Creating Thinking: Immersive Dance Theater as 4E Cognition in the Wild

Summary

The creative dancing body exemplifies the embodied mind, yet creativity research has stagnated because cognitive science has not adequately studied embodied cognition. Engaging 4E cognition—embodied, embedded, enacted, and extended—through rich dance experiences can maximize students' creative potential. In a secondary dance classroom, an annual immersive dance theater project illustrates 4E cognition by pressing creators to produce an art event that encourages real-world problem-solving. The article explores cognition through a 4E lens, discusses how immersive dance theater projects catalyze each E, and suggests that future creativity research may benefit from extensive study of this genre in K-12 education.

Study at a glance

Abstract

ABSTRACT The creative dancing body is an ideal exemplar of the embodied mind. However, creativity research has ceased to develop due to a lack of study of the embodied mind in cognitive science. Thus, much can be gained through exploring ways in which we maximize students’ creative potential by engaging 4E cognition through rich dance experiences. In my secondary dance classroom, 4E cognition is most evident in our annual immersive dance theater project. The project presses creators to make an art event that encourages cognition “in the wild,” or in real-world problem-solving situations. This article briefly explores cognition through a 4E lens, and discusses ways immersive dance theater projects catalyze and capitalize on each E. It then draws connections between 4E cognition, radical embodied cognitive science, and immersive dance theater to suggest future creativity research may benefit from extensive study of the genre in K-12 education.