ResDance Series 7: Episode 7: EcoSomatics, kindness as methodology, and Skinner ReleasingTechnique with Polly Hudson. In this episode, Polly shares insight into her experiences as a dancer, maker, researcher, teacher and gardener.  Through situating her thinking in her practice and life we explore notions of care, rest and kindness as ethical stances, and as vital components of an artistic methodology that places ecological consciousness at its core. Polly Hudson is an artist-scholar working with performance & film, with ecology (gardening), & with writing. The unifying focus of Polly's work is embodiment: how do we inhabit our psycho-physical selves in ways that serve us best in any given situation? Her work in every area is characterised by the concept of inhabiting our inner and outer landscapes simultaneously. Her background was in ballet and then in the youth dance movement in the UK. She was a student at London Contemporary Dance School in the late 1980’s, joining their fourth-year graduate company by invitation whilst still in her third year of study, and graduating with a distinction in contemporary dance. She studied Contact Improvisation and related Somatic Practices extensively before discovering Skinner Releasing Technique (SRT). She is a certified teacher of SRT, and her PhD examined SRT in relationship to creativity and choreographic practices. She has made performance and Screendance works that have been shown internationally to critical acclaim. Fore-fronting process within artistic making, ethical embodied approaches to teaching & leadership, and somatics in dance, Polly’s work integrates approaches from SRT, EcoSomatics & Ecofeminism. Grounding the practice in a connection to the environment, specifically an urban allotment plot, there is a current focus on her working-class roots and women’s labour of the body and on the land. She is curator of the EcoSomatic Conversations Series. Polly is a Reader in Dance, and Head of Movement at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, Birmingham City University. Photo credit: Ming de Nasty Contact details: Personal Email: [email protected] Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/polly__hudson/ EcoSomatics Conversations Series: https://www.researchcatalogue.net/view/3022557/3022558 Published sources of interest: https://www.bcu.ac.uk/conservatoire/acting/further-info/tutor-list/polly-hudson Please share this episode with students, educators, practitioners, performers, and interdisciplinary researchers curious to learn more about dance research in action.