Dramaturgy

This module focuses on the question of how dance dramaturgy operates within theoretical and practical research. Different conceptualizations will be explored, respecting the inherent polysemy of the field and its different modes of existence within dance and performance practices. The main questions to be addressed are: What is the mode of existence of the dramaturgical function, and what makes it distinctive within contemporary dance creation? How do compositional practices engage in dialogue with the practices developed by dance dramaturgy? How does the dramaturgical function specific to dance operate within the framework of Creation Clinics?

When raising these questions in an academic context, we encounter the difficulty of putting into words what happens in the act of creation, particularly in relation to dramaturgy, which in the field of dance operates in a notably quiet way. This silence acts as a way of protecting the listening that allows thought to emerge from the body; in other words, dramaturgy becomes an interlocutor of embodied thought without seeking to translate it (Naser, 2023).

This approach is part of the doctoral research entitled “Rooted Dramaturgy: The Dramaturgical Function within Dance Creation Clinics from an Ecosophical Perspective” (Sario, 2025).