pause, presence, public: from dance theater to workshop performance

The text discusses the tendency to stillness or dynamic pause in the contemporary scene, as a search for somatic attunement, in an attitude of counter-culture and transformation. In the middle of an empire of signs and simulacra, stillness activates inner flow and collective connections towards presence and creative interaction/integration with the environment. From a historical review, through a theoretical debate (Foster,Lacan, Ferál, Da Costa), till examples of performing arts, visual arts, music, and contemporary life events – such as natural catastrophes and their media repercussions –, we intend to bring upan afterthought about the priorities and the role of the artist-researcher in contemporary times.