Physical States of Embodiment and their Impact on the Performer

In this thesis research, dance artist Valerie Calam highlights the goals, creative processes, and results of three choreographic case studies, Gotta Go Church, All My Colours, and Dull Roar. In the three projects, Calam investigates the theme of embodiment in creation and performance of dance using a choreographic method she devised called states of the body. This method draws on postmodern contemporary choreographic devices such as Skinner Releasing Technique as well as the ancient somatic practice Qigong. This research reveals that by focussing on connection, a deeper physical awareness manifests and the performer will experience embodiment, the place where the body is leading, not the mind. Through this method, the performers are working on something as opposed to demonstrating something, and this change in approach exposes concepts and narratives within the choreography, and fuels the performer’s transformation.