Intercorporeal Togetherness: Live Arts and Embodied Poiesis

In the realm of collaborative improvisation, adept performers undergo a profound state of embodied coordination, affective openness, and shared spatiotemporal awareness, engendering a palpable sense of “togetherness.” This phenomenon unfolds through an intensified bodily focus, particularly evident during the transitions from an individual, first-person perspective to a collective one, thereby disrupting the conventional boundaries between self and others. The TACo Collective delves into this intricate aspect of the performing arts, challenging conventional aesthetic and intra-cerebral approaches in favor of a more embodied, sense-based exploration. Our perspective advocates for a heightened emphasis on cultivated bodily awareness, encompassing elements of proprioceptive-kinesthetic understanding, expressive experiences, and affective resonance. This, coupled with dynamic processes such as the deliberate location and transmission of bodily energy, significantly contributes to the cultivation of shared attention and the facilitation of creative reflection. Our ongoing work proposes that the phenomenon of intercorporeal togetherness in the live arts serves as a promising frontier for the intersection of relational and enactive cognitive science. In doing so, it unveils novel insights into nonverbal communication and interbodily intersubjectivity within artistic contexts.