Duquesne Studies in Phenomenology
Abstract
As part of their professional practice, dancers allow their affectivity to enhance their kinesthetic work. Their intentional and disciplined use of personal, emotional resources ensures both creativity, interpretation, absorption, and connections in ways that extend beyond the traditional phenomenological understanding of affectivity as pre-reflectively based. The affective regulations dancers employ can be seen as an “artistic epoché,” and their layered performance awareness corresponds with Edmund Husserl’s descriptions of “image-consciousness.” Through qualitative interviews with three professional dancers, phenomenological theory, and additional supportive literature, this article shows how affectivity can be experienced through high-order levels of Leib, constituting states of “bodily reflective” consciousness. The dancers’ primary goal in these efforts is to foster meaningful and artistic communication with their audience.
Recommended Citation
Buttingsrud, C. S. (2025). Emotions as Work Material: On Dancers' Refined Use of Affectivity. Duquesne Studies in Phenomenology, 5 (1). Retrieved from https://dsc.duq.edu/dsp/vol5/iss1/8
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Aesthetics Commons, Art Practice Commons, Continental Philosophy Commons, Fine Arts Commons, History of Philosophy Commons, Other Philosophy Commons, Other Theatre and Performance Studies Commons, Performance Studies Commons, Philosophy of Mind Commons, Psychology Commons
