ABSTRACT
The aim of this chapter is to outline an approach to dance improvisation which does not appeal to the dancer’s agency as that which constitutes the event. It will draw on the work of Nietzsche and Deleuze, specifically Nietzsche’s claim that there is no doer behind the deed. Deleuze takes up the Nietzschean view that there is no doer behind the deed by articulating a metaphysics of force, which understands all that happens as a question of relations of force. According to Deleuze, the body and consciousness (though both formed through relations of force) are very different kinds of formation. Once outlined, this two-fold approach is then oriented towards the practice of dance improvisation. Although this approach is very much centred upon the body as the basis of action, it will be argued that consciousness is nonetheless able to play a role within the dance. The argument will work with a number of Nietzschean concepts, bringing them to bear on a range of examples and illustrations taken from the practice of dance improvisation.
