What if the body already holds the answers to everything one seeks?
That’s the starting point of ‘The Body Knows: Ancient Rituals & Contemporary Technology’, an offbeat evening happening at 6pm on Friday at Alliance Française de Trivandrum. Led by French artist Claire Le Michel, the event resists easy labels: it is not a talk, not exactly a workshop, and definitely not a performance in the traditional sense.
Instead, it moves in parts beginning with conversation and gradually becoming a shared, collective experience.
Claire, a writer and performing artist trained in theatre, dance, and voice, has spent over two decades exploring the relationship between physical awareness and emotional clarity. Her work circles around one idea: the body is not just something we carry, it’s something we can listen to.
“The body can be a compass,” says Claire Le Michel. “It is a source of instinct, balance, and insight. But accessing that intelligence is less about theory and more about experience.”
The evening begins with a short introduction, where Claire speaks about her practice and the connection between body, awareness, and the choices we make in life. From there, the format opens up into a conversation - participants can ask questions or share their own thoughts.
The session then moves into a guided collective ritual. “There is no fixed script or step-by-step instruction. Participants are invited to sit together, listen, and engage at their own pace. The ritual includes elements like water, along with voice and sound, with singing creating a sense of resonance. Some may choose to move, others may remain still. The idea is not to ‘do it right’, but to respond naturally. It’s an invitation to listen, to feel, and to allow something to emerge,” Claire explains.
Alongside this experiential meditative aspect, Claire also introduces the idea of blending traditional knowledge with contemporary tools. Her work is influenced by Taoist philosophy, Chinese medicine, and North American indigenous practices like the Medicine Wheel. She looks at how different systems understand balance and energy in the body.
As part of this, she also talks about BioWell, a device that maps energy patterns in the body. However, the focus remains on awareness rather than the technology itself.
“We don’t need to oppose tradition and technology. We can use both, but each has to be in its own place,” she adds.
Having spent time in India over the past decade, Claire notes how everyday actions here, such as eating with hands and the majority of the simple rituals that people follow here, already hold a strong connection to the body. But repetition, she says, can sometimes make people less aware of what they are doing.
“When something becomes routine, we stop being present in it,” she says.
The event, she concludes, is less about discovering something new and more about returning to attention, to the body, and to one’s roots. More than an event, it is an experience to simply be. Open to all, entry is free.