Logomotion is an improvised narrative dance method invented in 1985 by the American artist and choreographer Simone Forti. It combines speech and movement, which often spring spontaneously from a common source. Like Contact Improvisation, Logomotion has spread internationally through various workshops taught by Forti and her collaborators.

One of the first steps in the practice of Logomotion is to allow thoughts and emotions to be communicated through spoken language in a deeply physical way. The performer experiences what Forti calls a ‘dance state’, which could be described as a constant back and forth movement between body and mind.

“Movement influences what I think about, and what I think about influences my movements. The thoughts and images seem to flash through my motor centres and my verbal centres simultaneously, mixing and animating both speech and physical embodiment. Spatial, structural, emotional.”

Forti’s work invites viewers to experience the intricate dynamics of human and non-human animal movement, between bodies, objects, language and sound. She engages with questions of corporal perception and challenges the influence of composition on a series of movements, mostly taken from everyday life.

• Simone Forti, Animate Dancing: a practice in dance improvisation, in Contact Quarterly, Vol. 26, No. 2, Summer/Fall 2001, pp. 32-39).