Tracing the felt image to thought: A somatic turn towards the nature of the creative process in country dance choreography

Abstract

Creative processes used to choreograph country dance are distinguishable from those utilized in other dance movement systems. Described here is my experience of a novel approach within somatic education – one reflecting on the nature of the creative process in country dance choreography. My primary aim was to trace a distinctive moment when feeling translates into a later communicable thought. In country dance choreography, this is known as the hook. Over the course of two months, I developed my own experiential somatic practice under the guidance of leading dance, science and somatics practitioner-researcher, Dr Glenna Batson. I engaged in this form of embodied practice in order to explore somatics as a method for conducting research as well as aiding in my own creative process as a country dance choreographer. Through the process of anarchiving, harvesting and tracing moments from my somatic experience, I found key correlations and contrasts between somatics and country dance.