Embodying Dances of India in France: A Movement Analysis and Micro-Phenomenological Approach

This article examines the use of Hubert Godard’s movement analysis alongside a micro-phenomenological approach—drawing on Pierre Vermersch’s explicitation interview and Claire Petitmengin’s subsequent elaborations—to explore the embodied experience of a “dance-traveler” engaging with traditional Indian dance. Focusing on the case of Brigitte Chataignier, the study investigates how her previously unspoken and often unnoticed subjective experience of mohiniattam can be accessed and articulated through a series of research protocols initiated in 2017 and continuing to the present. By combining detailed movement analysis with first-person accounts, the article highlights the methodological and theoretical potential of micro-phenomenology to reveal the subtle, embodied nuances of choreographic engagement, offering new insights into the intersection of practice, perception, and cultural transmission in the context of Indian dance performed abroad.