Dancing identities: How dancers' embodied knowledge underscores creative methods in contemporary dance-making

This chapter outlines how dancers’ accumulated knowledge and skills are intrinsic to the contemporary dance-making process, and proposes that the role of dancer produces forms of embodied knowledge that enable creative collaboration in choreographic practice. The chapter maps the precarious field of dance-making for independent dancers, exploring the origins of current approaches to producing contemporary dance and how this precarious milieu shapes dancers’ development of a moving identity or signature way of moving. Drawing on interviews with independent dancers to articulate the nuanced skills they develop and utilise in creative processes, the text presents key insights for framing dancing as a knowledge-producing creative endeavour. This highlights how the rich contributions of dancers permeate the material of the dance work, extending their influence well beyond the parameters of how they dance.