Vanishing in your face

Area of Science:

• Performing Arts
• Gender Studies
• Cultural Studies

Background:

• Lesbian dance performance faces challenges due to the cultural invisibility of the lesbian body.
• Traditional gender representations in performance create a dichotomy that impacts lesbian representation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze strategies employed by UK-based choreographers to address the invisibility of the lesbian body.
• To examine the use of the invisible, grotesque, and liminal in contemporary lesbian dance performance.
• To identify alternative representational strategies emerging from performance tensions.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of dance performances by three UK-based choreographers: Emilyn Claid, Yael Flexer, and Kate Lawrence.
• Examination of choreographic strategies focusing on the invisible, grotesque, and liminal.
• Exploration of the tension between role and body, public and private spheres in performance.

Main Results:

• Choreographers utilize the invisible, grotesque, and liminal to challenge conventional representations.
• Performance creates tension between established roles and the physical body.
• Tensions between public and private identities are explored, revealing alternative representational possibilities.

Conclusions:

• The strategic use of the invisible, grotesque, and liminal offers pathways for more nuanced lesbian representation in dance.
• Performance tensions highlight the potential for subverting traditional gender and body norms.
• Alternative representational strategies emerge from embracing the complexities of lesbian embodiment and identity in performance.