Listening to the ‘Voice of the Body’: Embodied Practice in the Anthropology of Dance

 

Abstract

In this talk, I argue for a new lens to be focused on dance practice, highlighting the significance of the embodied nature of fieldwork within anthropology, and showing how neural pathways and bodily proprioception provide depths of understanding in terms of knowledge that is gathered though, by, and in bodies. All of the above indicates the complexity and richness of the emplaced body as a tool for ethnographic research. I look at the centrality of somatic bodily knowledge as a key tool for eliciting understanding using examples from my own practice,  and note that the body does have a voice; we just need to be prepared to listen deeply, attentively and openly in order to hear what it says.

Biography

Professor Dr. Ann R. David, is currently Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of Bonn, in the Institute of Oriental and Asian Studies. As Professor of Dance and Cultural Engagement, she is Visiting Professor at King’s College, London in the Culture, Media and Creative Industries (CMCI) department, and she holds an Emeritus professorial position at the University of Roehampton where she worked for 17 years, including as Head of the Dance Department for 6 years. Her research and teaching specialisms are in dance anthropology (ritual, migration, diaspora, embodiment) and South Asian classical and popular dance; her dance training includes ballet, contemporary, folk, and the Indian classical styles of bharatanatyam and kathak. She has published widely on this work, as well as on dance in Bollywood and on the ritual dances of Tibetan Buddhism and has completed a monograph of Indian dancer Ram Gopal, published by Bloomsbury. Prof. Dr. David has given public talks at the V&A, the British Library, British Museum and National Portrait Gallery and been involved in post-show discussions at Asia House, Nehru Centre, Sadler’s Wells, Southbank and the Bhavan, and has appeared on BBC radio and TV on several occasions. She is passionate about the need for the arts in education, working closely with policy makers, and is on the board of several arts organisations.