1. Way of transmitting a message using physical elements present in the sender’s body, from the simple wink of an eye, the sign of a feeling, to the complexity of a dance in which a story is told.
2. Essential skill worked within the framework of the performing arts, namely dance, music, theater, circus, performance acts.
3. Educational resource to stimulate motor skills and individual spontaneity.
Etymology: Expression, by the Latin forms expressio, expressionis. + Corporal, from Latin corporalisof corpus‘body’, and the suffix -ālisin a sense of belonging.
Grammatical category: noun fem.
in syllables: ex-pre-sion + cor-po-ral.
Body expression
The concept of corporal expression is used to refer to those people who use their body, the movements and forms that they can achieve with it to express different types of ideas. Generally, the notion of corporal expression is applied to artists such as dancers, choreographers, mimes, etc., who work with their bodies more than with words. The art of corporal expression always requires great mastery and knowledge of one’s own body as well as greater expressiveness since it must be possible to transmit with movements what others say with words.
Body expression is an activity that is normally carried out by characters such as artists, dancers, mimes, etc. This activity consists of using the body to represent ideas, feelings, sensations. Thus, a dancer expresses love, fear or joy in a work much better with her body than with words or reciting a text. Normally, it is of the utmost importance for those who work with their body to have a good physical state of it, since they put it in permanent exposure and this activity can require great wear and tear depending on the specific discipline. It is considered that people who work with body expression more than with spoken language can develop expressive forms that are much deeper and more heartfelt than ordinary people.
However, body expression should not be understood simply as an artistic discipline. In this sense, all human beings (and even animals) express ideas or sensations with their bodies. Facial gestures are, for example, one of the best known cases: one may not be saying anything but showing their discontent, joy, emotion with their facial expression. In addition, issues such as posture, the way of sitting, the way of walking, the way of speaking or conversing with another person are all elements that imply a certain bodily expressiveness that is particular and unique to each person.
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