Behind Closed Doors: A choreographic study examining how movement embodies the philosophical notion of ‘affect’

This article presents Behind Closed Doors , a choreographic research project exploring the philosophical notion of ‘affect’, which resulted in a site-specific dance theatre piece, performed in the John Lewis department store in Liverpool. Drawing on Spinoza, Deleuze and Massumi’s writings on affect, the research sought to examine the shift from physical execution to an embodied and affective experience, in which emotion, intention and perception are inseparable. By disrupting conventional spectatorship and positioning the audience as voyeurs, the work reframed the performer–spectator relationship, shifting focus from visual aesthetics to affective engagement. The study demonstrates how choreographic strategies rooted in everydayness, sensation and improvisation can intensify audience connection, foregrounding dance as a site of affective encounter rather than representation.