Introduction
What follows is an analytical and descriptive text of a new embodied method that has been developing in Athens, Greece for the past decade. I felt obliged to include as many quotes as possible from affected participants who put a lot of effort in trying to find the correct words to express their tacit and intangible experiences. The timing of the quotes range between ‘on-the-day of the experience’ to ‘a-week-after the experience’. Transcribing the exact words of the participants has been crucial in this article as it is a very personal moment when one feels either that they have been taken care of, that they have taken care of someone else, that they have cured or bettered the life of someone else or that they have had a personal realisation of how they acquired new audiovisual knowledge. As ethnologist Jeanne Favret-Saada writes on being affect-ed: «The process of understanding is spread out in time and disjointed: in the instant one is the most affected, one cannot recount the experience. In the moment when it is recounted, one cannot understand it. The time for analysis comes later» (2012: 440).
This article recounts experiences about the non-verbal, sonic-kinetic curriculum designed for a mixed group of people who either have not been diagnosed with some sort of disability or may belong in the wide spectrum of sensory disability, specifically within the conditions of deafness (including congenital deafness and hard of hearing), blindness (including congenital blindness and retinitis pigmentosa), and deafblindness (including usher syndrome). Analyses and feedback for evaluation have been accumulated by organising focus group meetings (Massey 2011) in an attempt to share common lived experiences from different ability-perspectives, as well as implemented blended techniques of self-confrontation interviews and stimulated recall from video film of the initial action (Bailey et al 1970; Danet 1968; Fazion 2016; Gore et al 2012). In the past three CONNECTING BODY annual workshops, founder, Yiota Peklari, has asked me to assist her both in my capacity as a body musician and a dance anthropologist. Within this collaboration, we analysed a lot of the material created within the method, care-fully structured our group sessions, and thoughtfully curated group talks, final showcases, open-ended interviews and more.
After having experienced a moment of transformation, no matter how small it might be, and the affect it has had on oneself or others, it is important to think of how these personal experiences, explorations and transformations become a political act of collective agency and equity. By setting the scene for a group to come together in non-verbal communication and explore mechanisms to connect with each-other in ways they had never attempted before, has in turn its own effect of making a small political ripple in the way inclusivity in and out of the arts is being conceived and articulated in everyday life. In a politically turbulent environment in Greece where many protests and riots take place on a daily basis against political choices of the current right-wing political party in power, talking about inclusivity in the arts and in life cannot be unlinked to the overall sentiment of exclusion that people with disabilities feel in everyday situations, let alone in independent artistic opportunities that have not adapted to be inclusive. It must be mentioned that up to date there has been only one deaf person admitted in (2018) and graduated from (2021) the National School of Dance in Greece. Most recently, the nation went through a 3 month conflict between the state and the professional artists unions.
The Presidential Decree 85/2022 of December 17th 2022 downgrades the professional artistic degrees to that of a highschool degree. This sudden announcement right before the Christmas holidays resulted in a series of protests from artistic unions, including the Disabled Artist Movement. What followed was a series of occupations throughout the country by students and workers in the arts of public and private dance and drama higher education institutions, the suspension of duties of many educational boards, as well as multiple pending appeals at the Council of State for the unconstitutionality of the decree. What interrupted the powerful artistic movement was the tragic Tempe Valley train crash on February 28th where at least 57 passengers were killed, making it the greatest railway disaster in Greek history (BBC News,2023) and revealing that two weeks prior to the deadly event, The European Commission had referred Greece to the Court of Justice of the European Union for failure to comply and fulfill its obligations with european directives on railway transport (European Commission,2023). The overall sentiment of mistrust and negligence of citizens’ needs is ongoing and it is a common practice for initiatives of empowerment and equity towards people with disabilities to be a slow and underfunded process by private institutions and/or individuals. Due to the delays in vast developments of the disability rights movement in Greece it becomes apparent that organisations aiming to support and empower people with disabilities are struggling with engaging the group of people in focus with other populations, whether the latter belong to other disability groups or not. It therefore goes without saying that a discussion about inclusivity and agency in dance, music and beyond is at the same time a discussion about political choices, critiques, community ethics, and active citizenship (Reed 1998).
About CBm and inclusive dance
The CONNECTING BODY method (CBm) focuses on Body Music (Terry 1984), a non-verbal language of coexistence and communication that relies exclusively on the voice and body movement to produce music. It is a contemporary, musical, artistic movement that was established in San Francisco in the late 1970s by its founder and percussionist/rhythm dancer, Keith Terry, and is extremely popular within a wide audience range, from the fields of music, dance, and theater, while at the same time it is used as a learning tool in North American schools of modern education (Bulut 2011). Body Music has been developing as an artistic and educational tool but never as a source of knowledge that can build new knowledge upon its ownership by a group of people who may lack the exact senses that the art form was built upon (hearing and sight). Its worldwide but ethical dissemination has managed to be owned by the CONNECTING BODY participants by whom has emerged a new language of communication, deep interaction and play. Although its application is said to have some therapeutic elements, its initial intent has been to empower, offer agency and equity to its members.
CBm follows recent neuroscience findings that exceed the outdated mind-body duality and relies on the human brain’s somato-cognitive action network (SCAN) whereby it has been proven that humans have both elements of body control and action planning in the same part of their brain. That makes it easier for people to receive codes of knowledge absorption exclusively through motion and non-verbally. «The SCAN integrates body control (motor and autonomic) and action planning, consistent with the idea that aspects of higher-level executive control might derive from movement coordination. […]The finding that action and body control are melded in a common circuit could help explain why mind and body states so often interact» (Gordon et al. 2023).
The curriculum and values of CBm create a safe and supportive atmosphere in which the body is empowered, resonates and coordinates, gains self-confidence and each member feels visible, important and equal, resulting in the development of communication and cohesion in the group while creating strong bonds and long-lasting friendships between people with or without different disabilities. CBm strives for the equal leadership of people with disabilities in contemporary artistic currents, applies collaborative methods for creating groups, and encourages centers-spaces-places to actively participate in art-ivism.
The main protagonist of CBm is Yiota Peklari, a performer, choreographer and educator who has developed an intense interest, which has led to her specialisation, on sound visualisation. Peklari has been majorly influenced by her involvement as collaborator of the International Body Music Festival since 2011 directed by Keith Terry. Peklari’s research on the movement-sound connection began in 2012 in the form of the ‘Visualizing Sound’ workshop, which traveled to many countries around the world. Her multidisciplinary studies (ballet and contemporary dance, flamenco, body music) and over 25 years of teaching experience helped her create her own teaching method. Since 2018, she has been leading mixed groups of people with or without hearing and/or visual disability, designing and implementing inclusive workshops of CBm. The method has been supported by the Greek Ministry of Culture, the Lighthouse for the Blind of Greece, the Hellenic Retina Society, the Educational and Social Activities of the National Opera of Greece and has created multiple performances, one video dance (2020, LINK), the first Greek fully accessible documentary (2021, LINK), and one short dance film (2023, LINK).
Reflecting on the difficulties and obstacles that occurred upon the development of the method, one can find a range of practical to more nuanced restrictions that Peklari and myself had to surpass. Beginning fieldwork and a mapping process of the communities in question often came with small waves of disappointment and discouragement. Having had very small involvement in the disability rights movement of Greece in the past, we were not known in the communities and their organised institutions which resulted in an initial mistrust and lack of swift communication. By gradually understanding the participants’ needs, we shifted towards a more activistic approach and interest in the disability rights in Greece. We began to attend related conferences, festivals and assemblies while supporting local artistic initiatives by mixed groups. Peklari created fully accessible audiovisual material of our final shows while she is concluding her studies in the greek sign language and audio description of films.
From time to time, CONNECTING BODY sessions have been ambushed by various representatives of other disability groups in an attempt to put pressure on the fact that inclusive practices should be open towards all disabilities at once and not only on blindness and deafness. These encounters have led to very fruitful conversations regarding the all-inclusive aspect of recent discourses in relation to demographically focused practices. For example, does an intergenerational project mean that there no longer should be activities only for kids or exclusively for seniors? Similarly, does an open level class invitation erase the existence of beginners and advanced courses? CONNECTING BODY began with a focus on abilities related to sight and hearing due to the artistic intersection of Body Music. However, extending the method towards kinetic disabilities would be a very interesting development which would need many more years of research and practice.
On Body Music and curing
Within the wider spectrum of percussive dances, Body Music has established itself as a separate “school” of practice around the world by percussionist, rhythm dancer and educator, Keith Terry. Performers, educators, therapists and any combination of those have been taught by Terry or have participated in his International Body Music Festival, a global celebration of percussive dance with specialists in the genres of tap dance, flamenco, kecak, bharatanatyam, stepping, polyphonic singing, Appalachian footwork, and many more. Terry’s well-structured teaching material has been disseminated in every part of the world and has been generously offered to educators to continue spreading the technique. The CONNECTING BODY workshop and method has focused on different “chapters” of Terry’s curriculum and artistic practice, such as his well-known Rhythm Blocks, Body Tjak, and various phasing exercises. What follows is a series of two exercises that proceed one another, after participants have been familiarised with Keith Terry’s Rhythm Blocks. It is important to note that most of the exercises are often used as performance material which is co-produced by all participants.
The Tactile-phone
Participants stand behind each other in a line, facing the back of each other at a reachable distance. The last person in the back begins to “draw” a tactile design on the back of the person in front of them. The tactile message should be clear, with various musical elements such as sharp or more mellow qualities, lighter or deeper touches and space specificity. The following participant “draws” what they felt on the next person’s back and so on. The final person in front expresses the message received on their back in a combined sonic-kinetic way and is then compared to what was originally expressed from the first person. The ‘body musician’ goes last in line and begins their own ‘tactile phone call’ until every participant has experienced being both the first and the last in line.
The Conductor
Participants are divided into groups of 4. Each one obtains a separate role: the Conductor, the Vocalist, the Mover and the Body Musician. The Conductor designs a musical shape on each team-member’s back. Each of the three “instrumentalists” are given some time to think of how they would interpret the tactile shape in their respective roles: vocally, corporeally, and sonic-kinetically. Once everyone is ready, the Conductor begins to draw the tactile shape in the air while every “instrument” follows in their own element. The same motif is repeated in a loop and at different speeds showcasing the same pattern in a variety of ways: through silent movement, sounding movement and vocally.
Both examples work on sounding the visual, shaping and sounding the silent, moving the static and all the above combined. They enhance people’s ability to improvise in order to “survive” in a group setting, to adapt to the need of any situation, to take risks and to liberate themselves from a simple application of a technique. Knowledge is obtained through actively doing. These abilities are encompassed in what is referred to as tacit knowledge, knowledge concerning action or goal directed action (Gore et al. 2012). Tacit knowledge is not explicitly taught, it is not easy to explain verbally and it is at most experientially achieved. During one of our info sessions I was interested in exploring the experiential way of obtaining knowledge that is offered by body music, where participation is more important than technique and the final performative result.
Below are some quotes from these discussions:
«I remember a movement, where Yiota, was clapping and percussing her chest and she explained how it is more comfortable for her body to adjust in order to perform the rhythm. She twists her torso to reach her palm halfway instead of moving her hand all the way the chest and back to the clap. It was a very useful tip and it was related to practical kinetic knowledge» K.V. (female, late 20s, non-disabled).
«I was looking at the light shimmering in my room at night and I was counting our pulsive rhythm while in bed… po, po, po!» (M.M., early 30s, heard of hearing).
«In one of the polyrhythmic exercises I was completely lost and confused. I said to myself, let me leave my sight and concentrate on my hearing. But it did not work. I was not wearing shoes and that might have helped but I cannot explain what happened more explicitly: I concentrated on feeling my body and just then something started from under my feet and moved up towards the top and then a sudden ‘bam!’ happened and I managed to get in [the rhythmic flow of the exercise]» (K.V., lated 20s, non-disabled).
An important part of the info sessions is when the groundwork is set on language that can be used. Specific terminology on blindness, deafness, disability and any other politically correct language is explained, disclaimed, and un-tabooed. ‘The disabled participants co-shape the inaugural discussion. They explain terms and help the rest to understand that there are no words we should be afraid of. We should all use whatever language is preferred in a more normal and simpler way of treating and dealing with people of sensory disabilities’ (S.S., voluntary intern and dance student, non-disabled).
A care-based collective practice
During one of the final sessions, two blind participants almost bumped into each other. What would normally lead to a sudden scare that they had hit someone, both participants laughed at their odd encounter. Instead of saying something like ‘oops!, sorry!’ and moving on, the first participant took the hands of the second and began to play their rhythm pattern on their chest in a tactile way of identifying who they had bumped into. While they were both smiling, this rhythmic and tactile interaction led to them grabbing on each other’s arms and beginning to waltz in sync.
This relaxed approach to an unforeseen circumstance showed the entire group how, in order to overcome uncomfortable situations or adjust to a surprise, or develop one’s reactive mannerisms, derives from delving into and seeking lived experiences while making them part of one’s ongoing identity formation, as caring practices are practices dealing with identity as an experienced or lived process (Loaiza 2019: 24). Following is an excerpt of a discussion between participants who describe how they had to instantly get out of their comfort zone and gain agency.
O.D. «I had never communicated with a blind person before. I never thought I would be able to do that. I had to try to use my vocal cords, so Ch. B. could hear me and follow my voice. I really enjoyed it. I am a deaf person who never ever vocalises. What happened to me was very important. The time came where I had to attempt to actively participate in the group. I am very conscious of my voice and in that moment I felt like using it!».
V.P. «I agree. I felt the exact same way. The environment cared for my social wellbeing».
Ch. B. «[In the CONNECTING BODY sessions] the role one takes on changes within a group. We [people with disabilities] have gotten used to others taking care of us and having them become as explicit as possible in order for us to understand and communicate with them. It is often the case in a work or social environment that the rest take care while we are passive receivers. But here we also send the message, therefore our role changes. We are (re)acting differently in the physical space we are in, the way we identify ourselves changes, our self-esteem is boosted and our insecurity becomes less. We are not only receivers anymore. [For example,] I had to give a sign to O.D. for when to start the rhythm in sync. [Even though I am blind, I knew that] I had to give her a visual sign that would mean ‘we are entering now’ by rebounding myself more intensively with my arms and full body [embodied interpretation]. It was like saying with my body: Now! Go!. I become the transmitter of the message. I am used to being the receiver but now I am the sender of the information».
Conclusion
The above recounts and descriptions have attempted to explore new ways of belonging in a collective caring and resilient micro-society in Greece, through an innovative method that blends the visual with the sounding through movement and touch. The oxymoron of a european country having remained on outdated practices of passive and receptive tactics towards inclusivity, while lacking at large a true platform for exploration, equity and independent sustainability by people with disability, becomes seriously problematic when the rest of the continent is transforming day by day and at fast pace its empowering approach towards disability. CONNECTING BODY is an interdisciplinary and inclusive method that can contribute to the ongoing steps forward of engaged anthropology, accessible arts, and politics of inclusion. In a country that has just begun to accept disabled artists in the scene, it is a crucial time that this method creates leaders and ambassadors to disseminate the method across their own communities and micro-societies. The next phase that CONNECTING BODY is preparing for in the near future is a series of CBm sessions in Greek music schools led by the group participants. In Greece, music schools are the only non-disability schools that accept blind students on a highschool level. CBm will proceed by developing a network of schools interested in mixed-ability practices that will host the new and upcoming trainers of the method. Its potential development in the near future can be located in the bottom-up procedures that it follows and at the same time establish itself as a combined ‘community-based transformational sustainability research and practice’ (Maida and Beck 2016: 3) which manages to shift one’s identification in a group not because of who they are but because of what they practice. This emphasis on the action-based element of identity construction leads to its ongoing process through practice. If one identifies with a group based on what they practice and they do it for a long period of time, what they practice can become a part of who they are.
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Natasa Chanta-Martin uses dance to approach music and promotes cross-cultural dialogue through the performing arts. She specializes in dance anthropology and focuses on percussive dances. She collaborates with choreographers, artistic dance and theater groups, educational institutions, and music groups, as researcher, artist, producer and trainer. Her recent work focuses on the inclusivity of the arts for people with disabilities.