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The Embodied Journey of an Idea: An Exploration of Movement Creativity in Circus Arts

Richard, Veronique, Glăveanu, Vlad orcid logoORCID: 0000-0002-6029-6718 and Aubertin, Patrice (2023) The Embodied Journey of an Idea: An Exploration of Movement Creativity in Circus Arts. The Journal of Creative Behavior, 57 (2). 221 -236. ISSN 0022-0175

Abstract
Knowledge about embodied creativity is in its infancy. In circus arts, performers are nowadays ‘owning’ their creativity making this performance domain fruitful to study embodied creativity. Building on socio-cultural creativity perspectives and radical embodied cognitive sciences, the current study aimed at exploring movement creativity by tracking the journey of embodied ideas in a Circus School. Specifically, this research questioned how the interactions between actors, audiences, affordances, and actions support the emergence and evolution of movement ideas. A narrative ethnographic research design, gathering process observations in situ, was used to scrutinize the movement ideas generated by student-artists, teachers, and artistic advisors over a 4-month period. Reflexive thematic analysis led to the design of an exhaustive mapping which illustrates the key findings. Namely, the journey of an embodied idea is influenced by stimulating spaces and collaborative socio-cultural environment which ignite the actors' desire to create. This desire, in turn, unfolds into multiple ideational pathways paved with research strategies (e.g., improvisation, constraints, variability) and emotions (i.e., pleasant and unpleasant). Embodied ideas then go through an assessment process leading (or not) to its growth. Results are discussed in light of embodied, pedagogical, and emotional considerations offering an alternative to the conceptualization of idea.
Metadata
Item Type:Article (Published)
Refereed:Yes
Uncontrolled Keywords:creativity; embodiment; ideas; circus arts; socio-cultural perspectives
Subjects:Social Sciences > Education
Social Sciences > Social psychology
Social Sciences > Sociology
DCU Faculties and Centres:DCU Faculties and Schools > DCU Business School
Research Institutes and Centres > Centre for Possibility Studies
Publisher:Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Creative Education Foundation (CEF)
Official URL:https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/j...
Copyright Information:Authors
ID Code:33092
Deposited On:12 Aug 2026 14:51 by Tam Nguyen . Last Modified 12 Aug 2026 14:51
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