Digital somatic arts: Choreographing autonomy

Abstract

Within a transdisciplinary perspective encompassing a critical approach to technology and the performing arts, this article examines the positive evolution of the principles of autonomy and adaptation through the Feldenkrais method of somatic education in the context of the transition from traditional hands-on teaching to video-conferencing as experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic. Inspired by the Awareness Through Movement lessons, significant sensorimotor and functional improvements were observed in numerous dancers and performers after 3 months of online teaching. The video conferencing technology introduced a sense of distance from the student, modified the experiential environment, and transformed the perceptual relationship between the teacher and student. This amplified participants’ self-reliance, shifting attention from a passive to an active mode. Such sensorimotor learning leads to a reprogramming of the nervous system. The development of greater autonomy in students may be reasonably associated with the somatic principle of “sensory authority.” To conclude, the proposed hypothesis states that these changes represent a positive complexification of the self, our relationship with others, and our environments. The hypothesis also calls for heightened awareness and consideration of the reorganization of our internal body cartographies. This reorganization can potentially facilitate the transition from a state of frustration, as defined by neuroscientist Andrew Huberman, to an act of creation. Finally, it is suggested that the ontological shifts observed in the body and the sensate may be associated with an additional multimodal knowledge structure that enriches an anthropological reflection of our becoming.

Keywords

Art / E-learning / Technology / Somatics / Feldenkrais / Perception / Health / Neuroscience / Phenomenology

Funding

None.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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