Performative Somaesthetics: Interconnections of Dancers, Audiences, and Sites

This essay examines an aspect of the performative branch of somaesthetics—triangulated relationships among performers, audiences, and sites. Using this structure, the essay explores somaesthetic approaches to dancer agency, audience experiences, and embodied encounters with sites, as well as unpacking the dynamic relationships between these elements as live performance unfolds. Through theoretical frameworks and two dance case studies—TooMortal (2012) by Shobana Jeyasingh and Dusk at Stonehenge (2009) by Nina Rajarani—the authors draw upon somaesthetic frameworks to explore the holistic comingling of embodied aesthetic appreciation and physical environments.