Abstract
This autoethnographic video essay is based on The Shadow of Others, a performance presented in the seven-storey Sir Duncan Rice Library in Aberdeen (Scotland) in May 2017. Focusing on the phenomenol-ogy of the dancing body, the performance unfolded the complexity and richness of gestures. Departing from the assumption that a soloist moves with their shadows (gestures from previous dances), I argue for the plural shaping every singular gesture. Combining dance and anthropology, this video essay revisits the notions of archive, repertoire and anarchive, and proposes a reflection on the intermingling of time, gestures, memory, knowledge and history. Claiming that the (dancing) body is a living archive, I use the metaphor of shadow as a linkage between bodies and movements. Drawing on performance studies and contemporary philosophy, the work emphasizes the way artistic creation generates knowledge, asking the value of embodied practices. Link to video essay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgCTOWmarko. The video essay is also available as an online resource for the digital edition of this article (Online Resource 1: ‘The body as a living archive’).
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 73-84 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| Journal | Choreographic Practices |
| Volume | 14 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2 Aug 2023 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- archive
- gesture
- history
- knowledge
- living body
- memory
- performance
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Visual Arts and Performing Arts