Embodying Kinaesthetic Stimulants in a Technological World, A Kinaesthetic Exploration of Western Technology's Affect on the Body

This thesis addresses the potential kinaesthetic influences technology has on the body and how these influences can be used to extract original choreography. Based on Gretchen Schiller’s assertions that the body’s interactions with technology “contribute to the range of one’s movement repertoire and kinaesthetic condition” (Schiller 109), this research purports that the body’s interactions with transportation technology (specifically trains, subways, and automobiles), hand-held technology (cell phones, video games, and electronic children’s toys), online networking, and the television, affect its kinaesthetic condition. This is achieved through the body’s experience of new shapes, tensions, and weight-holding patterns. The individual experiences of urban Western bodies are specifically researched, particularly those in Toronto, Canada. Through site-specific movement explorations, this thesis argues that a heightened kinaesthetic awareness allows a choreographer to extract technological qualities and create original choreography. This process will, in turn, widen the choreographer’s awareness to other kinaesthetic movement inspirations.