Dancing Dialogue: A Somatic Approach to Understanding Religious and Cultural Dialogue

Wednesday Forum – 18 November 2020

What role can dance practices play in understanding how religious and cultural values are embodied and negotiated in public spaces? This presentation considers how to host a dialogue between people and sites through a body and movement-oriented perspective. In particular, a specific area of dance studies called ‘somatic practices’ will be discussed, which explores body awareness, reflecting on habits of movement and opening up new pathways of expression. Focusing on sharing ideas and practices of ‘hosting dialogue’ through somatic movement, this presentation will also introduce a new project on the topic of dancing dialogue in Indonesia. This project will examine the legacy of Javanese dance artist Suprapto Suryodarmo, and Amerta Movement as an approach, in negotiating the religious and cultural experiences when working with diverse participants.

Emma Meehan is Assistant Professor in Dance at Coventry University’s Centre for Dance Research, UK. She co-edited Dance Matters in Ireland: Contemporary Performance and Practice with Aoife McGrath (Palgrave 2017) and Performing Process: Sharing Dance and Choreographic Practice with Hetty Blades (Intellect 2018). She has been awarded a Leverhulme International Academic Fellowship to undertake research at CRCS.

Look at the full poster of this event here.