Physical immersion in water affords a different gravitational state that can change a performer’s perception and affect cognitive knowledge corporeally. As a performer, the body is the main means of expression, and to know in and through the body constitutes embodied knowledge.
I investigate underwater performance as part of a practice-based PhD in performance at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA). Active immersion generates embodied responses so I wish to share the physical and physiological challenges that a performer is exposed to within the liquid environment. In order to be truly expressive, certain embodied skills, like inner verticality, need to be developed to find efficiency and ease of movement in an altered gravitational environment. The creative work derived from this underwater research culminated in a choreography entitled “Blau” for the Link dance company, which explored themes of buoyancy, serene stillness and freedom. Projection of underwater filming and the construction of choreography for the stage were fused to evoke such sensations. The paper outlines these themes to give a sense of the changes in perception gained through the embodiment of new skills.
Keywords: embodiment—underwater—dance—gravity—altered gravitational enviroments—inner verticality—buoyancy
