Contribution short abstract:

This paper explores reciprocity as an epistemological/methodological approach in ethnographic research on disability performing arts. It highlights the potential of bridging gaps between academia and the field, words and bodies, and practice and theory, particularly for non-performer ethnographers.

Contribution long abstract:

As a non-dancer, non-disabled anthropologist who has worked for over a decade in the field of disability dance and theater, colleagues often ask me whether my relationships with interlocutors involve dynamics of power or exploitation. In my experience, the reality of these interactions with artists and creators is far more nuanced and grounded in mutual respect.

In this presentation, I reflect on why this is the case and explore the textual and non-textual methodological practices rooted in reciprocity, respect, and relationality. By examining these conditions, I aim to illuminate the frameworks that foster ethical and meaningful collaboration in ethnographic research within the performing arts.

Bringing together methodological reflections from the fields of (1) disability culture, (2) sensory ethnography, and (3) Indigenous performing arts, I propose two key ways in which reciprocity was developed in my fieldwork. First, through sensuous and kinesthetic relationality, I reflect on "movement" as a category that profoundly impacts our lived experiences and scholarly insights. Second, through intellectual reciprocity, I explore collaborations with interlocutors who occupy "knowledge creation" roles, such as choreographers and creators—individuals who, in many ways, function as researchers within their own practice.

Textual practices, such as shared WhatsApp groups, combined with non-textual practices like audio messages and collaborative aural public presentations, as well as shared bodily involvement in research creation, will be discussed. These approaches offer new pathways for rethinking the role of the body and the senses within the anthropology of performance in general and disability culture specifically.