Creative Practice and Embodied Knowledge
A research collective that aims to celebrate and elevate knowledge that exists and emerges from our creative, embodied interactions and experiences.
The Creative Practice and Embodied Knowledge Research Group draws on research from (but is not limited to) the fields of dance, performing arts, music, theatre, creative writing and interdisciplinary artmaking.
Through the enmeshed, intermingling of ideas across and through domains it is concerned with the diverse forms of knowledge which reside in our practising, moving, creative bodies and aims to find ways in which this can be explored and shared across different disciplines and contexts.
The participants embrace collaborative dialogue and shared exchange working in post disciplinary spaces; unknowing and uncertainty are central components of speculative research enquiry.
We are interested in pushing at the edges and borders, traversing boundaries, sharing processes and practices, creative play and inventive modes of research enquiry both inside and outside the academy that place creative and embodied knowledge in motion.
Ways of working
The group’s research activities and modes of working explore and respond to pressing socio-political, environmental and economic concerns that inform and shape the conditions in which our research endeavours, creative work and institutional responsibilities are located.
Its working practices and ethos are underpinned by a concern for collegiality, listening with care, decolonisation and shared responsibility as we collectively work to reframe notions of achievement, competition and comparison through practices of speculation, relating otherwise, slowness, and deep listening.
Our activities
The group's activities are open to artists, academics and the public, from aligned and unaligned disciplines, who are interested in how different approaches to knowledge production and exchange can inform practices and reflection on creativity, composition, cohabitation, collaboration, porosity and being in the world.
We hope to open discourses around creative practices, what constitutes a body, different and multiple ways of and approaches to embodiment to ‘undiscipline’ bodily knowledges and share insights and experiences across both human and nonhuman domains.
Group co-convenors:
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- Paul Wyse
- Simon Hunt
- Parke Fech
- Susan Sentler
- Anna Heighway
- Vicki Hearne
- Chris Lewis-Smith
- Pete Yelding
- Gather Up Collective
- Neon Dance
Events and performances
Unless otherwise stated, our events are free and open to staff, students and members of the public.
Thursday 4 July 2024, 1-4pm – University Theatre, Bath, BA2 9BA
- A practical workshop led by Laïla Diallo, drawing on Laïla’s interest in a practice of attention as a choreographic and performance tool.
- Through simple movement tasks we will notice what we are listening to, explore how we might hold both individual agency and common purpose, and how we negotiate togetherness and difference.
What can we learn, in moving together, about how we make decisions, how we listen, how we can move others and be moved by them (in all the ways)?
This workshop is open to anyone curious to engage in movement explorations and with choreographic ideas. There is no need for formal dance training. It will be playful. We will walk, stand in stillness, and move as we like. We will notice what emerges from our moving together and alongside, and share some of this with one another.
The session will be practical but there will also make space for reflection and conversation.
If you'd like to attend, book now.
Wednesday 3 July 2024, 7.30pm – University Theatre, Bath Spa University, Bath, BA2 9BN
- Being River delves into the embodiment of identity and the entanglement between professionally trained dancing bodies and cutting-edge technologies, including virtual reality, motion capture, real-time interaction and sensors.
- This innovative performance explores the concept of intercultural identity and transcultural experiences, metaphorically represented through the inherent qualities of a river – fluidity, continuous movement and adaptability.
- By merging the artistry of dance with advanced technological interventions, Being River prompts audiences to reflect on the dynamic and ever-changing nature of identity.
This research project raises intriguing questions: How do we navigate and embrace changes in our lives? How can we flow through life’s twists and turns with grace and resilience? How do body memories influence the process of creating technology-involved dance compositions?
Zhi Xu is a choreographer, dancer, researcher and Senior Lecturer in Dance at Bath Spa University. He completed a PhD focusing on dance technology and cultural identity at Brunel University London in 2021. As a choreographer and dancer, he has created more than 20 works touring world-wide in China, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Canada, Belgium, Malaysia and Israel.
Monday 24 June 2024, 1.30pm-3.30pm – Bath Spa University, Bath, BA2 9BN
Meeting Point: Outside the University Theatre, Newton Park Campus.
- This workshop involves walking, drawing and moving with trees. Starting from the University Theatre, participants will follow a creative 'tree walk' route around Newton Park.
- Led by Vicky and Rosie, participants will engage with the trees and the walking route through a series of tasks involving drawing, moving, pausing and reflecting on experiences and encounters gathered along the way.
The walk will culminate in a movement workshop in the dance studio where we will draw on the walk to create a collaborative movement ‘score’ for participants to collectively engage in and share their experiences of the day’s events. No specialist dance or movement experience is required – this workshop is inclusive, adaptable and open to all.
Loose comfortable clothing and trainers or stout walking shoes are recommended. Please bring water, sunscreen and waterproofs as required, and a notebook and pen. Please bring snacks and refreshments as required.
This event is free but places are limited to a maximum of 25 people. To reserve your place please book here.
Workshop leaders:
- Vicky Hunter is a Professor in Site Dance at Bath Spa University and formerly head of the MA Choreography Programme at the University of Chichester. Her site-specific dance research examines the body’s engagement with space and place through considering bodily, spatial and kinetic engagements with environments. Vicky has produced a number of site dance performance works and a book publication: Site, Dance and Body: Movement, Materials and Corporeal Engagement (2021).
- Rosie Montford is a Bath-based artist. Her practice explores the dialogue between walking and drawing, seeking out landscapes from which she can physically combine disciplines to work across printmaking, drawing and bookmaking. She is a member of The Sussex Guild, The London Print Studio, The Walking Artists Network and participated in: Made of Walking: La Romieu,France (2017), Plant(e)scape : Akamas, Cyprus (2018) and Walking Bodies: Greece(2019).
Friday 21 June 2024, 2pm-4pm – UT.113, Bath Spa University, Bath, BA2 9BA
- A workshop to explore the relationships between movement, sound and sensing presence using Sonic Dancer, an innovative technology created by Silvia and Swen.
- In this workshop we will look into the trajectory of Sonic Dancer, its initial concept, design and applications.
- We will explore ideas of becoming a soundscape and how the technology can amplify how we sense self, others and the technology itself.
- You will be invited to move and explore Sonic Dancer. You don’t need to be a dancer. This workshop is open to all. There will be space to reflect together at the end.
Sonic Dancer is an innovative creative technology project aiming to develop human connection and interaction through movement and sound when physical presence is not possible.
Silvia Carderelli–Gronau is a movement artist and dance-movement therapist. She has been consolidating her practice and research in somatics, embodiment, improvisation, relational practices (Ensemble and Contact Improvisation) and the dialogue with creative technologies, and is interested in how they can support/enhance human experiences. Silvia is a resident at The Studio in Bath and a member of The Creative Practice and Embodied Knowledge Research Group at Bath Spa University.
Swen E. Gaudl is a Senior Lecturer of Interaction Design at the University of Gothenburg and Computer Science Lecturer at the University of Plymouth. He is interested in human behaviour and agent design. He works with novel interaction mechanisms to engage users from various also non technical backgrounds; this includes robotic movement expression for social signals such as using auditory information to identify users.
Friday 14 June 2024, 3pm-5.30pm – BSU Studio ANG.01, Bath, BA2 9BA
- The Dancing Otherwise AHRC network is delighted to welcome movement practitioners Melanie Kloetzel (Canada) and Marisol Paulina Vargas (Chile) to Bath Spa University for this open level site-based movement session (no prior dance experience required).
- The event will be facilitated by Vicky Hunter, Michelle Elliott and Julia Pond and will involve movement explorations, followed by a group discussion around the network themes, aims and learnings from nature.
Participants will include invited researchers, PGR students, artists and practitioners interested in exploring the themes of 'being otherwise', learning from ecological systems and structures (such as growth, degrowth, and composting), nonhuman and organic ways of organising and relating, learning from nature and the interdisciplinary possibilities that may arise from Pluriversal thinking.
If you are interested in attending this free event, please email the project leads:
You will then receive a password to book your place.
Thursday 21 March 2024, 5-7pm – University Theatre, Bath, BA2 9BA
- A curation of live performance, film and discussion.
- A joint collaboration between Sarah Alexander, Dr Chris Lewis-Smith and Sivan Rubinstein.
- This event is the first in a series of public activities presented by the Creative Practice and Embodied Knowledge Research Group.
As ecological breakdown continues to accelerate. How can we find ways to cope with the information we are receiving, and to share our anxieties? Whether it is through a sense of hope, hopelessness, or somewhere in between, this event provides a space for creative practice as a form of embodied knowledge, greater understanding and awareness, and exchange.
The event will be followed by Sivan Rubinstein’s ‘No Land B’.
Booking is essential – book your place now.
Contact us
If you would like to get in touch with us, please email:
- Michelle Elliott
m.elliott@bathspa.ac.uk - Vicky Hunter
v.hunter@bathspa.ac.uk