Moving with the Screen on Zoom: Reconnecting with Bodily and Environmental Awareness

Abstract

Rather than seeing Zoom as a replacement for practicing movement and dance in a shared physical space, I propose to consider our relationship with the screen on Zoom as a movement in its own right. Using my experience of teaching movement on Zoom, I ask how we can connect with another via the screen without losing awareness of our bodies and the space which we're in. I argue that Zoom is a place of 'moving selfies' in dialogue where we can engage critically with the screen by practicing seeing with the whole body and moving with diffuse awareness and where we can critically reflect on our own habits of framing the world and its biases.

The clash between physical and digital realm: hybrid movement training during the pandemic

“…In Zoom-mediated interaction, participants had to pay extra attention to be visible on the screen or heard by their partners. Loussouran [24] has also addressed this issue. According to her, on Zoom, dancers had to be filmmakers or camera operators framing and presenting their own movements on screen.…”

“…According to her, on Zoom, dancers had to be filmmakers or camera operators framing and presenting their own movements on screen. Whether intentional or not, how dancers frame themselves on the screen inevitably shapes how others experience their movement and how dancers experience theirs [24]. During the LBMS training, this fact forced participants and teachers to be multifocal.…”

“…Goletti and Milovanovic [32] indicated that the main positive development of online dance training during COVID-19 was an expanded focus on somatic methodologies (p.28) and students' increased responsibility and agency in learning (p.26). Loussouarn [24] also pointed out Zoom's attributes of seeing self-images as creative opportunities for dancers. On the other hand, dancers' experience during my fieldwork, which they described as a clash, addresses that trying to replicate or even expecting to have a similar experience to the face-to-face experience in an online environment is problematic.…”