Trinity Laban lecturer contributes to new Dance book
Tue 1 December 2020Dr Vanio Papadelli’s chapter features in the latest publication exploring the philosophy, pedagogy and practice of touch.
Movement Artist and lecturer Dr Vanio Papadelli has recently authored ‘Sensing and Making Sense of Touch within Movement Pedagogies for Theatre and Performance’ for new book Thinking Touch in Partnering and Contact Improvisation: Philosophy, Pedagogy, Practice published by Cambridge Scholars.
Aimed at students and practitioners of dance partnering and touch-based movement practices, the essay collection features contributions from key researchers and artists working in the fields of partnering, improvisation, neuroscience, and somatic practices.
Speaking about the aims of her chapter, Vanio explains –
“The book chapter challenges perceived boundaries between movement and theatrical action to allow students to navigate muscular and emotional tone fluidly, creatively and effortlessly. By deepening in “tactile-kinaesthetic” sensitivity and increasing anatomical awareness, expressions of narrative and emotion can become less forced, cliché or illustrative. By giving more space to “sensing,” the “making sense” or “meaning-making” processes unfold more organically, rooted in an embodied, non-intellectual experience, and not a preconceived idea.”
Vanio leads Trinity Laban’s postgraduate module: Writing the Body, which offers a range of practical and theoretical tools to encourage students to navigate fluidly between different registers of language. The module explores the materiality of language and how writing emerges from the body. Language is a physical act of choreographer and the page is the dance floor.
The Module Leader comments –
“Touch constitutes an essential tool in the module. We explore the tactile-kinaesthetic origins and perception of spoken language – the tactility of the words and the choreographic potential of handwriting. Words are perceived as textural events that emerge from a felt sense and can land in the space in different rhythms and felt ‘weathers’.”
Find out more about postgraduate studies on our Dance pages.
A free online event to celebrate the launch of Thinking Touch in Partnering and Contact Improvisation: Philosophy, Pedagogy, Practice will take place Thursday 10 December 17.00.19.00 GMT, with readings, presentations and practical invitations. To attend, visit the event page.
–
Image credit: Joelle Green