This course examines ways in which the lived body (soma) is experienced, represented, approached and studied in different historical periods. It does so with an emphasis on dance and performance practices, with particular reference to approaches of the 20^th and 21^st centuries. The development and evolution of practices and representations of the body are examined from an historical perspective and are positioned in artistic, social and historical context. Experiential workshops facilitate the embodied study of practices and theoretical approaches to the lived body with an emphasis on cultivating performance skills and an embodied understanding of aesthetic and creative dimensions of dance and performance practices. The course also explores examples of artistic work that experiments with an interaction between the lived body, technology and/or virtual image.