Diagramming Practice and Performance

Abstract

In this paper I seek to apprehend some of the powers of nonrepresentational practice and performance through an encounter with the rhythmic movement of the body. I concentrate on eurhythmics, a practice that emerged in Geneva in the late 19th century and early 20th century as an effort to improve musical appreciation through rhythmic movement. Drawing on work in cultural and architectural theory, I argue that the historical and cultural geographies of eurhythmics can best be apprehended diagrammatically. Specifically, I situate eurhythmics in diagrammatic relation to the corporeal kinaesthetics of rhythmic movement, to practices of social and cultural transformation, and to architectures of performative potential. By apprehending the geographies of eurhythmics in this way, I not only work to demonstrate that nonrepresentational styles of thinking and working multiply rather than undermine the field of power in which geographers move, but also present a sense of how these powers can become implicated in the very practice and performance of geographical research.