Choreographing lived experience: dance, feelings and the storytelling body

Abstract

Although narrative-based research has been central to studies of illness experience, the inarticulate, sensory experiences of illness often remain obscured by exclusively verbal or textual inquiry. To foreground the body in our investigation of subjective and intersubjective aspects of eating disorders, we—a medical anthropologist and a contemporary dance choreographer—designed a collaborative project, in which we studied the experiences of women who had eating disorders, through eight weeks of integrating dance practice-based, discussion-based and interview-based research. Grounded in the participants’ own reflections on choreographing, dancing and watching others perform solos about their eating disordered experiences, our analysis examines the types of knowledge the participants used in choreographing their dance works, and the knowledge that they felt the dance enabled them to convey. We find that the participants consistently spoke of feeling as guiding their choreographic processes; they also said the experiences they conveyed through their dance works were centred in feelings, rather than in practices or events. Through dance, the participants said they could communicate experiences that would have remained unspoken otherwise. Yet, notably, dance practice also enabled participants to begin defining and describing their experiences verbally. We suggest, therefore, that through engaging participants in contemporary dance practice, we can begin to identify and address embodied experiences of illness and recovery that may be silenced in speech or writing alone.

Gut thinking: the gut microbiome and mental health beyond the head

“…However, ‘embodied methodologies’ [59] that actively look to incorporate body sensation into research may provide scope to connect more specifically with bodies and the sensory nature of ‘mental’ experience and feeling from the gut. These methodologies may range from paying attention to bodies of researchers rather than side-lining them in ‘attempts to eliminate bias’ [60, p. 7], using sensory, physical materials in qualitative interviews with participants, and using bodies in the production or communication of research (walking interviews [61], body mapping [62] or representation in dance, for example) [63]. The gut engages all the senses – from the sound and feel of digestion, to the physical response to the smell, taste or the sight of certain foods or experiences and, as such, requires a sensory, bodily approach to connect with these aspects.…”

“What a Loser That Guy Was”: Norm Macdonald’s Humorous Critique of the Romantic/Warrior Narrative

“…Narrative structures about living with chronic illness have been studied in interpersonal communication within families (Anderson & Martin, 2003) and between patients and medical providers (Eggly, 2002); in creative modes of expression like written blogs (Iannarino, 2017), descriptive essays (Defenbaugh, 2013), scrapbooks, and photography (Sharf, Harter, Yamasaki, & Haidet, 2011); through live performance in stand-up comedy (Nutter, 2014), dance (Eli & Kay, 2015), and interactive drama (Howard, 2013); in public celebrity disclosures to the media (Beck, Aubuchon, McKenna, Ruhl, & Simmons, 2014); and in entertainment education (Link, Schlütz, & Brauer, 2016). Regardless of their medium, illness narratives are often socially constructed, and they can appear as individual stories; an accumulation of individual stories that form family, group, or organizational narratives; as master narratives that are developed from and reflect predominant aspects of the larger culture; and as counternarratives that challenge the accepted master narratives (Sharf et al., 2011).…”

“…Because they give voice to and place patients and their loved ones at the center of illness experiences, narratives are an effective tool in challenging biomedicine as the primary means of understanding health and disease (Ellingson & Buzzanell, 1999). Likewise, narrative research has been essential in gaining insight into how people perceive and cope with chronic illness (Eli & Kay, 2015).…”

PreScribed (A Life Written for Me): A Theatrical Qualitative Research-Based Performance Script Informed by General Practitioners’ Experiences of Emotional Distress

“…The arts have been employed to communicate about embodied thoughts, feelings and experiences relating to health and illness (Fraser & al Sayah, 2011; Rosenbaum et al, 2005). Performance art such as theater and dance, for instance, have facilitated storytelling and been used as a conduit for capturing and communicating about emotive, painful, sensitive, stigmatizing and challenging experiences, such as abuse, terminal cancer and mental ill health (Eli & Kay, 2015; Gray et al, 2000; Sandelowski et al, 2006).…”