Re-mapping the body: feminine experience in music performance

In this project report I analyse how the practice of Body Mapping impacts the bodily performances of women classical musicians. The purpose is to study how the characteristics that define normative gender affect the body and its movement; to interrogate the body as the site where a patriarchal society constructs gender roles (more specifically, femininity); and consequently to assess the effects that these may produce in music performance. Drawing on interviews with six women classical musicians, autoethnography, and Body Mapping as a method, I created a workbook for women Body Mapping students. The goal of my research is to look into the possibilities of how the three fields—music performance, Body Mapping and feminist thought—can connect together, thus laying the groundwork for possible future research in this area. Even more, I seek to apply new approaches to music performance and to contribute, at a practical level, to the development of women classical musicians.