Leader: Suzanne Liska
Location: Room 7-270, 7th Floor – John Molson Building, 1450 Rue Guy
Concordia University
In-Person Session
Somatic communities are at a crossroad in their attempts to address the lack of equity, diversity and inclusion awareness among practitioners and participants. Social somatic dance scholars, also known as “politicized” (Fortin 2017) somatic scholars, are pushing practitioners and participants to contextualize their practices within Indigenous and Asian cultural and spiritual forms (Eddy 2016). Given my teaching, choreographic and performing experience, and my perspective as a diasporic mixed-Asian Canadian, I believe I have a relevant perspective to contribute to the conference on deepening justice-informed somatic dance/theatre training. Through an MFA in Dance Choreography, I’ve established a research praxis anchored in East Asian dance/theatre history and form, social somatics dance ethnography, practice-based-research, and cultural theory.
Dance scholars have identified the primary focus in the majority of somatic forms as kinesthetic (Buckwater 2010; Eddy 2011; Foster 2010; Martin 2007, 2013; Novack 1990) and that other factors such as emotion, cognition and socioculture are secondary. I propose that East Asian practices and theories have the potential to dissolve binary oppositions of the body, mind, emotions, and socioculture.
My proposed workshop intertwines theories and practices of the Alexander Technique, Butoh and Contact Improvisation in order to foster an embodied biopsychosocial methodology and pedagogy. The material will activate sensation, imagination, and memory, using images from nature where scenes/characters may emerge, to expand how we respond biopsychosocially to interactions with others.
Suzanne Liska, York University
Suzanne Liska (Dance MFA, Certified Alexander Technique Teacher) specializes in choreography, performance-as-research, somatics, dance kinesiology, East Asian dance/theatre and contact/ensemble improvisation. Suzanne has received grants and awards through CCA, TAC, OAC, York University and SSHRC; and is contract faculty for York University’s Dance department and George Brown College’s Theatre School.