The Journal of Dance and Somatic Practices (ISSN 1757-1871) is an international refereed journal published twice a year by . It has been in publication since 2009 for scholars and practitioners whose research interests focus on the relationship between dance and somatic practices, and the influence that this body of practice exerts on the wider performing arts.
In recent years, somatic practices have become more central to many artists’ work and have become more established within educational and training programmes. Despite this, as a body of work it has remained largely at the margins of scholarly debate, finding its presence predominantly through the embodied knowledge of practitioners and their performative contributions.
This journal provides a space to debate the work, to consider the impact and influence of the work on performance and discuss the implications for research and teaching. The journal serves a broad international community and invites contributions from a wide range of discipline areas. Particular features include writings that consciously traverse the boundaries between text and performance, taking the form of ‘visual essays’, interviews with leading practitioners, book reviews, themed issues and conference/symposium reports.
We invite contributions in varied formats. Writing that combines images and illustrations is encouraged, as is reflective writing. Standard articles will be in the range of 4000-6000 words. A more flexible approach may be possible for other formats and styles of submission but contributors need to work within the existing Journal design template (a ) is available on the Intellect website as illustration). If a contributor wants to deviate from the template it must be discussed with the Editor first and prior to submission.
Themes might include:
*The pedagogical philosophy of somatics and how this might be seen to challenge or negate dominant approaches to learning and creativity
*The history of somatic practices
*The current application of somatics to dance/performing arts training and education
*The aesthetic implications of working with/from a somatic understanding
*The ‘body’ as a site of discourse in western culture, the influence of eastern cultures on notions of embodiment and how somatic practices challenge/collude with these ideas.
The deadline has been extended. Submissions should be sent to Hetty Blades by 28th February 2016
Please see for further information about the journal.