ABSTRACT
Taking as an example the creation of Absence, this chapter explains the terms inscription and incorporation as a useful way of articulating this distinction in relation to site-specific performance. In relation to the performance work, it considers the role of the four ecological movement dynamics as tools that can facilitate participatory research, rehearsal and performance. The chapter demonstrates how working with these movement dynamics challenges the notion that people are independent beings, who can exist separate from their context. It also considers how these approaches can support any environmental or site-specific performer to experience their own 'system' or identity as less fixed than they might have imagined and more an intrinsic part of a wider set of systems. Finally, the chapter explores how in Absence through production choices, the audience was guided towards a position of immersive participation or involved witnessing, one that author feel is coherent with the idea of incorporation and a first step towards ecological awareness.
