Queering the Somatic: Interrupting the Narrative Symposium

Better late than never! Below is the blog post I created after watching the keynote speaker of the symposium that for some reason I never got around to posting.

I had the pleasure of listening to the Symposium's key note speaker Dr. Thomas F. DeFrantz on Skype. Among academic accomplishments such as winning the "Outstanding Research in Dance Studies"award, Dr DeFrantz is the director of SLIPPAGE: Performance, Culture & Technology, a research group that explores emerging technology in live performance applications. Although we could not watch the presentation and dance through Skype due to copyright reasons, I still found the talk interesting and enlightening.

The title "Queering the Somatic" in itself is interesting. Queer Theory is a relatively new way of critical thinking (created in the 1990's) that challenges social constructs and binaries. Somatic relates to the body, especially as distinct from the mind. Dr DeFrantz is interested in using dance to narrate the story of the "lived experience" through fluidity and movement and using dance to challenge these social binaries.   

Although I could not see DeFratz's dance routine, from the style and tone of the music and the reaction from the live audience, I could imagine the dance and themes presented for myself and still knew exactly what was going on. This relates back to my initial broad inquiry topic of "Making theatre accessible to people with disabilities". During the dance and video sections of the symposium, I could not rely on sight to dictate the story. Rather I had to use sound, dissecting the music and the audience's reactions as well as my tacit knowledge from years of dance training to create the picture myself. This got me to thinking about the theatre experience for people with disabilities such as sight or hearing impairments, neurological or physical disabilities. How having to rely on other senses or reasoning could create a very different understanding and appreciation for the show. 

It got me to thinking how amazing it would be for more inclusive theatre shows, tailor-made for certain 'disabilities' for them to enjoy and explore. A 'black box' musical theatre experience that requires no sight but is immersive and interactive. Creating a show specifically designed for the deaf community to enjoy - not just having a translator standing on the stage. Or even using actors with physical and mental disabilities and having a show centered around them where the rest of the cast are on the same playing field as them. All this relates back to Dr DeFratz's speech about social binaries and how important it is to dispel them. 

I end by passing the question of to you: What binaries affect your practice and how could you possibly going about dispelling them?