Ilya Vidrin
The Art and Science of Partnering
My research focuses on the theory and practice of partnering. I study how partners negotiate shared action through codified and improvisational movement practices. I examine basic elements of physical interaction, including touch, gaze, gesture, relative position, orientation, and proximity, in relation to underlying ethics such as consent, care, trust, tenderness, and discretionary power. I consider different methods of evaluation, including from within practice (by partners themselves) and outside of their practice (by educators, therapists, coaches, etc.). Some of this work looks at mediated interaction, with wearable sensors and artificial (robot, a.i.) agents.
I direct the Partnering Lab, an applied research initiative that investigates embodied ethics across domains of practice. The lab conducts formal and practice-based research on ethical physical interaction, using specialized wearable technology for kinesthetic motion capture. My primary research interests in technology focus on illuminating the complexities of physical interaction. I have been drawn to ways in which technology can reveal nuances in power dynamics, implicit biases, and unseen boundaries of non-verbal communication. This work has led to collaborations with a range of technologists, engineers, clinicians, and roboticists, to challenge what is measurable and what is lost when reducing the possibilities of physical experience. Our technology has been used in lecture-demonstrations and performance, where sensors worn by dancers capture and render salient subtle elements of movement, including relative position (infrared proximity, gyroscopic orientation), acceleration, intensity and duration of pressure, and muscular activation (EMG). Movement data is synthesized into a notational system which can be read by live musicians, as well as trigger live and pre-recorded sound samples.
My approach to partnering was developed through dance training in Fusion Dance, Latin/ballroom, Argentine Tango, classical and contemporary ballet, contact improvisation, and somatic practices, as well as practice-based research at the Centre for Dance Research, Jacob's Pillow, NYU Center for Ballet and the Arts (in collaboration with Argentinian Tango dancer, Valeria Solomonoff), Harvard ArtLab, and with professional dancers from companies including the Erick Hawkins Dance Company, The Cambrians, Chicago Hubbard Street, Boston Ballet, and The Royal Swedish Ballet. This work also emerges from controlled studies in academic spaces (Harvard, MIT, University of Illinois-Urbana, Coventry University), as well as clinical settings in hospitals and outpatient centers.
My teaching method prioritizes ethical social practice. I have developed an approach called Somatic Partnering, which offers concrete strategies for promoting safe practices by fusing ethics and physics. The training model is tailored for different audiences, from performing artists in dance and music, to medical practitioners, educators, and corporate professionals. Somatic Partnering also serves as a professional development for those whose practice involves collaborative decision-making.
