My relationship with contemporary dance began when my parents first enrolled me in a dance class at the age of three. I did not know it yet but a simple ballet class with an inspiring teacher was going to take me down a winding path through many other teachers, projects, companies, studies in London, and performances until I could call myself a professional with pride. Somehow this winding path has led me to continue my dance career in Finland.

My relationship is not a complicated one; I live to create and view art, both in body and mind. The artistic freedom of expression that is created with the human body as its most basic medium is astoundingly inspiring. Contemporary dance art is a means of emotional purging and artistic intent, taking both the performers and witnesses into a separate dimension for its duration. My relation to it is impossible for me to deny and it inhabits my thoughts throughout the day.

After reading Jaana Parviainen’s essay on Kinaesthetic Empathy, several thoughts have passed through my mind. I feel that a performing dancer needs to realize how powerful they are, with the ability to influence those who are watching. They need to be able to empathize with their audience that in turn, the audience can empathize with the performer. It is my opinion that a dancer’s ability to understand this concept is an imperative part of their arsenal of skills as a performer. Understanding what and how they portray themselves can pull emotions or memories unbidden from the audience by association, sympathy, or even anger.

When you watch a dance work, every performance is different and many factors influence these differences, but the most important factor is the audience. An entire performance can change depending on who is witnessing the event. The outcome may be unclear as each person will undoubtedly feel a different way due to their own individual experiences, but it is possible to influence the audience to feel something even if it is a dislike for what they have witnessed. To leave them with something to think about is what makes dance art.

I understand that empathy is an instinctual response (Parviainen 2003, 154) and kinaesthetically, I am affected by it. For example, when I am watching someone else dance or move, my body responds by moving unconsciously to match what I am witnessing. The body instinctually sees information and unconsciously we respond to other people and this instinct is derived from our experiences as we grow and our willingness to connect with other people. I believe that our experiences dictate how well we can empathize or connect with another being. (Parviainen 2003, 155.)

After I graduated with a BA Hons from Laban in London, I worked as a massage therapist treating the students and teachers at the school. From my two years working there, I came to realize that kinaesthetic empathy was a very strong factor in my work as a massage therapist. When treating a client, my care for them was enhanced due to my knowledge as a dancer and my own body awareness. I knew on an instinctual level what the treatments I chose to use felt like, and sometimes I could almost feel the sensation on my own body throughout the treatment. I connected on a pure bodily level, topographically seeing my own body within the person I was treating and my treatments were improved. (Parviainen, 2003, 158.)

For me, kinaesthetic empathy in dance is gained through hard work, practice and experience. For example, I was a dancer for Marie Gabrielle Rotie in London, where I worked in a group with three other people. We had to perform a series of movements in exact time with each other, using our peripheral vision, breathing and vocal cues to stay together. It took time to build our connection through rehearsal but using the natural tools provided to us we were able to be exactly in time with one another for the performances.

In London when working as an Art Model, I found myself creating connections between my life as a dancer and my life as a visual artist. I would ‘dance’ while modelling, aware of my breathing and the small movements that inevitably occur, performing for an audience of artists. I convinced a few teachers to let me move slowly, from one pose to another, challenging the artists to try and follow me. The experience left me with a profound appreciation of the human body. I do not model anymore but instead, I lead and organize my own art class, guiding the models to do the same as I did in London, putting myself into the position of the struggling artist trying to keep up. Even as an artist I can see my movement whilst drawing as a form of dance. For me, visual art and dance is one creature.

I have worked as a dancer for many choreographers as well as pursuing my own work over the years and the primary idea that makes me want to do it, again and again, is the inevitable collaboration that ensues from combining ideas and bodies in space. On a fundamental level, I enjoy being a part of something, meeting others with similar or differing needs, desires, or challenges, expanding my view of all that is possible within the realm of the body.

My interests have changed and developed over the years, from the simple enjoyment of movement, to learn how many different techniques and types of dance exist, and culminating in realizing that the possibilities are endless. Learning and understanding the theoretical thoughts of Laban, Graham and Cunningham were indisputably a massive influence in creating and being a part of the kind of dance art that I enjoy today.

Working as a dancer is always a challenge, but it is one that I experience with great pleasure, endeavouring to produce a product, a vision by collaborating and working with a choreographer or battling myself to create and dance. Regardless of the process, performing a piece of work that is to be viewed and judged by others is staggeringly satisfying.

My experiences being a dancer and choreographer have currently left me in a place where I want more. I want to meet other like-minded people in a professional environment and I currently strive to do that by furthering my learning: taking workshops from esteemed dancers and choreographers whenever I can. When I’m not dancing or creating art, I’m thinking about dance or thinking about what I could create next.

My relationship with dance art and movement are with me every day, regardless of if I’m working, teaching, drawing, dancing, or sitting at the computer. I will always come back to art and dance because they are my passions; they are what drive me and they are what make me who I am today.

Reference

Parviainen, Jaana. 2003 “Kinaesthetic Empathy.” Dialogue and Universalism No 11-12, 151-162.