Susan Ploetz: Xenosomatics

“Somatics” is an umbrella term for a wide array of different mind/body practices that focus on the internal states and embodied knowing of the bodymind/being. In many somatic practices there is a rich play with how the imagination can influence perception and the physical reality of the bodymind/being (and vice versa). In LARP (live action role play), there is a similar play with adding fictive layers unto our “real” physical selves, with potentially transformative outcomes.

Through a series of somatic sessions we will use breath, observation, movement, and touch to explore the material intelligences of the bodymind/being, which is both our most primal, intimate experience and also sometimes our most alien. The somatics sessions are meant to build a vocabulary of skills (hyperobservation, ideokinesis, hyperempathy, interfacing) that we can implement and instrumentalize as somatic simulations in a day-long LARP.

“The Guild” (held during the last Xenosomatics session on July 31st) is a LARP set in a speculative scenario inspired by the “Xenogenesis” trilogy by Octavia Butler: a world where alien and human life forms are inextricably linked and the characters must grapple with what it is to be “human” and “alien” in a world where the distinction between the two is rapidly disappearing.

Each somatic session will build upon the last, but can be taken individually. Each somatic session will help prepare participants for the LARP, but participation in the LARP is not mandatory, and one can participate in the LARP without having done the somatic sessions. Participants should expect to engage in/be comfortable with movement, non-verbal communication, and consensual non-sexual touch. Participants should also wear clothing that is comfortable to move in. Pre-registration for the LARP is recommended.

The LARP will include scenographic and design contributions from Magnar Grønik Müller.

For more in-depth information about the somatic sessions and/or the larp, please visit www.susanploetz.com or email Susan at ploetzly@gmail.com

Biography Susan Ploetz