Last week we had a really great conversation over Skype. I was introduce to so many new concepts about research methodologies.
As I am trying to find a new
rhythm between daily life and studying, I am attracted by different resources
available but feeling disorientated at the same time.
During our discussion, something
that resonated with my learning experience was the term ‘’kinesthetic empathy’’.
This reminded me of kinesphere, used by R. Laban to refer to the Space
surrounding an individual and used to map human movement through observing how
the Body moves through Scales of Movement.
I found, according to Theodor Lipps’ theory of ‘Einfühlung’ (Lipps, 1851-1914)
’kinesthetic empathy’’ occurs ‘‘When
observing a body in motion, such as an acrobat, spectators could experience an
‘inner mimesis’, where they felt as if they were enacting the actions they were
observing*.’’
This concept made me question
about the functionality of the Greek theatre catharsis. Catharsis was first
coined by Aristole, referring to an important moment of Greek tragedies, during
which the protagonist had a realization, a turning point in his understanding,
on how to improve his/her situation and change. This realization reflected in
the same understanding of the audience, a sort of emotional embodiment of what
they were witnessing, which ultimately translated into spectators feeling
cleansed and spiritually revitalized.
According to D. W. Lucas, the term catharsis can be defined
as “purification” or “intellectual clarification”.*
While reading the handbook of Module
one, earlier today, I came across the fascinating theory of Kolb’s Learning
Cycle; it argues that what gives meaning to our learning experiences is the moment
of realization, when we acknowledge that we have started to learn or we are
missing some pieces of information from our ‘skills set’.
In my experience as a long life learner, this cathartic moment has been crucially important for my development. It has represented moments of crisis. Ironically, the Japanese ideogram ‘crisis’ 危機 can be read as opportunity, moment of growth or emancipation.
While Kinesthetic relates to our
senses, empathy relates to our perceptions. In the attempt to attune our
perceptions to a performer, many are the questions I would raise as to what we
are empathizing with. Are we empathizing with their body? Their history
embedded in their body? Are we empathizing with our own narrative that we identify with their moving body? What is the intention of our attunement?
A couple of weeks ago I took part
to a webinar on a somatic approach to meeting the realities of online teaching and interactions, organized by Inspiree Institute*. Wholemovement presenters discussed
the advantages and difficulties of online teaching, as well as LBMS Thematic
Dualities of Exertion/Recuperation, Dynamosphere and Phrasing.
In their book ‘Everybody is a
body’ L. Cox and K. Studd describe Phrasing as ''In the phrasing of our
movement, what we emphasize, or accentuate
through dynamic qualities, contributes to its meaning. ..Where and how
emphasis occurs in a phrase changes the meaning in our actions, as well as in
our words. Emphasis can occur through duration or accenting''.
We created a short sequence of
movement in small groups and gathered together to assemble a long choir
movement. It was a learning experience for me, as I had never thought of drawing upon the somatic tools from my past baggage of knowledge, to interact with a diverse World of students or online platform users, who have been forced to use new learning platforms and experience contactless learning.
How wonderful is to notice the
diversity of our learning response, how interesting the process of making our tacit knowledge explicit is. I am fascinated by the way individual inner reflections engage into virtual conversations and become shared knowledge,
how rich this process is!
*Theodor Lipps, Asthetik: Psychologie des Schönen und der Kunst (Hamburg:
Leopold Voss), 2 vols, 1903 and 1906.
*D. W. Lucas, Poetics, Oxford, 1968, pp. 276–79.
* INSPIREE INSTITUTE https://www.inspirees.com/institute
* L. Cox and K. Studd, Everybody is a body, Dog Ear Publishing,
2013, pp.87-89
Hi, Paola!
ReplyDeleteWhat attracted me in your post was how you have combined five concepts in one single idea (to make your internal knowledge “explicit”): 1.kinesphere, 2.kinesthetic empathy, 3.catharsis, 4.crisis, and 5.movement analysis.
I don’t know why, your post made me reflect on these 5 concepts, so I .
Related to the 3rd topic, I had to call a good friend of mine and international actor (famous Theatre of Sibiu, Romania). I’ve asked him how the idea of catharsis is thought (and thaught) in their theatrical practice, but mostly how the catharsis “feels”; he then explained me about “the inner individual process” from the original tribal dancing (trance, religious), followed by an enlightment insight/“click”; he explained (like you mentioned) the (greek) initiatic theatre: the spectator seems passive, but after few days of theatric experiences one has internal “revelations” which leads to cognitive, perceptive and behavioral changes.
I want also to give my humble opinion on your questions (2nd topic), unless they are rethorical. You have asked: “Are we empathizing with their [performers’] body? Their history embedded in their body? Are we empathizing with our own narrative that we identify with their moving body? What is the intention of our attunement?”
Yes, we manifest empathy (which implies feeling, sensing, thinking and intuiting altogether), towards a (dance) artist/ performer’s movement.
We feel their sensations throughout our body senses (neurosciences have proved the firing of mirror neurons in passive agents when looking at active actors, as well as body internal ‘activation’ gamma neurons in the afferent propriceptive pathways).
We feel their story beyond the dancing act; the posture-gesture merging in the theory of dance states that organicity appears when the intention/meaning (gesture) is coherent with the dance action performed (posture).
We feel their story as our own story because the body/“soma” is intrinsecly connected to our soul/ “pneuma”. We, as active spectators of a (external) performative art, are becoming internal part of the art. We resonate and get attuned with them; we expand and emerge into something new and personal, spontaneously and inductively, blending what we (think we) see with our own ideas, e-motions, phantasies, psychological projections, etc.
What it the purpose of this attunement?
For me, is the same answer to why do we dance in the first place? We attune, we move and let ourselves be moved because of our inner drive, one that inspires (us and others) and makes us feel alive!
Martha Graham put it so well into words:
“There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique, and if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is, not how it compares with other expression. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You have to keep open and aware directly to the urges that motivate you(...) There is only a queer, divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others”.
ps: related to 5th topic: ''In the phrasing of our movement, what we emphasize, or accentuate through dynamic qualities, contributes to its meaning. Where and how emphasis occurs in a phrase changes the meaning in our actions''.
Could it be also true the other way around the effect to be cause, and viceversa, and both paradigms to coexist?! The external (desired) meaning is the consequence of a good phrasing (organised prosodic and organic accentuation); but also an internal truthful meaning is the cause of an elaborate natural process of external manifestation, free, full of accentuations and uncontrolled stressings (e.g. Laban concepts: the dancer’s time/ “ad libitum” and the dancer’s space/kinesphere= space as expanded energy) (topic 1)
Interesting observation Lucian, and also keen on reading more in depth as to neuroscience evidence on ''firing of mirror neurons in passive agents when looking at active actors, as well as body internal ‘activation’ gamma neurons in the afferent propriceptive pathways''. Would you have any references for these studies, please?
DeleteHi Paola, I found interesting part in your always stimulating blogs about the moment of realization which is important for all of us as a humans, dancers, movers, educators, ..This certainty, cognition, acknowledging make us what we are. Better understanding for the subject, everyday improvement, intrinsic development, stronger connection through the mind and body define our knowledge and being. As we are all dancers, movers, doing some kind of bodywork disciplines we are getting this realization through the body and body is a site of knowledge for us and that cognition leads us to that cathartic moment which you explained well. We as a humans need that moment for growth, inner development so we can make better decisions, improve from that moment on, taking responsibilities.
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