Spectatorship and Physical Empathy in Postmodern Dance

This study elucidates how the body works in tandem with the feeling of empathy by considering the relationship between dancer and spectator in the works of Yvonne Rainer, a key figure in postmodern dance that emerged in the United States in the 1960s.<br> Postmodern dancers/choreographers are known for introducing everyday movement and improvisation to dance to rebel against the conventional styles, which gave weight to stories and expression of feelings. Among them, Rainer, in particular, was consciously focused on the relationship between the dancers, who were being watched, and the spectators, who were watching them. This study considers the works of Rainer to be against the passive spectatorship assumed by current discussions on empathy and the history of dance. Furthermore, it defines the types of empathy, such as physical empathy, which was extracted by discovering differences between the self and others.<br> At a time when media gave the Vietnam War massive coverage, seeing the bodies of others became an ethical issue. Rainer considered seeing oneself as the activeness of spectators and explored the distance between them and dancers by exposing their voyeuristic desires or imposing physical loads on them. This practice demonstrates a moment for arousing physical empathy, which brings back the body into a relationship with others.