Exploring Somatic Sensation: Hanging Heavy
- Submitting institution
-
Canterbury Christ Church University
- Unit of assessment
- 33 - Music, Drama, Dance, Performing Arts, Film and Screen Studies
- Output identifier
- U33.001
- Type
- I - Performance
- Venue(s)
- Brook Theatre, Chatham
- Open access status
- Out of scope for open access requirements
- Month of first performance
- -
- Year of first performance
- 2017
- URL
-
-
- Supplementary information
-
-
- Request cross-referral to
- -
- Output has been delayed by COVID-19
- No
- COVID-19 affected output statement
- -
- Forensic science
- No
- Criminology
- No
- Interdisciplinary
- Yes
- Number of additional authors
-
-
- Research group(s)
-
-
- Proposed double-weighted
- No
- Reserve for an output with double weighting
- No
- Additional information
- Hanging Heavy (2017) is an immersive 20-minute performance resulting from Exploring Somatic Sensation (ESS, 2015-2017), a two-year project investigating whether vision stimulates kinaesthetic empathy. Devised and directed by Nina Atkinson, in collaboration with cognitive neuroscientists Dr Ellen Poliakoff and Dr Judith Bek from BEAM Lab at the University of Manchester, composer Sabio Janiak and lighting and performance environment designer Dr Andy
Hurst (Canterbury Christ Church University), the performance focussed on movement creation with professional dancers from Loop Dance Company, informed by those with visual impairments as advisors. It has been suggested that spectators can ‘internally stimulate’ movement sensations when watching (Hagendoorn, 2004), however, this project investigates whether there is an overreliance on sight in this situation. To test this question, guest consultants with visual impairments were invited to sharings during the creative process, stimulating a three-way dialogue between the
artists, scientists and audience members, supporting a creative process within which data was gathered, reflected upon and fed back into rehearsals. Analysis suggested that changes in heart rate corresponded to changes in the movement. Subjective ratings indicate that the audience ‘embodied’ the performance, and experienced feelings of happiness and surprise. Most excitingly we found that audience members’ heart rates synced with the performer they chose to follow. The project was supported by Arts Council England, Canterbury Christ Church University, Canterbury Festival and Involve Medway (the clinical commissioning group for the unitary authority of Medway). Atkinson presented the project and its findings at the Performance Lecture Series, Centre for Practice Based Research (CCCU), Narrating the Somatic Conference at Middlesex University and Cognitive Futures Conference at the University of Kent.
http://loopdancecompany.co.uk/events-and-projects/hanging-heavy/
- Author contribution statement
- -
- Non-English
- No
- English abstract
- -