What is Proprioception:
Proprioception is our body awareness sense. This sense enables us to feel where our body parts are relative to each other (without using our visual sense). Our proprioceptive neural sensors are deep in our muscles, tendons, and joints. This sense is activated especially when we are leaning, grounding, jumping, leveraging, compressing, weight sharing, or doing any other activities that activate our joints and muscles. This sense can also be used to feel where your partner’s body is in space relative to you. The proprioceptive sense varies in perception from one person to another and every dancer needs to calibrate to their partner’s proprioception capabilities (See pillar 15. Bridging).
The Purpose of Proprioception:
Dancers use their proprioceptive sense to physically negotiate their and their partner’s bodies through space. Proprioception also allows dancers to feel how their bodies affect each other. By developing this sense a dancer can feel where their partner’s feet are on the floor, and how they’re moving relative to each other. They can sense where and how the energy they send into their partner’s body is integrated.
Why Proprioception Matters:
Proprioception enables dancers to feel and match each other’s physical connection, tone, and frame. An attuned proprioceptive sense gives dancers very fine control in leading and following. Using proprioception dancers can send and receive precise amounts of energy for exact placement of their feet, center of weight, axis, and other elements. Proprioception is also usually faster and more reliable than sight.
Concepts for further exploration within Proprioception include:
- Sensing Your Partner’s Body (feet, weight, movements)
- Moving safely with eyes closed
- Moving through the shared center
- Sending precise Impetus and energy into your partner to create movement
- Seek
- Projection
- Presence
- Compression Based Frame
- Leverage Based Frame
- Connection, Tone, and Frame Matching