Seminar Room 56, Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities, Oxford, OX2 6GG
Discussion Group: 'The Body in Performance’
Thursday 5 February 2026, 3pm - 4.30pm
Seminar Room 56, Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities
All welcome
‘You’re the snake charmer, baby. And you’re also the snake.’ So sings Laurie Anderson in “Closed Circuits” (1984). Music is often considered incorporeal – described in terms like “transcendent” and “ethereal” – yet it is produced by bodies and received by them. In this session, we will discuss the gendered associations of composition and performance, the performing bodies of artists such as Laurie Anderson and Yoko Ono, and the (im)possibilities of being both snake charmer and snake.
