Pedagogy of living and feeling. The educational action of ‘body-theatre’

This article contributes to the reflection on the body as an active and living subject of theatrical and paratheatrical practice, as observed in the pedagogical research of ‘embodied education’. Educational experience, rooted in aesthetic and performative action, is nourished by Dewey's theory of experience (1934, 1938), thereby bringing unity to educational and aesthetic experience. If experience can generally be said to relate to the reciprocal interaction of the individual with nature, punctuated by the rhythm of life itself - the heart beating, the flowing of the tides, the cycle of the seasons – then in the laboratory practice under investigation in this article, 'exercise' and thus aesthetic and performative practice can be considered to assume the form of “body-theatre” (Corps-théâtre, Nancy, 2010). Embedded in its potential for experiential knowledge, as awakened through memory and listening, the body becomes the agent of a transformative action towards the unfolding of an encounter with both the self and the other.

Il presente contributo propone una riflessione sul corpo quale soggetto attivo e vivente della pratica teatrale e parateatrale, così come osservato nella ricerca pedagogica di ‘embodied education’. Quest’esperienza educativa, radicata nell’azione estetica e performativa, si nutre della teoria dell’esperienza di Dewey (1934, 1938), restituendo unità all’esperienza educativa ed estetica. Se l’esperienza, in generale, riguarda l’interazione reciproca dell’individuo con la natura, scandita dal ritmo proprio della vita stessa - il battito del cuore, la danza della marea, la cadenza delle stagioni – nella pratica laboratoriale in oggetto, ‘l’esercizio’ e dunque la pratica estetica e performativa si fanno corpo teatro (Corps-théâtre, Nancy, 2010). Immerso in una possibilità di conoscenza esperienziale, risvegliato nella memoria e nell’ascolto, il corpo diviene agente di un’azione trasformativa per l’accadere di un incontro con sé e con l’altro.