Eva Marie Gonzalez Ruskiewicz is a musician, performer and PhD student. Their research investigates the relationship between trans-ness, embodiment and dance. They write and perform music for synthesizer, piano and voice. Catch them scoring filmmaker kelechi agwuncha's piece "tether" or teaching gender studies in Southern California.
'The Decolonial Potential of Thinking Trans and Dance Together'
"Thinking “transgender” and “dance” together creates the conditions to consider the decolonial potential of the moving body. My research examines the phenomenon of embodiment, or empowering the body to shape subjectivity. I argue that embodiment is a decolonial practice, repairing the Cartesian mind-body split and privileging forms of knowledge discarded by Western hegemonic structures. And while the label of “trans” can collude with universalizing a white, Western transgender experience, the practice of resisting gender norms creates an opening for decolonization and a unique manifestation of embodiment. If trans-ing and dancing are both embodied practice, how can their intersection also be a decolonial practice?"