Lezione Prof.ssa Eulàlia Polls Camps (Universitat Rovira i Virgili – URV)
19 dicembre 2025, ore 16, Aula G (Ex-vetrerie Sciarra), Via dei Volsci 122
«For every thought supported by feeling, there is a muscle change ... man’s whole body records his emotional thinking». Mabel Elsworth Todd, The Thinking Body (1937)
The theme of Contemporary Dance and Media is presented, starting from Todd’s perspective that the body is not merely a physical object, but a thinking space, capable of recording, manifesting, and transforming thoughts and emotions through movement. The session explores the new theoretical corpus of corporeality, delving into concepts such as the distinction between dance and performance, the relationship between movement and presence, body and corporeality, and the complex connections between time and temporality, as well as space and spatiality. It also examines the metamorphoses in dance and media, highlighting how technology and choreographic experimentation have expanded the boundaries of the body, creating what is called “expanded corporeality.” Key figures such as Merce Cunningham anticipated many contemporary practices that see the body as an active, intelligent, and poetic agent.
Google Meet link: https://meet.google.com/rez-duis-orj
The seminar is part of the lecture series delivered by Eulàlia Polls Camps within the framework of the Erasmus K131 Staff Mobility for Teaching programme, taking place at the Department of SARAS from 15 to 19 December 2025, in collaboration with Claudio Zambianchi’s Bachelor’s degree programme in Contemporary Art History.