Samenvatting

The aim of this explorative research was to understand in which ways audience interaction influences the audience‟s experience of a dance performance. In particular this research focused on the processes of audience participation, affect, aesthetic distance and kinaesthetic empathy. To this end it
investigated the views of choreographers with experience in audience participation. Three performances were chosen, displaying a range of interactive opportunities for the public. The information gathered from the interviews suggests that audience participation and heightened affect are connected. Interaction helps the audience to become more motivated and attentive in their choices, arouses their emotions and generates energy. In turn a welcoming and safe atmosphere stimulates audience interaction, especially if the dancers are open and willing to share with the public in a non-judgemental way. For some audience members the interactive performance is an immersive experience. For others their emotional involvement can act as a springboard for eventual aesthetic distancing. Kinaesthetic empathy was observed as a mirroring of the dancers‟ behaviour on the part of the audience. It also appears to function as a means of reading and communicating affect. In addition it has the capacity to evoke affect. As a result of the intense relationship engendered between audience and performers, audience participation has the potential to manipulate an audience into undertaking actions they would not normally consider. In the field of art education interactive dance performances contribute the notions of edutainment and immersive learning.