Perceiving Bodies. Experiences of Contemporary Dance Spectators in Mexico City

Abstract

This article communicates some of the experiences that the spectators of various contemporary dance proposals in Mexico City expressed in interviews. These testimo- nies give an account of the vitality that contemporary dance can transmit to its viewers, but also of the narratives and reinventions that dance can promote and that these audiences proj- ect, rework, and invent. The testimonies are analyzed from the phenomenological and signifi- cant perspective, at the same time, provided by the reflection on somatic perception of the anthropologist Thomas Csordas. Topics such as feelings, the lived and expected body are ad- dressed, as well as the novel narratives that the spectators extract from the dance witnessed, which tell us about the socio-political situations experienced in the recent years prior to AMLO's triumph. What I am interested in highlighting in this article is the emotional and kinesthetic experience that is manifested in the bodies of the spectators who perceive the dance in person.