Abstract

This study elucidates connections between the body and music presenting a proposal based on workshops and a theoretical viewpoint. Firstly it describes the main principles of the workshops that have been developed to work with music improvisation and group interactions. At the workshops the study approach music improvisation based on the dialogues and transformation of musical processes and structures extracted from non-Western music, which also include the strict relation of music and dance of some of those cultures. At the workshops the study use rhythmic parameters to reconnect the body of the performer to the music improvisation based on the concept of the embodied mind (Varela et al., 1993). The study also describe how to extend the workshop methodology with digital music instruments (Miranda and Wanderley, 2006) that will be used as gestural interfaces to interact with sound environments based on the rhythmic parameters developed at the workshops.

Key words: Body/instrument connection, embodied mind, non-Western music, rhythmic parameters, improvisation, performance, gestural interfaces.