As a distinct approach in dance instruction, Somatic Movement Education (SME) prioritizes the dancer’s internal kinesthetic experience over the audience’s external visual one. Dancers are trained to perceive, evaluate and make meaning of felt sensation in the body as an avenue towards technical efficiency, artistic expression and, hopefully – ultimately – towards deeper self actualization.
Indeed, felt sensation carries meaning – history, associations, significance – for all embodied beings. In this presentation, Associate Professor of Dance Marin Roper will describe felt sensation through the somatic lens of Laban Movement Analysis (LMA), with specific attention to Flow Effort and Weight Effort, then demonstrate ways in which touch is used to expand kinesthetic perception as a teaching tool in the dance studio.
Roper will also share insights from her ongoing Interfaith Choreographic Collaboration Project, where BYU Dance majors are paired with dance artists of other faith traditions to collaborate on spiritually-themed dance solos. In this methodology, felt sensation becomes an avenue for deeper understanding and connection between dancers of diverse faith traditions.