Breath. Space. Encounter. An interdisciplinary exploration of secular spirituality through the lenses of dance studies and psychoanalysis

Abstract

In our interdisciplinary research tandem of dance studies and psychoanalysis, we explore our ‘access to the world’ by seeking out, shaping, questioning experiential practices and the reading of bodies in these cultural spaces. By integrating conceptual perspectives from psychoanalysis and dance studies as culture theories, we analyse secular spirituality, cultures of consciousness and their bodily practices by employing a phenomenological approach. Here, we emphasize the fundamental, holistic kinaesthetic primacy of our own sensual experience, participation and involvement. We consider spirituality and cultures of consciousness as potentially epistemic practices and examine their modes of staging and their performativity. Linking this approach to a phenomenology of consciousness necessitates including the experiential character of spiritual practices in our analysis, focusing on how these practices manifest themselves. This conceptual investigation can be applied in the analysis of bodily practices and modes of performance that reactively engage, at least respond to or try to influence the current global state of crises such as mindfulness exercises, meditation practices or secular rituals, implying the possibility of moral attitude and social action. The combination of psychoanalytic exploration and embodied dance practice establishes the foundation for an ‘honest spirituality’ free from illusion or avoidance. It calls for a confrontation with psychological and physical realities while considering the broader impact of one’s actions on others.