Shaun Mcleod

Chamber: Dance Improvisation, Masculine Embodiment, and Subjectivity Shaun Mcleod

Chamber is an examination of the links between dance improvisation, embodiment and subjectivity, which began as a response to difficulties in defining masculine identity. This beginning was a recognition, made possible by feminist explorations of gender identity, that historically the idea and construct of masculinity has been assumed as the norm and therefore unworthy of attention, effectively rendering it invisible. The choreographic component of Chamber was a bid at pinpointing a small space within the landscape of masculinity, by using the subjectively experienced nature of improvisation. Focusing on the experiences of male dancers, it functioned by isolating, defining and problematizing what is otherwise taken for granted. This book is the shadowing of that performance, reflecting on its creation and theoretical implications. It aims to align men with embodiment and to define their bodily practices in a specific way so as to illuminate alternatives to the authoritative but limited representations of hegemonic masculinity.