Dancing Pressure and Liberation: A Choreographic Study of Bodily Resistance within Collective Conformity
 / Anna Zimolohova (2025)

This practice-as-research choreographic project investigates how mechanisms of social pressure, repetition and conformity shape human behaviour within the context of mass culture. At its core, the body is viewed as a site of resistance, awakening, and return to the authentic self. The project aims to combine research and performance, within which movement emerges not only as an art form but also as a bodily manifestation of inner will, conscious choice, and personal expression. Dance is explored as a tool for selfunderstanding and the restoration of individual identity, under the pressure of collective thinking and depersonalisation. The performance unfolds in an immersive visual environment where black-and-white photography, live AI projections, and light architecture actively construct the narrative, generating an atmosphere of mechanised order, anonymity, and cyclical repetition. This creates inner tension between individual impulse and collective rhythm. Methodologically, the work integrates Practice as Research (PaR), somatic and interdisciplinary inquiry, and acting techniques, forming a unified choreographic language. Its theoretical framework engages with both cultural and philosophical perspectives on freedom, fear, and, crucially, the impact of social norms on the formation of personality. Scenography here functions as a visual act of resistance, amplifying choreographic plasticity and emotional depth. Particular attention is given to collaboration with the performers, grounded in the pursuit of revealing the authentic self through bodily and spiritual dimensions. Dance is approached as a form of embodied thinking and as both a personal and social gesture. Within this context, movement becomes an expression of presence and authenticity. Keywords: Practice-as-Research (PaR), technology and choreography, AI, projections, photography, Authenticity, Narrative,