Through his explorations of the functioning of the human nervous system, particularly the sensory-motor cortex, Thomas Hanna developed Somatic Movement Education which involves a series of movement lessons that address Sensory Motor Amnesia, a term for the loss of clear functioning of a muscle or group of muscles. This paper will discuss the application of this Somatic bodywork and its principles alongside auto-ethnographic research methods in teaching students on the BA in Voice and Dance at the University of Limerick. This course explores the correlations between voice and dance through focusing on the body as the shared instrument of expression, while facilitating students to develop specialist skills in either performance genre.

The Hanna Somatics lessons enable students to address habitual stress patterns which can otherwise limit expressivity and hamper technical skills, both within vocalisation and movement practice. The underlying approach to developing skills is based on Techne rather than technique as outlined by Parviainen (2007) after Heidegger; the former being defined as ‘uncovering or bringing to light’ as opposed to the latter’s characterisation as ‘making or manipulating things’. A focus on embodied awareness is the common thread within the degree and enables singers and dancers alike to develop individually as performers within their chosen genre. Furthermore, the Somatic perspective hones the ability to map experience, thus enabling deep reflection on embodiment, which has led directly into autoethnographic performance research.

A common strand in both the Somatic approach and recent writings on phenomenology by Shaun Gallagher and Dan Zahavi (2008) is the recognition of the way in which each human subject develops uniquely through lived experience. For example, Richard Shusterman (2008) outlines how each individual’s nervous system is formed through the repetition of a favoured range of neural pathways. Similarly, Gallagher and Zahavi (2008) write of the construction of the narrative self, a sense of self that is constantly being updated and revised throughout a lifetime. Auto-ethnographic research training within this degree allows students to delve into elements of creative practice that marry both the Somatic and the narrative approach together within a framework for knowledge that can link their findings to the wider field of theoretical study. This engagement allows the students to imagine an expansive view of self-hood that encompasses embodied experience and personal narrative and to incorporate this viewpoint in the development of their craft.