A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal
'Bring down the controlled movements!' Exploring the possibilities of and limitations on achieving embodied agency in ballet and fashion
Authors: Suvi Satama, Astrid Huopalainen
Publisher: Routledge
Publication year: 2018
Journal: Culture and Organization
Volume: 24
Issue: 5
First page : 383
Last page: 407
Number of pages: 25
ISSN: 1475-9551
eISSN: 1477-2760
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14759551.2016.1151424
Web address : http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14759551.2016.1151424
This paper explores the subtleties of exercising embodied agency within two contexts shaped by ideals and norms: ballet and fashion. Here, we focus on how dancers and models rehearsing offstage towards onstage performances negotiate their potential and limitations for achieving agency over and over. Whereas a ‘turn to embodiment’ has occurred within organization studies, less is known about how embodied agency is choreographed and practised between visible front stages and ‘hidden’ offstages, or in relation to the various human and nonhuman agents present in the field. The empirical material of this paper is derived from two separate ethnographic studies. By combining insights from the two contexts, we make a joint effort to explore a complex phenomenon in more detail. This paper develops our micro-level understanding of embodied agency as a relational endeavour, and offers insights into the surprisingly ‘a-mobile’ discussion of embodied practices within organization studies.