Katsojan läsnäolo esityksessä

Tasapainoilua intentioiden välillä

Authors

  • Saara Moisio

Abstract

In this article, I analyse the ways contemporary dance spectators describe achieving and not achieving presence in performances. The analysis is based on interview material collected from 21 viewers of contemporary dance in three different case studies. I focus on examining the metaphors repeated in the speech of the interviewees, which they use to describe expectations, satisfaction, or dissatisfaction in performance experiences. In the interpretation of the material, I use the concepts of sensorimotor understanding, kinaesthetic resonance, and affective framing from theories of the embodied mind. I show how, from the audience’s perspective, presence is something that is expected from performances and what spectators aim to achieve when attending them. I suggest that presence is essentially influenced by the balancing of the spectator's attention between the different elements of the performance. In the end, presence depends on how the spectator recognizes the intentions of the performers, anticipates them, and adapts their own intentions to them.

Author Biography

Saara Moisio

Dr. Saara Moisio completed her PhD at the University of Helsinki for theater research in January 2022. In her dissertation, she studied the dynamics of value formation in contemporary dance in viewer experiences. Along with her research, she has taught the theory and practice of audience research as well as working life and project courses at the University of Helsinki for art research students. Moisio has written articles and reviews about performing arts for e.g. Liikekieli.com and Mustekala online magazines, Teatteri ja Tanssi + Sirkus magazine and niin & näin a philosophical magazine. Currently, she works as a communications planner at IHME Helsinki, the contemporary art commissioning agency. Moisio is interested in enabling, supporting and exploring the meeting between contemporary art and audiences.

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Published

2023-03-08

How to Cite

Moisio, S. (2023). Katsojan läsnäolo esityksessä: Tasapainoilua intentioiden välillä. Näyttämö ja tutkimus, 9, 69–88. Retrieved from https://journal.fi/teats/article/view/127613