Panel: TALES OF POSTSECULAR PERFORMANCE



761.3 - EMBODIED INQUIRY IN THE EXPLORATION OF POSTSECULAR PERFORMANCES - WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE PLACE THE BODY IN FOCUS?

AUTHORS:
Tsampazi A. (Queen's University, Belfast ~ Belfast ~ United Kingdom)
Text:
The paper discusses the application of dance practice-as-research to the exploration of postsecular performances. The body is increasingly recognised as an important element in the research process. It stores information and emotions from lived experiences and produces knowledge that may not be accessible through traditional research methods. The article specifically focuses on Embodied Inquiry - an approach that is concerned with the embodied experience in research and allows for a multiplicity of ways of carrying it out. The paper provides examples of such research by discussing the design and delivery of three movement workshops that took place during the Postsecular Performances Network meetings: a workshop on the detachment from material objects based on Christian Orthodox asceticism (Frankfurt University, Germany), a site-specific movement workshop in St. Peter's church (Münster, Germany), and an artistic pilgrimage in the gardens of Pendle Hill (Philadelphia, USA). The workshops offered embodied experiences on various aspects of postsecular performativity, and an alternative way of doing research and dialogue on the topic - one that places the body in focus.