معرفی
Freya Vass is a Lecturer in Drama and Theatre at the University of Kent, specializing in Drama and Theatre Studies. Her academic work bridges performance arts and cognitive sciences, focusing on dance as a visuo-sonic art form and perceptual dimensions of choreographic practices.
Dr. Vass's research interests include:
- Cognitive dance studies and perception of dance
- Visuo-sonority in contemporary dance
- Performativity, scenography, and dramaturgy
- Devising processes and creative practices
- Gesture studies and embodied cognition
- Arts/sciences interdisciplinarity
Her scholarship demonstrates a sustained engagement with William Forsythe's choreographic methods, analyzing works including Decreation (2003), You made me a monster (2005), Heterotopia (2006), and Yes we can't (2008), as well as ensemble creations like Whole in the Head (2010). She has developed frameworks for understanding dance as fundamentally visuo-sonic, revealing how expanded scenography—lighting, sound, space, and movement—collectively shapes audience perception. Her research shows how contemporary ballet reveals not only energy and effort but also the intense embodied experience of dance practice.
Dr. Vass has made significant theoretical contributions including the concept of 'perceptual performativity' (Vass-Rhee 2011), which describes how performance recalibrates audience perception. Her publications explore how performing arts training develops perceptual skills enabling performers to direct attention across multiple information sources while performing, inviting audiences to experience beyond everyday perceptual limits.
Her notable contributions include:
- First book-length cognitive study of William Forsythe's work
- Conceptualizing visuo-sonic choreographic processes
- Establishing connections between somatic approaches and cognitive science
- Editing the special issue 'On Perception' for Performance Research
As both scholar and former dramaturg with The Forsythe Company, Dr. Vass brings practical experience to her academic work, demonstrating how choreographic research acknowledges the skill, power, pleasure, and joy inherent in dance practice.
