Mitigating Performance Antagonism in the Dance Studio: Gloria Anzaldúa’s Conocimiento as Somatic Commoning

Peer competition in the dance studio can create stress that significantly hinders a dancer’s personal, professional, and creative growth. It can also negatively affect community building and the sense of belonging among dancers. Despite the adverse effects of competition, research on dance education tools aimed at alleviating this stress remains relatively limited. Drawing from my experience using movement as research, this article proposes the somatic application of Gloria Anzaldúa’s conocimiento as a method of dance pedagogy that, due to its focus on community building, could help mitigate the stress caused by competition among dancers. I demonstrate how, when applied through somatic tools in the dance studio, conocimiento can foster relationships among dancers as integral to the creative process, thus reducing feelings of antagonism.