Lay your head explores touch, tenderness, permission to be physically close and daring to let someone near. The piece is made for six performers and different materials that the audience can touch during the performance. Together with the performers we will build a catalogue of images of physical proximity, which through abstraction are developed into a movement vocabulary. The performers' bodily encounters take place with carefully worked movement material, which is inspired by concrete, everyday images and different ways of perceiving the environment that are specific to the sense of touch. We look for varied ways to be close to one another, let our body encounter different kinds of bodies and investigate how these physicalities react to one another, how we move together and position ourselves in the room.

The somatosensory system, the network of neural structures in the brain and body that produce the perception of touch, as well as temperature, body position and pain will be in the main focus during the research period. We will investigate different types of touch; light touch, tactile pressure and tactile and haptic perception. The materials of the space and how they are used throughout the performance will emphasise the haptic experience and allow the audience to participate in different tactile ways. The work invites viewers to share the space with the performers and take part in a way that feels natural to them.