Paper Short Abstract:

This interactive session will explore connections between embodied practices in craft and theatre training. Theatrical somatic practices can be used by craft researchers to prepare the body for ethnographic encounters and to help students take in information and skills through embodied learning.

Paper Abstract:

Tacit knowledge and bodily practice are emphasized in the study of craft, and ethnographers researching craft may learn by doing, producing written works informed by their bodily experiences, not just the words of their interlocutors. However, craft studies is not the only field that highlights and utilizes embodied ways of teaching and learning – theatre studies also centres them.

The two fields share many ideas and modalities separated by differing vocabularies and techniques used to actualize them. Craftspeople refine physical movements so that they can repeat them with nuance and skill, develop intimate familiarity with tools, and investigate the creative possibilities of materials through manipulating them and observing which processes produce interesting results. In theatre training, the body is approached as the primary tool or medium through which actors practice their craft. Somatic practices, techniques used in actor training and theatre practice, include exercises in breathing, vocal control, and prescribed movements and gestures that promote an understanding of the embodiment of character. By engaging in these practices, actors are able to better utilize tacit knowledge, stay emotionally and physically safe when using the body to represent powerful emotions, and promote deeper understanding of their instrument – the body.

These somatic practices can also help craft researchers prepare the body for ethnographic encounters and help students take in information and skills through embodied learning. In this session, we will explore and demonstrate some of the possibilities they offer, including an opportunity for attendees to engage in embodied learning through somatic practices.