The ''Female'' Dancer aims to question dancers- relationships with -female- through the examination and understandings of biological, anatomical, scientific, and self-social identity. The volume gathers voices of dance scientists, dance scholars, somatic practitioners, and dance artist-educators, to discuss some of the complexities of identities, assumptions and perceptions of a female dancing body in an intersectional and practically focused manner.
The book weaves a journey between scientific and somatic approaches to dance and to dancing. Part I: Bodily Knowledge explores body image, hormones and puberty, and discussions around somatic responses to the concept of the gaze. Part II: Moving through Change, continues to look at strength, musculature, and female fragility, with chapters interrogating practice around strength training, the dancer as an athlete, the role of fascia, the pelvic floor, pregnancy and post-partum experiences and eco-somatic perc
