Sexual fantasies on the dance floor: Sensoriality between strangers in Contact Improvisation

Vionnet, Claire (22 July 2020). Sexual fantasies on the dance floor: Sensoriality between strangers in Contact Improvisation (Unpublished). In: Panel "Post-love intimacies: owning, having or sharing the pleasures of the human body", EASA European Association of Social Anthropologists. EASA European Association of Social Anthropologists. July 21-24.

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Currently undertaking a multi-sited ethnography on the production of intimacies in Contemporary Dance in Montreal, Paris and Dakar, I’ve been investigating the articulation between intimacy, sexuality and erotism. The dance floor is a libidinal catharsis, functioning as a metaphor in which people can “play” out their sexual fantasies. Particularly within the Contact Improvisation scene, practitioners develop physical intimacies with people from different generations, genders and cultures, flirting with the boundaries of sexuality. The proximity between bodies generates sensoriality between strangers. In big cities like Montreal and Paris, contact improvisation works as an exchange platform for singles to claim freedom, and reject sexual exclusivity. Temporary bodily pleasures become more important than commitment into a routinized relationship, reinforcing the fantasy of romantic love inherited from 18th century literature (Alain de Botton 2009). The dance floor provides a sensorial space (touch, in contact with the whole body, caress) in which singles can fulfill their longing for touch and intimacy. The dance floor’s romances can extend to daily life and turn into love affairs. In Montreal, the Contact Improvisation scene is closely linked to Cozy practice: romantic collective evenings of sensorial bath and massage. This shows a diversification of ways of relating with others, generating more physical connections (with strangers). Intimacy is redefined beyond the classical private/public dichotomy. Contact Improvisation and Cozy events underline the oscillation of the contemporary subjectivity between autonomy and connectivity: a fear of alienation, simultaneously a neediness for intimacy (Marar 2012, 6).

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