Abstracts Category : Other

The Chair in Room 119: A Choreographic Exploration of Locked-In Syndrome

by Nicoletta Marie Lanese

Jean-Dominique Bauby, author of The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, was the first to write on living with locked-in syndrome (LIS). A rare neurological condition, LIS leaves the affected cognitively intact but physically paralyzed. Victims are literally locked into their unresponsive bodies, retaining only the ability to move their eyes. By utilizing this last shred of mobility, some locked-in patients are able to communicate through systems of blinks. Baubys memoir highlights humans heavy reliance on movement to communicate and maintain our personhood. Though Baubys words granted LIS patients a voice, they could not grant them movement. I sought to physicalize Baubys words through dance. I structured, cast, and choreographed a piece based on an in-depth literary analysis of The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. The resulting work, The Chair in Room 119, made use of the memoirs metaphors, imagery, and dramatic arc to inspire kinesthetic empathy in its audiences. ( en )