Angelique Moreno Gomez

Topic

Le Souffle Fragile : Une Poétique de L’inspiration en Mouvement

School of Languages, Linguistics and Cultures

Date & location

• Wednesday, May 13, 2026
• 9:30 A.M.
• Virtual Defence

Examining Committee

Supervisory Committee

• Dr. Émile Fromet de Rosnay, School of Languages, Linguistics and Cultures, University of Victoria (Co-Supervisor)
• Dr. Pierre-Luc Landry, School of Languages, Linguistics and Cultures, UVic (Co-Supervisor)

External Examiner

• Dr. Alexandrine Boudreault-Fournier, Department of Anthropology, UVic

Chair of Oral Examination

• Dr. Laura Minet, Department of Civil Engineering, UVic

Abstract

This research-creation thesis investigates breath as a site of vulnerability, resistance, and transformation by combining theoretical inquiry with a video-performance creation grounded in the concept of écriture corporelle. Drawing on Mallarmé’s idea of dance as “the theatrical form of poetry par excellence” (Les Fonds dans le ballet, 1987), this thesis examines how movement—whether danced, athletic, or performative—can function as a poetic inscription capable of restoring breathing, rekindling inspiration, and alleviating anxiety.

Rooted in personal experience with complex form of asthma and anxiety, the research interrogates the conditions that render breath fragile. It mobilizes intersectional analysis, autoethnographic data, insights from medical and psychological studies, and contemporary literary and artistic works, including Les Allongées (Bélanger & Delvaux, 2022), Self-Care (Dawson et coll., 2021) and texts on mental health. Forty physical activities — dance, aerial arts, cycling, swimming, paddleboarding, yoga—were documented in an ethnographic journal and integrated into a video-performance. Emotion-driven movement emerges as a tool for emotional regulation, activating the parasympathetic nervous system and counteracting chronic anxiety. Through this lens, physical activity becomes not only a means of maintaining respiratory health but also a catalyst for creative and affective renewal.

The resulting video-performance, composed of poetic fragments of gestures, landscapes, and quotations, gives form to experiences that resist verbalization: trauma, dyspnea, release, and the slow reclamation of breath. This thesis proposes a poetics of movement in which body, breath, and creation intertwine, offering a framework for understanding fragility, resilience, and the transformative potential of embodied artistic practice.