The embodied politics of intention, therapeutic intervention and artistic practice

This paper muses on the embodied politics of touch, both corporeal and vocal, in somatic psychotherapy. Building on a personal observation that both body psychotherapist and performing artists might openly reengage with political value systems, the article suggests some potential pathways for doing so. It is suggested that the refined touch quality inherent in the work of Gerda Boyesen (1985) might be cross-applied to socially interventionist performance-making. The idiom of contemporary performance (with particular reference to extended voice and singing) is explored as an example of where potential political synergies between physical and vocal gesture, therapeutic practice, and performing with an audience might emerge.