Destabilizing the habitus in contemporary dance technique training: The ‘reflexive-dialogical’ as a mode of ‘practising’

Abstract

This article examines the notion of ‘practising’ through the lens of contemporary dance technique training. The author explores the extent to which a ‘reflexive-dialogical’ approach to contemporary dance technique training, which is an approach developed within the context of the author’s own action research, can cultivate a mode of ‘practising’ by emphasizing continuous, processual learning. The reflexive-dialogical approach focuses on positioning both dancer and teacher in a critical relationship with their respective practices; a dialogical mode of learning is used to expose and question the ‘how and why’ of physical and cognitive behavioural dispositions that are acquired through the process of embodying and transmitting dance techniques. Proposing that this critical relationship creates destabilization within the habitus, the author argues that such destabilization is required for teachers and students to notice and disrupt patterns of embodiment in the pursuit of maintaining a curious, practising approach to training that cultivates agency.