A Somatic Investigation of the Cyborg
This thesis investigates the role of somatic practices, particularly Alexander Technique, Bartenieff Fundamentals, and Body-Mind Centering, in the fabrication of a cyborg through the universalization of experience and neutralization of the body. Key questions examine the intercultural and gender-political complications of somatic practices and the possible monocultural approach to somatic pedagogy created by the common-thread search for "the universal," "the humanistic," or "the biological." The first chapter examines each somatic practice's portrayal of the body and the body experience, the second works to investigate the creation of a cyborg from the universalization of somatic practice, and the final chapter incorporates additional engagement with these ideas through movement in the rehearsal and performance spaces. Rhetoric around this subject is messy, so investigation in a language that transcends linguistic shortcomings was necessary and important.