scholarly journals I-Reflexes: The Affective Implications of Bodies in Dance Improvisation Performance

1969 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Paula Guzzanti
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
The Body ◽  
Perceptual Awareness ◽  
Factors Influencing ◽  
The World ◽  
Dance Improvisation ◽  
Kinesthetic Empathy ◽  
Embodied Meaning ◽  
Performance Project

In this article, I present—from the perspective of the dance improviser—an analysis of my practice-as-research project, entitled I-Reflexes. In this piece I explore factors influencing decision-making in dance improvisation performance. I-Reflexes captures the improvisational interaction of three performers: a solo dancer, a musician, and a sonic artist; the audience also participates through the mediation of their mobile phones. In this performance project, ringtones trigger unplanned, reflex-like movements in the body, suggesting alternate terms of decision-making within dance improvisation practice. A significant reflection that emerged from this study was that the act of perceiving brings the world into the body of the improviser, while the felt experience of affect places the body in relation to other bodies in the world. Therefore, I will suggest that to advance understandings of dance improvisation practice and theory, perception and affect should be explored together. Moreover, I will suggest the idea that interactive participation creates a closer affective space between performers and audience, connecting them in a meaningful and stimulating way. In addition, through the medium of ringtones, kinesthetic empathy was amplified. This had the effect of heightening the audience’s perceptual awareness of the relation between performers’ movements and sounds. This relational dynamic between the dance improviser and audience is explored within a psychosocial approach to the study of affect. I draw upon the embodied meaning-making model of affect developed by social psychologist Margaret Wetherell, to investigate this meaningful affective encounter.

Postmillennial cancer narratives: feminism and postfeminism in Eve Ensler’s In the Body of the World

2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 235-252
Author(s):  
Marta Fernández-Morales
Keyword(s):  
Meaning Making ◽  
Uterine Cancer ◽  
The Body ◽  
First Century ◽  
Narrative Strategies ◽  
The World ◽  
Health And Illness ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Twenty First Century ◽  
Vagina Monologues

In the context of a new wave of women’s activism for equality, the body is once again at the centre of the discussion today, in the USA and globally. Analysing American discourses about health and illness at the turn of the twenty-first century, Tasha Dubriwny has argued that the current narratives are dominated by neoliberal and postfeminist philosophies that have thrived in a framework of biomedicalisation and self-surveillance. What happens, then, when a successful feminist artist is diagnosed with uterine cancer? How does Eve Ensler, author of The Vagina Monologues and founder of V-Day, face the fact that her life may have a painful ending? How does a woman so aware of her physical and psychological self come to terms with illness? Is she willing to put her political project aside to become a patient? Through a close reading of Ensler’s uterine cancer memoir In the Body of the World, and focusing particularly on its structure and narrative strategies, this article situates her work within the corpus of female literature about health and illness in the twenty-first century, exploring her meaning-making process in the light of the current tensions between feminism and postfeminism.

Decision-making as performative struggle

2014 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 224-245 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sander Merkus ◽  
Jaap De Heer ◽  
Marcel Veenswijk
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Strategic Decision ◽  
Strategic Decision Making ◽  
Ethnographic Research ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Political Dimension ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The World

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to introduce the concept of performative struggle through the use of an interpretative case story focussed on a strategic decision-making process concerning infrastructural development. Performativity is about “world-making” (Carter et al., 2010), based on the assumption that conceptual schemes are not only prescriptions of the world, for the practices flowing from these abstract ideas bring into being the world they are describing. The focus on agency and multiplicity in the academic debate on performativity in organizational settings are combined, resulting in the conceptualization of a multitude of performative agents struggling to make the world. Design/methodology/approach – The methodological approach of this paper is based on an interpretative analysis of contrasting narratives that are told by political-executives in a strategic decision-making process. These narratives are based on in-depth interviews and participant observation. The interpretative case story, exhibiting the strategic decision-making practices of Aldermen, Delegates and Ministers – focusses on the moments of performative struggle based on strategic narrative practices. Findings – The interpretative case story will exhibit the way in which a multiplicity of agents reflects on the performative dimension of the decision-making process, anticipates on its performative effects and attempts to manipulate the strategic vision that is actualized into reality. Moreover, the agents are not primarily concerned with the actualization of a specific infrastructural project; they are more concerned with the consequences of decision making for their more comprehensive strategic visions on reality. Research limitations/implications – The notion of performative struggle has not yet been explicitly studied by scholars focussing on performativity. However, the concept can be used as an appropriate lens for studying meaning making within ethnographic studies on organizational processes such as for instance culture change intervention and strategy formation. The concept of performative struggle is especially useful for understanding the political dimension of meaning making when studying an organizational life-world through the use of ethnographic research. Originality/value – The originality of this paper lies in the innovative conceptualization of struggle between a multiplicity of reflexive agents in the debate on performative world-making. Moreover, the incorporation of the perspective of performative struggle within organizational ethnographic research is valuable for the development of organizational ethnographic methodology.

scholarly journals ―SHADOW AND BONE‖: NEGATIVE SPACES OF MEAN-ING

2021 ◽  
pp. 94-107
Author(s):  
A. A. Gobinskaya
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Russian Empire ◽  
The Body ◽  
The Novel ◽  
The West ◽  
Russian Culture ◽  
The World ◽  
The Russian Empire ◽  
Death Of The Author

The debut novel Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo promises the magical journey through the world of fictional country Ravka, which was inspired by the Russian Empire of the 1800s. In this article, I discuss three negative spaces outlined by Bardugo‟s text. These are negative spaces of Russian culture, politics and dynamics revealed by the long absence of Russian translation of the novel. Having this possible interpretation in mind, I cannot speculate that Bardugo deliberately chose to let the body of her work outline and shape the negative spaces discussed in this article. The reception potential of her work is wider and more diverse than the author intended. She tries to prune it back to the shape of her original intentions, interfering with the process of the reader‟s meaning-making. Thus, in a certain way, she pushes back against the concept of the “death of the author”. With this dichotomic process, I suggest stepping away from the author‟s intentions and tracing the subtle trends of the market, that contributed to Bardugo‟s popularity. The discussion I want to open is not whether Bardugo intended to create a book that exploits Russian culture without doing justice to it, hinting towards a New Cold War, and separating the world to the familiar poles of the West and East.

scholarly journals ICT-ENABLED APPLICATIONS FOR DECISION-MAKING BY THE COURTS: EXPERIENCES FROM MALAYSIA AND NIGERIA

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (22) ◽  
pp. 189-196
Author(s):  
Ani Munirah Mohamad ◽  
Ibrahim Sule
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
The Body ◽  
Computer Hardware ◽  
Adoption Studies ◽  
Disruptive Technologies ◽  
Body Of Knowledge ◽  
The World ◽  
Ict Adoption ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Mobile Phone Applications

In this era of internet-of-things whereby the ICT, internet, and other associated gadgets and technologies are tremendously affecting our lives, there is no gainsaying that these ‘disruptive’ technologies have contributed greatly to improve the pace of justice delivery all over the world. With the recent outbreak of COVID-19 all over the world, technological adoption has enhanced further. Within the context of the courts, many countries have embraced the use of ICT and the internet in their justice delivery system consequent upon which thousands of mobile phone applications and computer hardware and software are being developed. Court Rules were amended to provide for these changes and further institutionalise these changes. This conceptual paper provides insights and experiences on how ICT-enabled applications impact the decision-making processes by the courts in Malaysia and Nigeria. Hopefully, the paper would contribute to the body of knowledge on ICT adoption studies in general, and e-courts and e-justice systems in particular.

CONCEPTUALIZATION OF A POSITIVE BODY IMAGE IN CONTEMPORARY FOREIGN STUDIES

2021 ◽  
pp. 33-39
Author(s):  
K. N. Belogai ◽  
◽  
Yu. V. Borisenko ◽  
N. A. Bugrova ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Body Image ◽  
English Language ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
The Body ◽  
Positive Body Image ◽  
Stage Of Development ◽  
A Value ◽  
Factors Influencing ◽  
The World ◽  
Current Stage

Positive body image is a construct that has actively been formed in the last two decades. Its appearance in the psychological discourse was a kind of response to the spreading of the practice of studying the body image from the point of view of pathology in the context of clinical studies of the second half of the XX century. Currently, the world has accumulated some experience in studying a positive body image, which is especially relevant in the pandemic era. The paper analyzes contemporary foreign publications considering a positive body image published in English-language journals on developmental, clinical, and social psychology from 2001 to 2021. The research allows monitoring the transformation of the studied construct in the context of humanistic and positive psychology that considers the body image both through the concept of appearance and through such definition as body functionality. The emphasis on the functionality within the analysis of the embodiment problematics allowed shifting the focus of the psychologists’ attention from the strategies of object attitude to a body to the strategies of taking care of a body as a value. The authors highlight the key areas of studying a positive body image at the current stage of development of science: the characteristics of a structure and components of the phenomenon under the study; the search for the sociocultural, family, and individual-psychological factors influencing the formation of positive body image; the assessment of the efficiency of prevention and correction programs aimed at the promotion of healthy body image; the analysis of positive body image as a recourse of a personality in the pandemic epoch.

Embodied meaning-making in the experiences and behaviours of persons with dementia

Dementia ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 147130122110429
Author(s):  
Tor-Arne Isene ◽  
Hilde Thygesen ◽  
Lars J Danbolt ◽  
Hans Stifoss-Hanssen
Keyword(s):  
Meaning Making ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
The Body ◽  
Vulnerable Groups ◽  
Severe Dementia ◽  
The People ◽  
Embodied Meaning ◽  
Field Notes ◽  
Psychiatric Department

Background The aim of the study was to explore and articulate how meaning-making appears and how meaningfulness is experienced in persons with severe dementia. Although there is little knowledge about meaning-making and experience of meaningfulness for this group, this article assumes that persons with dementia are as much in need of meaningfulness in life as any others, and hence, that they are involved in the process of meaning-making. Methods The study was conducted using a qualitative method with exploratory design. Ten patients with severe dementia at a specialized dementia ward at an old age psychiatric department in hospital were observed through participant observation performed over four months. The field-notes from the observation contained narratives carrying with them a dimension of meaning played out in an everyday setting and thus named Meaning-making dramas. The narratives were analyzed looking for expressions where experiences of meaning-making and meaningfulness could be identified. Results The narratives demonstrate that persons with severe dementia are involved in processes of meaning-making. The narratives include expressions of meaning-making, and of interactions that include apparent crises of meaning, but also transitions into what may be interpreted as meaningfulness based on experiences of significance, orientation and belonging. The role of the body and the senses has proved significant in these processes. The findings also suggest that experiences of meaning contribute to experience of personhood. Conclusions The relevance to clinical practice indicates that working from a person-centred approach in dementia care also includes paying attention to the dimension of meaning. This dimension is important both for the person living with dementia and for the people caring for them. Acknowledging meaning as a central human concern, it is crucial to seek understanding and knowledge about the significance of meaning in vulnerable groups such as persons with dementia.

At arbejde med at begribe det fornemmede - en fortælling om et danseprojekt på et børnehjem i Rusland

2011 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 8-19
Author(s):  
Anamet Magven
Keyword(s):  
Development Project ◽  
The Body ◽  
Contemporary Dance ◽  
Holistic View ◽  
Creative Dance ◽  
National School ◽  
The World ◽  
Phenomenological Perspective ◽  
Performance Project ◽  
First Time

Abstract Working with understanding the sensed: a narrative about a dance project at an orphanage in Russia is a paper based on a thesis for the postgraduate program Dance Partnership and Pedagogy at the National School of Contemporary Dance in Denmark (2008–10). The project was initiated by the partnership between the School of Contemporary Dance and the Greenhouse Project (Zelyonyi Dom) at the Orphanage # 9 in St. Petersburg, Russia. Zelyonyi Dom is a dance development project including 20 children from 8 to 12 years of age. A group of 9 children participated in the educational-dance-performance project discussed in this paper. The ten-day project was carried out in March 2010. The performance Petrushka premiered at the Fairytale Theatre in St. Petersburg. It was the first time the participating children performed on a real stage and they did so for a sold out 400 seat theatre. The project works with creative dance that approaches dancing, teaching and researching from a phenomenological perspective. It adopts a holistic view on the body, the psyche and the world and attempts to encounter the phenomena openly by suspending pre-made assumptions. The research explores moments of learning using the concept of attunement (“stemthed”) as it has been developed by Kirsten Fink-Jensen (1998). What is sensed in the dance space with the children, and how can one describe the sensed and nonverbal in words?

Turning the World Upside Down

2018 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 198-223
Author(s):  
Veronica Dittman Stanich
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Historical Analysis ◽  
The Body ◽  
Head Orientation ◽  
Multiple Perspectives ◽  
Culture Studies ◽  
Dance Training ◽  
Postmodern Dance ◽  
The World

A particular movement – inverting the body to a tail-over-head orientation and fleetingly taking weight on the hands – has been a staple of postmodern dance training and choreography since the early 1990s, yet it remains unnamed and uncodified. Taking a material culture studies approach, I examine this movement closely, using interviews, observation, historical analysis, and a survey of dance practitioners to situate this not-exactly-a-handstand within the field of American postmodern dance. These multiple perspectives yield new insights into the field, its practitioners, and its relationship to the larger cultural picture. I find embodied in this transitional, upside-down movement not only postmodern dance's countercultural and eclectic inheritance but also the conflicted cultural space it occupies. Postmodern dance is old enough to have a tradition, but doesn't want to relinquish its maverick identity; meanwhile, its meaning-making codes are inaccessible to much of the general public even as it begs a bigger audience in order to thrive.

Taking the World by Hand

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena Cuffari ◽  
Jürgen Streeck
Keyword(s):  
Meaning Making ◽  
Video Data ◽  
Hand Gestures ◽  
Making Meaning ◽  
Double Movement ◽  
The World ◽  
Initial Basis ◽  
Embodied Meaning ◽  
Philosophical Texts ◽  
Point Of Departure

Pairing interpretation of philosophical texts with microanalysis of video data, this essay examines some particular ways that hand gestures enable embodied meaning making and sharing. The point of departure is Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s statement that gesture is the initial basis by which a subject lives and signifies. Intercorporeality and interpretive effort then become the basis of interactive meaning making. Meaning emerges when hand gestures, as intercorporeal acts, reflect and reflexively alter the constituting norms, perspectives, and possibilities found in a given space. This double movement is appropriative and disclosive—hand gestures must fit to a given world of meaning even as they take hold of and form it. Explaining this common feature of distinct gesture ecologies leads to a number of conclusions for the study of language.

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