Klaudia Wittmann

Thesis title:

Imperfection of the Perfect Body: An interdisciplinary exploration of gendered oppression in female gymnastics through choreographic practice

This practice PhD explores the ideological structures underlying women’s gymnastics in the context of the recent global abuse scandals. The project consists of an ethnography with former athletes from Germany, USA and UK to explore lived experiences of the sport, as well as practice research which develops a number of artistic pieces in collaboration with sculpture, film and performance. Current outputs include 2:30, a collaboration between sculpture and performance; theatres of hysteria, a dance theatre piece supported by the RPS Drummond Lockyer Fund for Dance; head bucket bed.

The research draws on a theoretical frame that brings together psychoanalysis, feminisms, queer theory.

Artistic collaborators include KWAM Collective, Lara Ritosa-Roberts (Performance Klub Fiskulturnik), Alex Roth and Arturo Bandinelli.

Research Area

Dance

Publications

Wittmann, K. (2025). Connection through separation: negotiating boundaries in dance movement psychotherapy with psychosis. In: Frizell, C. & Rova, M. Practice Research through Creative Bodies Perspectives on Embodied Enquiry. Routledge.

Wittmann, K. (2024). The woman is perfected: A psychoanalytic reading of systemic abuse in women’s artistic gymnastics. Psychoanalysis Culture and Society 29, 240–255 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41282-023-00418-0

Conferences

Performativity(ies) of Memory(ies) Interdisciplinary Conference (Politech Institute of Viana do Castelo Portugal): remembering thorugh from - working with materialities in the choreographic process

Practice Research Symposium: Feminisms, Bodies, Messiness 2025 (Goldsmiths University of London, Royal Birmingham Conservatoire): theatres of hysteria

(Inter)disciplinary Bodies Conference 2024 (Brunel University, London): Imperfection of the perfect body. A psychoanalytic exploration of the female gymnast's body.

4th European Association of Dance Movement Therapy Conference 2022 (EADMT, Berlin): Working with a fragmented body in a fragmenting world. An individual digital & in-person dance movement psychotherapy case study with psychosis and complex trauma in the community.

Other Research Interests

Choreographic Practice

Psychoanalysis

Gender Studies

Feminist and Queer Theory

Memberships

Association for Dance Movement Psychotherapy UK

Equity