Dance as therapy: embodiment, kinesthetic empathy and the case of contact improvisation

Abstract

Dance as a form of expression of the embodied consciousness has been a part of phenomenological considerations for some decades now, thanks to key works such as those by Sheets-Johnstone. However, the possible applications of dance and the phenomenological consideration of the consciousness of the dancing subject in treatments that are thought to refer to bodily ruptures, such as the ones we find when considering alimentary disorders, is yet an area rather unexplored. This is precisely the general topic and the first approach that I propose in this article from the consideration of notions such as embodiment, habit, and body image, notions that are imminently phenomenological taken from the works of Merleau-Ponty, and from the consideration of contact improvisation as a way to overcome the ruptures that become evident in the tactile bodily feeling of the subject with alimentary disorders.