Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This artistic research dissertation employs the principles and practices of contact improvisation in a literary performative to describe and demonstrate this somatic form’s potential as a complex system of embodied knowing. For strategic and thematic purposes, chapters in this dissertation are referred to as Streams. The First Stream motivates the methodological approaches and emergent strategies employed in the researcher’s simultaneous practices of teaching, researching and writing about contact improvisation. The Second Stream is offered as an oral testimony of the researcher’s attempt to find practical solutions for the increasing complexity apparent in her work environment during the last two decades. It is written primarily as a first-person narrative with references by other somatic and contact improvisation practitioners embedded in the body of the narrative and presented as personal subconscious/collective unconscious interjections. The Third Stream uses a locally-emergent artistic research strategy termed Secondary Primacy to critically and creatively engage with existing literature. The observations of theorists and practitioners from the researcher’s own context (theatre and drama), as well as from a diversity of interrelated disciplines (including psychology, sociology, evolutionary biology, quantum physics, pedagogy and visual art) are presented in an autonomous authorial voice employing the performative strategy of what if. This strategy serves to demonstrate the researcher’s experience of the link between personal subconscious and collective unconscious motivations for action and exposes the transdisciplinary ground upon which many of the ideas and observations voiced in other Streams, in particular about contact improvisation as a complex system of embodied knowing, are implicitly dependent. The Fourth Stream discusses contact improvisation as a complex system foregrounding the particular characteristics of nonlinearity, paradox, emergence and additional capacity introduced in the Second and Third Streams. The Fifth Stream demonstrates convergences and overlaps between contemporary theories about agency, embodiment and transformation as they may apply to educators in tertiary educational performing arts contexts. This discussion is interspersed with accounts of the researcher’s own attempts – through her performing arts educational practice - to understand agency and transformation as workable elements. The Sixth Stream is offered as a personal philosophy of action. The implicit values and strategies of the researcher that were exposed in previous Streams are here distilled and presented as affirmations and Actions motivating the sustained use, by the researcher within her localized educational context, of contact improvisation as a foundational somatic approach for performers. In keeping with the positioning of this dissertation as artistic research, the literary framing devices of a Foreword and Afterword are used to draw a reader’s attention to the practicebased nature of the subject under discussion. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie artistieke navorsingsverhandeling gebruik die beginsels en praktyke van kontakimprovisasie in ‘n literêre performatief om hierdie somatiese vorm se potensiaal as ‘n komplekse sisteem van verpersoonlikte kundigheid te beskryf en te demonstreer. Vir strategiese en tematiese doeleindes word daar in hierdie verhandeling na hoofstukke as Strome verwys. Die Eerste Stroom motiveer die metodologiese benaderinge en voortspruitende strategieë wat aangewend word in die navorser se gelyktydige onderrig van, en navorsing en skrywe oor, kontakimprovisasie. Die Tweede Stroom word aangebied as ‘n mondelinge betuiging van die navorser se poging om praktiese oplossings te vind vir die toenemende kompleksiteit in haar omgewing oor die laaste twee dekades. Hierdie Stroom word primêr as ‘n eerste persoon narratief aangebied met behulp van verwysings deur ander somatiese en kontakimprovisasie praktisyns wat in die narratief geanker en aangebied word as persoonlike onbewustelike/kollektiewe onbewuste tussenwerpsels. In die Derde Stroom word ‘n plaaslik ontwikkelde artistieke navorsingstrategie, naamlik Sekondêre Voorrang, gebruik om die konvensionele literatuurstudie op kreatiewe wyse te herinterpreteer. Die waarnemings van teoretici en praktisyns uit die navorsers se eie studieveld (teater en drama), sowel as uit ‘n verskeidenheid van interafhanklike studievelde (onder andere psigologie, sosiologie, evolusionêre biologie, kwantum fisika, pedagogie en visuele kuns) word aangebied as ‘n outonome outeursbedoelde stem en maak gebruik van ‘n performatiewe what if. Díe strategie dien as ‘n metode om die navorsers se ervaring van die implisiete afhanklikhied tussen persoonlike onderbewussyn en kollektiewe onbewustheid motiverings vir aksie te demonstreer, en die transdisiplinêre grond van idees en waarnemings, in die besonder oor kontakimprovisasie as ‘n komplekse sisteem van verpersoonlikte kennis, te ontgin en bloot te lê. In die Vierde Stroom word kontakimprovisasie as ‘n komplekse sisteem bespreek en die eienskappe van nie-liniariteit, paradoks, ontluiking en addisionele kapasiteit wat in die Tweede en Derde Strome bespreek is, is verder op die voorgrond geplaas. Die Vyfde Stroom toon die sameloop en ooreenkomste aan tussen teorieë oor tussenkoms, verpersoonliking en transformasie soos van toepassing mag wees op opvoeders in ‘n tersiêre opvoedkundige performance konteks. Hierdie bespreking is afgewissel met vertellings van die navorser se eie pogings - deur haar uitvoerende kunste opvoedkundige praktyk – om agentskap en transformasie as werkbare elemente te verstaan. Die Sesde Stroom word aangebied as ‘n persoonlike filosofie van handeling. Die implisiete waardes en strategieë van die navorser, soos bloot gelê in die vorige Strome, word hier gesuiwer en aangebied as bekragtiging en Aksies vir die volgehoue gebruik, deur die navorser in haar eie gelokaliseerde opvoedkundige konteks, van kontakimprovisasie as ‘n grondleggende somatieke benadering vir performers. As deel van hierdie verhandeling se posisionering as artistieke navorsing word ‘n Voorwoord en Slotwoord gebruik om die leser se aandag te vestig op die verpersoonlikte aard van die onderwerp onder bespreking.

This thesis looks into autobiographical representations of disability and illness in life writing, a flexible form of creative nonfiction, and Contact Improvisation, a postmodern dance form, to argue how the structure of representation must incorporate the physical and emotional/intellectual in order to convey the necessary overlap between the mind and body. Chapter One looks at Plaintext, by Nancy Mairs, to analyze the way her sporadic writing style mirrors the unpredictability of her multiple sclerosis. Chapter Two focuses on Autobiography of a Face, by Lucy Grealy, and examines how the irregularity of the author's face--and the various roles that she takes on throughout her life--undermine the idea of any singular self in life-writing and otherwise. Analysis of Grealy's text is paired with Truth and Beauty, a memoir written by the author's best friend, Ann Patchett, in order to demonstrate the linguistic/cultural distinction--but significant overlap--between dependency and independence. Chapter Three expands upon this idea in relation to disabled dance companies, and highlights Contact Improvisation--a dance form based on the transfer of weight--as a revolutionary forum that incorporates mind and body in an "intratext" of representation. Because it is based on exchange of impulse and a blurring of bodies, CI allows for a fluid negotiation between multiple identities, accommodating the moment-to-moment nature of living with or without a disability.

Este trabalho pretende discutir alguns aspectos fundamentais a respeito das relações entre sujeito e corpo. Para isso, enfocaremos experiências propiciadas por uma proposta de dança contemporânea denominada Contato Improvisação, em um diálogo com os conceitos elaborados pelo psicanalista Donald Winnicott. O Contato Improvisação é uma forma de dança surgida nos anos 1970, nos EUA, baseada em uma proposta de improvisação a partir do contato físico. Essa proposta propicia regimes de relação e comunicação com o outro com matizes e sentidos complexos passando por experiências de indiferenciação e comunicação imediata até experiências de confrontação com a diferença e radical alteridade não somente do outro corpo, mas a alteridade constitutiva do sujeito e da própria corporeidade. O exame destas diferentes experiências nos levará a discutir dimensões da presença da alteridade no processo nunca acabado de constituição do corpo fundamentalmente alimentado pelas experiências ligadas ao universo do brincar, tal como conceituado por Winnicott. / This work aims to discuss some fundamental aspects about the relationship between subject and body. In order to do that, it will focus on experiences opened by Contact Improvisation dance, in a dialogue with the concepts developed by psychoanalyst Donald Winnicott. Contact Improvisation is a dance form created in the 1970s, in the U.S., based on a proposal of improvisation through physical contact. It creates schemes of interpersonal relationship and communication with complex meanings and nuances ranging from experiences of undifferentiation and immediate communication to confrontations with difference and radical otherness not only of the other person, but also of oneself. The review of these different experiences will lead us to discuss dimensions of otherness in the never-ending process of body constitution which is largely nurtured by experiences of playing, as defined by Winnicott.

Submitted by Glauber Assunção Moreira (glauber.a.moreira@gmail.com) on 2018-09-10T20:01:11Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese de Doutorado_Hugo Leonardo da Silva_Dança_PPGAC_UFBA.pdf: 16189183 bytes, checksum: a8b6d7045ecf7351700c817e7b884de2 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Ednaide Gondim Magalhães (ednaide@ufba.br) on 2018-09-11T13:18:10Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese de Doutorado_Hugo Leonardo da Silva_Dança_PPGAC_UFBA.pdf: 16189183 bytes, checksum: a8b6d7045ecf7351700c817e7b884de2 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-09-11T13:18:10Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese de Doutorado_Hugo Leonardo da Silva_Dança_PPGAC_UFBA.pdf: 16189183 bytes, checksum: a8b6d7045ecf7351700c817e7b884de2 (MD5) / Esta tese é uma construção teórica mutuamente relacionada com uma proposição artística focalizada na atividade perceptiva do dançarino na prática do Contato Improvisação, investigando as possibilidades de que tal atividade faculte uma experiência que parta, mas também se estenda para além da perspectiva em primeira pessoa. Para tanto, acompanhando uma contextualização histórica apoiada principalmente no trabalho da antropóloga e dançarina Cynthia Novack, inicialmente são estabelecidas três premissas que resultam em uma perspectiva específica para o Contato Improvisação enquanto objeto deste estudo. A primeira delas diz respeito a assumir o Contato Improvisação como um contexto de atividade artístico-estética, na perspectiva da filosofia de John Dewey, que trata este contexto como a intensificação da atividade biológica e perceptiva cotidiana; a segunda premissa estabelece a atividade perceptiva como fundamento técnico central na investigação do movimento e dança proposta pelo Contato, a partir de um entendimento de atividade perceptiva estabelecido na perspectiva teórica da enação a que se dedicam o filósofo da mente Alva Nöe e o filósofo e biólogo Francisco Varela; a terceira premissa apresenta a pertinência de assumir o Contato Improvisação como uma espécie de jogo, em que se destaca o conceito de vertigem no conjunto da teoria dos jogos de Roger Caillois. Tais premissas servirão de lastro para reunir referências a reflexões e à atuação educacional e artística de pioneiros e “criadores” do Contato Improvisação, bem como da minha própria atuação educacional e artística, para tratar da proposição de um dançarino que se estabelece como um “eu aqui e agora” em condições de desabituar caminhos familiares de atividade perceptiva, de movimento e de senso de self, para realizar explorações do real dentro de suas possibilidades de percepção e experiência, ao ponto de comungá-las com a percepção e a experiência do outro. Para tecer este argumento e delineá-lo em aplicações no treinamento do Contato Improvisação, será também capital a concepção de hábitos nas teorias de Alva Nöe e nas de Francisco Varela, bem como considerações sobre a memória e temporalidade em John Dewey e nos estudos desenvolvidos pelo neurocientista Gerald Edelman sobre as bases neuronais da percepção, da experiência e do self. / This thesis is a theoretical construct mutually related to an artistic proposition focused on the perceptual activity of the dancer in the practice of the Contact Improvisation, investigating the possibilities of such activity shall make available an experience that breaks from, but also extends beyond the first-person perspective. Therefore, following a historical context mainly supported in the work of anthropologist and dancer Cynthia Novack, are initially established three premises that result in a specific perspective for Contact Improvisation as a study object. The first relates to assume Contact Improvisation as a context of artistic-aesthetic activity, in view of the philosophy of John Dewey, who considers such a context as an intensification of the everyday biological and perceptual activity; the second premise establishes the perceptual activity as a central technical foundation in the investigation of dance and movement proposed by Contact, from an understanding of perceptual activity established into the theoretical perspective of enaction developed in the work of mind philosopher Alva Noë and philosopher and biologist Francisco Varela; the third premise presents the relevance of assuming Contact Improvisation as a kind of game, which highlights the concept of vertigo throughout the game theory of Roger Caillois. These assumptions offers support to gather reflections and references to the educational and artistic work of pioneers and "creators" of Contact Improvisation, as well as from my own educational and artistic activities to address the proposition of a dancer who establishes himself as a "I here and now "able to dishabituate familiar paths of perceptual activity, movement and sense of self, in order to explore the "real" within their possibilities of perception and experience, to the point that they share with the perception and experience of the other. To delineate this argument and weave it into applications in the training of Contact Improvisation, capital will also be the conception of habits in Alva Noë's theories and those of Francisco Varela, as well as considerations about memory and temporality in John Dewey and studies developed by neuroscientist Gerald Edelman on the neural basis of perception and experience of the self.

Este trabalho pretende discutir alguns aspectos fundamentais a respeito das relações entre sujeito e corpo. Para isso, enfocaremos experiências propiciadas por uma proposta de dança contemporânea denominada Contato Improvisação, em um diálogo com os conceitos elaborados pelo psicanalista Donald Winnicott. O Contato Improvisação é uma forma de dança surgida nos anos 1970, nos EUA, baseada em uma proposta de improvisação a partir do contato físico. Essa proposta propicia regimes de relação e comunicação com o outro com matizes e sentidos complexos passando por experiências de indiferenciação e comunicação imediata até experiências de confrontação com a diferença e radical alteridade não somente do outro corpo, mas a alteridade constitutiva do sujeito e da própria corporeidade. O exame destas diferentes experiências nos levará a discutir dimensões da presença da alteridade no processo nunca acabado de constituição do corpo fundamentalmente alimentado pelas experiências ligadas ao universo do brincar, tal como conceituado por Winnicott. / This work aims to discuss some fundamental aspects about the relationship between subject and body. In order to do that, it will focus on experiences opened by Contact Improvisation dance, in a dialogue with the concepts developed by psychoanalyst Donald Winnicott. Contact Improvisation is a dance form created in the 1970s, in the U.S., based on a proposal of improvisation through physical contact. It creates schemes of interpersonal relationship and communication with complex meanings and nuances ranging from experiences of undifferentiation and immediate communication to confrontations with difference and radical otherness not only of the other person, but also of oneself. The review of these different experiences will lead us to discuss dimensions of otherness in the never-ending process of body constitution which is largely nurtured by experiences of playing, as defined by Winnicott.

Comment les êtres, humains ou plus-qu’humains, en viennent-ils à partager leurs mouvements ? Qu’est-ce qui exauce, soutient ou empêche la confluence de leurs gestes ? Ces questions sont des questions métaphysiques (question de la comobilité des êtres), anthropologiques (question du vivre-ensemble) ou biologiques (question de la symbiose) : pour y répondre, il est de bonne méthode de lire des philosophes, des anthropologues, des biologistes. Nous avons décidé de les adresser à une pratique chorégraphique : le Contact Improvisation, une forme de danse initiée par le chorégraphe américain Steve Paxton en 1972, et où danseurs et danseuses se sautent les un-es sur les autres, entrent en contact les un-es avec les autres, roulent par terre et tombent dans les airs, considérant que la philosophie avait tout intérêt à reconnaître que danseurs et danseuses non seulement savent bouger ensemble, mais, plus important, savent s’apprendre et penser la manière dont ils bougent ensemble. / How do human and more-than-human beings come to share movements? What supports, hinders or ignites the confluence of their gestures? These questions are metaphysical (how do things coexist?), anthropological (how to live together?), and biological (how do we merge and exist symbiotically?): to answer them, our anthropo-phenomenological “philosophy of gestures” offers a reading of contemporary philosophers, anthropologists and biologists. But next to those field specialists, the investigations also led us to ask our questions to dancers and to a dance practice—Contact Improvisation, a movement form that was initiated by North American choreographer in 1972, where dancers jump at each other, enter in contact, roll on the ground and fall in the air. Our hypothesis was simple: we are in urgent need to renew our understanding of movement and specifically of our ways of moving together (with other, humans or more-than-humans), who better than dancers to lead the inquiry with?

O presente estudo aborda o processo de criação do ator pelo viés da busca da organicidade das ações do ator em cena, organicidade esta ligada a uma ação real promovida pelo contato entre o ator e demais sujeitos e elementos da cena. Através de uma investigação empírica com grupos de atores, buscou-se pesquisar de que forma o Contato Improvisação pode contribuir para a prática do ator. Partindo da noção de contato como propulsor do impulso criador, buscou-se descortinar procedimentos que contribuem para o desenvolvimento de competências técnicas do ator levando à ascese de um comportamento orgânico em cena. Constituiu-se como material de análise o diário de campo da pesquisadora, os diários de campo dos atores, assim como registros em vídeo do processo, contendo atividades e depoimentos dos atores envolvidos. Para a concretização da pesquisa em questão também foi realizada revisão bibliográfica acerca do Contato Improvisação, incluindo materiais de Steve Paxton, criador desta dança. Como referenciais para a abordagem das peculiaridades do trabalho do ator, são utilizados os estudos de Jerzy Grotowski, de quem partem as principais terminologias que serviram como base para a pesquisa, Constantin Stanislavski e Augusto Boal, escolhidos por trazerem em seus estudos o contato como competência primordial à criação. Complementam a pesquisa teorias de Gaston Bachelard, José Gil, dentre outros estudos relevantes para a investigação em questão, como proposições da fenomenologia experimental. / This study investigates the actor's creative process through the point of view of the organicity of actor‟s actions. This organicity is linked to a real action caused by contact between the actor and other people and elements of the scene/stage. Through an empirical research with groups formed by actors, we sought to find how the Contact Improvisation can contribute to the actor‟s practice. Following the concept of contact as the creative impulse propellant, we sought to present procedures that contribute to the development of actor's technical skills that can induce the emergence of an organic behavior in the scene. Constituted as material for analysis: the researcher‟s field diary, field diaries of actors as well as video recordings of the proceedings, containing activities and testimonies of those involved. For the realization of this research, literature review was also performed in Contact Improvisation, including materials of Steve Paxton, the creator of this dance. As theoretical references to approach the peculiarities of the actor's work, we use studies of Jerzy Grotowski, who gives the main terminologies that served as the basis for research, Constantin Stanislavski and Augusto Boal, chosen because they present in their studies the contact as a primordial skill of creation. Theories of Gaston Bachelard, José Gil, and others relevant studies, as propositions of experimental phenomenology, complement the research.

O estudo mescla fronteiras das investigações sobre a criação do ator levando em conta a improvisação. Tomando-se o trabalho de Arthur Lessac como ponto de partida para criar, realiza-se uma contaminação entre este e as seguintes pesquisas sobre improvisação e composição cênica: Contato Improvisação, Viewpoints, além de técnicas de narrativa e espontaneidade do diretor e professor britânico Keith Johnstone. A experiência prática foi realizada em estágio docente na disciplina de Atuação III da graduação em Teatro na UFRGS. Os pensamentos de Arthur Lessac, Steve Paxton, Anne Bogart, Tina Landau e Keith Johnstone se entrecruzam com pesquisas contemporâneas de diferentes áreas para discutir o processo de criação do ator-estudante. / The study mixes borders in the investigation of the creation process of the actor, taking into account the improvisation. Having the Lessac Work as an access way into creating, a contamination was held among his work and the following researches on improvisation and scene composition: Contact Improvisation, Viewpoints, as well as narrative techniques and spontaneity studied by the director and professor Keith Johnstone. The practical experience was held during teacher training in Performance III, Undergraduate Program in Theatre at UFRGS. The ideas developed by Arthur Lessac, Steve Paxton, Anne Bogart, Tina Landau and Keith Johnstone intersect contemporary researches in different areas in order to discuss the creation process of the actor-student.

O presente estudo aborda o processo de criação do ator pelo viés da busca da organicidade das ações do ator em cena, organicidade esta ligada a uma ação real promovida pelo contato entre o ator e demais sujeitos e elementos da cena. Através de uma investigação empírica com grupos de atores, buscou-se pesquisar de que forma o Contato Improvisação pode contribuir para a prática do ator. Partindo da noção de contato como propulsor do impulso criador, buscou-se descortinar procedimentos que contribuem para o desenvolvimento de competências técnicas do ator levando à ascese de um comportamento orgânico em cena. Constituiu-se como material de análise o diário de campo da pesquisadora, os diários de campo dos atores, assim como registros em vídeo do processo, contendo atividades e depoimentos dos atores envolvidos. Para a concretização da pesquisa em questão também foi realizada revisão bibliográfica acerca do Contato Improvisação, incluindo materiais de Steve Paxton, criador desta dança. Como referenciais para a abordagem das peculiaridades do trabalho do ator, são utilizados os estudos de Jerzy Grotowski, de quem partem as principais terminologias que serviram como base para a pesquisa, Constantin Stanislavski e Augusto Boal, escolhidos por trazerem em seus estudos o contato como competência primordial à criação. Complementam a pesquisa teorias de Gaston Bachelard, José Gil, dentre outros estudos relevantes para a investigação em questão, como proposições da fenomenologia experimental. / This study investigates the actor's creative process through the point of view of the organicity of actor‟s actions. This organicity is linked to a real action caused by contact between the actor and other people and elements of the scene/stage. Through an empirical research with groups formed by actors, we sought to find how the Contact Improvisation can contribute to the actor‟s practice. Following the concept of contact as the creative impulse propellant, we sought to present procedures that contribute to the development of actor's technical skills that can induce the emergence of an organic behavior in the scene. Constituted as material for analysis: the researcher‟s field diary, field diaries of actors as well as video recordings of the proceedings, containing activities and testimonies of those involved. For the realization of this research, literature review was also performed in Contact Improvisation, including materials of Steve Paxton, the creator of this dance. As theoretical references to approach the peculiarities of the actor's work, we use studies of Jerzy Grotowski, who gives the main terminologies that served as the basis for research, Constantin Stanislavski and Augusto Boal, chosen because they present in their studies the contact as a primordial skill of creation. Theories of Gaston Bachelard, José Gil, and others relevant studies, as propositions of experimental phenomenology, complement the research.

O estudo mescla fronteiras das investigações sobre a criação do ator levando em conta a improvisação. Tomando-se o trabalho de Arthur Lessac como ponto de partida para criar, realiza-se uma contaminação entre este e as seguintes pesquisas sobre improvisação e composição cênica: Contato Improvisação, Viewpoints, além de técnicas de narrativa e espontaneidade do diretor e professor britânico Keith Johnstone. A experiência prática foi realizada em estágio docente na disciplina de Atuação III da graduação em Teatro na UFRGS. Os pensamentos de Arthur Lessac, Steve Paxton, Anne Bogart, Tina Landau e Keith Johnstone se entrecruzam com pesquisas contemporâneas de diferentes áreas para discutir o processo de criação do ator-estudante. / The study mixes borders in the investigation of the creation process of the actor, taking into account the improvisation. Having the Lessac Work as an access way into creating, a contamination was held among his work and the following researches on improvisation and scene composition: Contact Improvisation, Viewpoints, as well as narrative techniques and spontaneity studied by the director and professor Keith Johnstone. The practical experience was held during teacher training in Performance III, Undergraduate Program in Theatre at UFRGS. The ideas developed by Arthur Lessac, Steve Paxton, Anne Bogart, Tina Landau and Keith Johnstone intersect contemporary researches in different areas in order to discuss the creation process of the actor-student.