Dr Kerrie Reading reflects on the Embodied Voices Conference.
Last month, I had the opportunity to attend and present at the Embodied Voices Conference, hosted at the University of Warwick. The conference is part of the Embodied Voices Network, an interdisciplinary initiative that brings together philosophers, performance scholars, and practitioners to explore the multifaceted relationships between embodiment, voice, and global perspectives on performance.
At the conference, I presented some early-stage research focused on the concept of the performer-witness and the potential of creating work within private spaces as a means of re-engaging with one’s body through performance practices.
My research examines how private, often intimate, spaces can serve as a powerful site for the performer – not to showcase work to an external audience, but to deepen their own embodied awareness. I am particularly interested in how this private creative process becomes a space of witnessing the evolving relationship between the body and self, mediated through voice and movement.
This research forms part of a broader project that aims to explore how somatic and performance-based practices can support personal and emotional reconnection. Eventually, I hope to collaborate with women who have experienced sexual trauma, offering them a safe, supportive practice space in which to explore voice and movement as tools for reconnection and self-discovery.
By focusing on private performance processes, the project seeks to prioritize inner experience and embodied presence over external validation or performance outcomes.
Participating in the Embodied Voices Conference was an enriching experience, offering valuable feedback and inspiring dialogue with fellow researchers and artists.
Image: © Russ Basford. Listening to Stravinsky 2014 by Margaret Ames, Aberystwyth University.