Community as soma: Reflections on a community-conscious theatre gathering

Abstract

Taking as a point of departure the ongoing and ever-evolving interaction between theatre arts and communities, this article expands upon ideas on bodies and communities bringing together somatic, theatre and community studies. It uses as a case study a somatically inspired theatre praxis gathering that took place in the village of Kato Garouna (Corfu, Greece) during summer 2018 (23–26 August). The gathering is identified as a ‘community-conscious’ project, which led to the awareness of ‘community as soma’. This approach to community inquiry, supported by the openness of somatic and practice-research methodologies, allows the integration of embodied differences and dualities within creative co-presence. It also prompts the emergence of new interactive possibilities between newly shaped and existing groups through critical and ethical attention to invitations. Reflecting upon the methods that underlined the gathering process, communities are examined in relation to the invitations that developed them and their critical implications.