Feeling the performance : experiencing Rómeó <3 Júlía by Iceland Dance Company through the phenomenological lens.

Abstract

This essay is made with the aim of expanding the experience of art through the viewer's perception. Through analyse the audience’s experience of the performance Rómeó <3 Júlía, choreographed by Erna Ómarsdóttir and Halla Ólafsdóttir for the Iceland Dance Company, through a phenomenological lens. Drawing on the theory of deconstruction by French philosopher Jacques Derrida, the research explores what deconstruction is and demonstrates how it manifests in this performance. Exploring what deconstruction contributes to performance, this study considers its impact on the viewer’s perception.In an effort to move away from traditional interpretation, which Susan Sontag critiques in her essay “Against Interpretation”, this essay seeks a more sensitive approach to the audience’s experience. The arguments draw on another French philosopher, Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s, concept of the phenomenology of perception, which emphasizes the role of sensory experience in perceiving the world.By exploring the theories of these two French philosophers, this research attempts to understand how deconstruction in the performance enhances audience perception of the piece and how this approach fosters an emotional engagement with the performance, rather than relying on the meanings inherent in traditional interpretation.