Chapter 4 -       Vibration: Kasai Akira and Voice Power.- Chapter 5 -    Adaptation: Deborah Hay and “Call It That”.- Chapter 6 -      Language as Agent: Doing and Allowing.- Chapter 7 -      Movement’s Return: Sensations in Context

Megan V. Nicely is an artist/scholar whose research involves choreographic experimentation through the medium of the body. She has published in TDR, Choreographic Practices, Performance Research Journal, and others, and her company Megan Nicely/Dance has performed on both U.S. coasts, in the UK and in Europe. She is Associate Professor of Performing Arts and Social Justice/Dance at University of San Francisco, USA.