The purpose of this study was to examine grand battement devant in three conditions: at the barre, in the centre, and traveling. The primary focus was to consider weight transfer in the three conditions, and to examine utilisation of the trunk and lower extremity muscles. An extensive review was done in the dance science literature to determine what previous research had been done related to this subject, and to establish what preliminary work might be needed. As indicated by the literature, in order to achieve this research, it was necessary to develop a dance-specific method for the normalisation of surface electromyography data. In phase one of the research, a dance-specific portable anchored dynamometer was developed and tested. The PAD allowed for the collection of maximum voluntary isometric contractions (MVICs), which could then be used to normalise the sEMG data. In phase two of the research, the grand battement was tested in the three conditions, at the barre, in the centre, and traveling. Forty female dancers volunteered (mean age 30.0 ± 13.0 yrs, mean height 1.63 ± 0.06 m, mean mass 59.0 ± 7.4 kg, and 13.9 ± 13.3 yrs of training in ballet and/or modern dance) and were placed in three groups (Training level): beginner (n = 12), intermediate (n = 14) and advanced (n = 14). Dancers executed five grand battement devant in each of the three conditions (Condition) in randomized order. Data were collected with a 7-camera Vicon motion capture system, two Kistler forceplates, and surface electromyography (EMG), using eight muscles bilaterally. Kinematic data were analysed in three intervals: stance to battement initiation, initiation to battement peak, and peak to end. Four variables were investigated: centre of gravity of the full trunk, centre of gravity of the pelvis, centre of gravity of the upper trunk, and centre of mass. EMG data were analysed in four events: stance, initiation, peak, and end. For weight transfer, the main effect of Condition was significant for all four variables in both the x-axis and the y-axis (p < .001). There were no significant differences for Training and no significant Condition x Training interactions. Muscle use varied according to the combination of event and condition that was executed, and these differences were also influenced by the level of training of the dancer and the side of the body used. It is recommended that dance educators consider the importance of allocating sufficient time to each of the three conditions (barre, centre, and traveling), to ensure development of a variety of motor strategies and muscle activation patterns for dance practice.

No description available.

This thesis charts the role of dance improvisation performance as a practice of ecology by analyzing data collected from a series of experiments in improvisation. Conducted in a number of locations in Europe and Asia, these experiments examine the usefulness of improvisation performance practices to notions of “ecology” and common understandings of humans’ relationships to our environment. Using “ecology” to describe an investigation of interrelationship as well as a commitment to act with an awareness of one’s actions in the social, mental and natural spheres discussed by Felix Guattari (2000), I outline ways contemporary improvisation practices can facilitate this investigation. To do this I draw on my own experience as a dancer at the Performing Arts Research and Training Studios (PARTS) in Brussels from 2004-2006, and as codirector of the TWIG Project in China in 2006. Using the experiences of improvising, learning dance, seeing dance, performing dance, creating scores for dance, and teaching movement improvisation, I argue that ecological practice is defined by its ability to instill a sense of “response ability” and personal agency in its practitioners. As a way of observing and incorporating new knowledge, improvisation functions herein both as a research practice and as the object of study. By improvising and documenting my experiences using a phenomenological lens derived from Merleau-Ponty’s work, I reflect on how practices of awareness in dancing can constitute new ways of knowing. I discuss how improvising can assist awareness of the body’s relationship with the environment at a number of levels including sensory, spatial, temporal, conceptual, social and political. I also investigate the notion of paradox as a theme throughout the thesis and present its usefulness as a way of producing and reflecting upon a practice of bodily research. The term “twig dances” represents an expanded understanding of what I mean by “improvising”, and points to my use of improvisation as a research process. As an action taken “to understand or realize something”, a twig dance is any of a number movement practices which take as their focus an active investigation into relationships between people and the non-human world.

In this thesis, I examine the current state of choreographic postmodernism in the wake of recent theories of transmodernism in film and literature studies. Moving from an analysis of revisionist choreographic practices, my aim is to retrace the unwritten histories of particular revisions of Bronislava Nijinska's Les Noces (1923), namely those by Angelin Preljocaj and Mauro Bigonzetti. Whilst their syntactical organisation of choreographic vernacular and thematic treatment of the subject matter, mise-en-scene and choreographic form differ, Preljocaj and Bigonzetti share a common interest, namely their engagement with the choreographic legacies of the artistic migration in their indigenous context and their interest in revising artistic, cultural and narrative artefacts including the Ballets Russes repertoire (1909-1929). Through the analyses of their creative practices and their revisions of Les Noces, I situate the parameters and extensions of the postmodern genre against newer theories of transmodernism that align themselves more readily to the choreographic interest in tracing established histories and practices. The theoretical developments of transmodernism in dance impact two significant areas: firstly, understanding of notions of border-crossing and artistic alterity from existing choreographic legacies, and secondly, revisions of ballet histories associated with works of historical significance. The study suggests choreographic revisionism as transmodern dance practices, where the weight of existing performance histories is re-organised and reconfigured into multidimensional and non-linear identities. The three parts of this thesis are organised in the following way. The first part provides a theoretical context for revisions of Les Noces (1923) as well as a theoretical underpinning to the theories of revisionism and transmodernism. In the second part, at the core of the enquiry, I trace recent dance histories through the choreographic works created by Preljocaj (1985-2010) and Bigonzetti (1990-2010) and their revisions of Les Noces. In the third and final part, the research draws on analyses of Noces (1989) and Les Noces (2002) to facilitate an application of a theorisation of transmodernism in dance and its potential to further the field of dance studies

This research undertaking suggests that the studio-based process of inventing original choreographic works can be seen, in certain frameworks, as a complex ‘theoretical practice’. It sets out to render the decisions that I, as an artist, make in the process of inventing three choreographic works, ‘Audience (1) Waltzers’, ‘Return Journey’ and ‘HaH’, more transparent and self-reflexive, and simultaneously to enquire into the question of whether, and how, writing might serve to illuminate aspects of my overall choreographic and performance practice. The studio-based process of inventing these three works– with which the written strands necessarily engage – reflects my desire to explore questions about dance, choreography and performance as they emerge in my practice and with reference to the canon of western contemporary dance performance. In the mixed-mode heuristic framework underlying the present investigation the studio-based and text-based strands of inquiry are integrated in an extra-hierarchical mode, functioning thus interdependently as strands having equal epistemic value within that undertaking. That is, each is equivalent in terms of an ongoing enquiry into knowledge. The present undertaking examines and reflects on the ways that modes and methods of inquiry appropriated from the tradition of contemporary and post-modern dance performance, the Somatic practices of Authentic Movement and Body-Mind Centering, together with the Buddhist practice of Mindfulness Meditation, support my status as remaining ‘present with’ sensations, emotions and thoughts that arise and inflect the other-than-linguistic qualitative reasoning that underlies the decisions I make in the process of inventing ‘signature’ choreographic works – by which I mean works that are recognisably my own. Investigations into the relationship between one’s ‘self’ and one’s thoughts are extended by borrowing selectively from published research within the fields of Philosophy, Science, Cognitive Science and Psychology. The mixed-mode heuristic framework provides for the emergence of a relational space between the studio-based and text-based strands of research. In this space the subtle, layered and always evolving sub-strands of both are rendered more transparent, thereby providing for the questions and decision-making processes underlying the invention of ‘Audience (1) Waltzers’, ‘Return Journey’ and ‘HaH’ to surface and become more fully revealed: can I create choreographic structures that might provide for audiences to have an intimate experience of dance and performance? And how might these choreographies also provide for somatic experiences of dance, and the space within which it unfolds, to be shared by the dancer(s) and audience in performance? I propose to demonstrate that this project’s original contributions to knowledge are located in (i) the design of the mixed-mode heuristic framework within which I examine and reflect on how writing, in a range of registers, might serve to illuminate the process of inventing original choreographic works (ii) the choreographic works ‘Audience (1) Waltzers’, ‘Return Journey’ and ‘HaH’ (iii) what can be identified as the category of ‘somatically-revolving-empathy’

The research which is embedded in this thesis through the dances and the context statement is about my experience of dancing and dance-making. During the process of making dances there is a sense of messiness in not knowing what is emerging. In the process of writing this document I have had to shift my experience in order to perceive the messiness and to reflect on how I work with it. The reflection on dance-making has enabled me to notice that the messiness arises from the tensions between the somatic, aesthetic, interpretive and inseparable experiences in performing, creating and receiving dance. This context statement tries to negotiate the messiness by examining my modes of engagement and the intensity of my focus through them over time. As a result the context statement reflects on the flow of change within these aspects of my practice and its impact on the aesthetic of the emergent work. A diagram has been designed to illustrate how unexpected occurrences happen through the continuously flowing change. This is referred to as flux. It happens through a moment of action, attention or connection. A ‘State of Dynamic Flux’ refers to my openness to flux within the flow of changes. This way of working allows unanticipated creative potentialities and produces an aesthetic that is characterised by live-ness.

The impetus for the present research comes from questions that arose in projects of collaborative writing by the author with British-based choreographers Rosemary Lee, Kim Brandstrup and Rosemary Butcher. In these projects, the three choreographers differently attempted to word elements of their ongoing choreographic enquiries. The conviction was that such writing might participate in a choreographer's current choreographic research, rather than document research that had already unfolded in the creation of a performance work. The present research thus interrogates the philosophical implications of asking a choreographer for an account of how she or he works. With reference to recent studies in critical ethnography and ethics, the research proposes the development of practices of collaborative writing by a choreographer and a researcher-observer alert to the motivated and implicated positions of each. Included as appendix to the thesis is a book co-written with a choreographer and a CD-ROM of published collaborative writing and open interviews with Butcher, Brandstrup and Lee, performance documentation and journals of studio observation. Published instances of writing by other performance makers are additionally drawn into the enquiry as "research companions". Interrogating relations between writing and choreographers' creation processes, the overall research premise thus concerns the development of writing capable of articulating what matters to choreographers. This research addresses those choreographers who have hesitated when asked about how they work, and asks every dance scholar to hesitate before writing on or about dance-making.

Over the past two decades dancers with disabilities have made a significant contribution to the professional contemporary dance sector. Key shifts and initiatives across various contexts in dance have increased debate and practice concerned with dance and disability and the intersections between these two areas. Discourse focussed on dance and disability has been centred upon access and participation in dance, there is a considerable deficit in practice, research and scholarly activity that explores the progression of the disabled dancer into leadership roles in dance. A lack of disabled role-models holding autonomous, high profile, decision making positions in the sector is detrimental to the position of both disabled dance artists currently practicing and those aspiring to work and train in contemporary dance. Dance artists with disabilities possess knowledge of training and working in dance that is as yet under-researched and under-represented in both academic and practice based contexts. Understanding and utilising the knowledge and experience existing in disabled dance artists is central to ensuring progression in the sector. Underpinning this thesis is the claim that disabled dance artists are valued, assessed and critiqued within an existing epistemological framework in dance that is based on normative bodies, rather than through systems and a vocabulary that account for the individual dancer. The research, centred around the UK and undertaken by a disabled dance artist-researcher, addresses an existing lack of scholarly activity about dance and disability produced by a disabled researcher. Chapters 6.1, 6.2 and 6.3 offer 3 case studies of disabled dance artists these sections give insight into the lived experience of training and working in dance with a physical disability, in addition these chapters offer discussion specifically relating to the case study participants perception of themselves as leaders in dance. The penultimate chapter 7, Reflections on Practice presents autoethnographic research relating to the authors’ experience of using practice as both a vehicle and an artefact for research into dance, disability and leadership. Offering the practice and research of disabled artists within this thesis contributes a new perspective to the field of dance and disability, specifically by privileging the voices and practice of disabled artists and researchers. By challenging a hierarchy of normative leadership ideologies the potential of the disabled dance artist as leader is presented at the forefront of this study.

This inquiry concerns dance improvisation as a mode of performance demonstrated in West African cultures, raising questions concerning the knowledge, skills and techniques performers display in related dance and drumming practices. Improvisation in West African contexts resists contemporary dance practice’s universalising concepts; this investigation is undertaken to allow a neo-African perspective of improvisation to emerge and take its place within dance studies. I thus examine practices of several ethnic groups which consistently reveal uses of six component-principles: Dynamic Rhythmic, Fractal Code, Inner Sensing and Balance, Play and Decision Making, Collaborative Competition and Audience Proxemics. Combined to form a hypothetical model of improvisation-asperformance practice, I interrogate this group of aesthetic concepts and their interrelations using Practice as Research (PaR) and autoethnographic methods. A multi-phased and multimodal investigation ensues, combining textual and video analysis, studio workshops in the USA and UK and fieldwork in Ghana, leading to the generation of new improvisation methods that employ and demonstrate West African knowledge. Dissecting rhythmic acuity builds performers’ capacities to generate and sustain improvised performance. An examination of the relationship between dance and music and an emergent theory of culturally specific sensory knowledge - seselelame - are both central to developing a fuller understanding of this neo-African aesthetic. I apply a decolonising filter throughout this research, clearing a space for performers’ expertise, weaving a range of critical positions to emphasise the need for a more contemporary and inclusive analysis of non-Western approaches to improvisation–as-performance. Thus, within intercultural contexts I observe, participate, create, collaborate, teach, train and perform: all of which serve to move toward a new field of knowledge, “Embodiology”. This West African-informed theory of improvisation-as-performance contains an analytical tool useful to evaluate improvisation in dance and other contexts. Research modes intersect analytically throughout the 70:30 ratio split between the written submission and documented practical work.

Throughout the thirty years I have been watching and participating as a dancer in UK dance theatre, I have become increasingly aware of the ways in which female characters are frequently portrayed through limited representations of women. This research begins by acknowledging that this is a problem and proceeds to look at some of the ways in which such limited representations come about and subsequently how the individuality of the person is overlooked. The main objective of this research is to address this problem by offering a new choreographic approach to creating character in dance works. This has been done through an amalgamation of Stanislavskian and Heideggerian processual accounts of truth which intrinsically account for the Being and subjectivity of the performer and character. Through Practice as Research I have developed a new method of choreographing character which intersects dance practice, Heideggerian phenomenology and Stanislavskian approaches to acting. A principal aspect of my original contribution to the field of knowledge lies within the intersection of these practices. I propose that a key attribute towards resolving the problem is through taking time to ‘get to know’ the character; an idea at the heart of social psychological propositions towards resolving problems of social stereotyping. I conclude by making a call for choreographers to consider using techniques from theatre such as the one I outline in this research when creating and presenting female characters within their work. The implications of this research are that approaches from theatre and phenomenology are not merely ideas that can be applied to the body but in fact are practices which can be done and danced. Rather than resorting to limited and sometimes tired representations of women’s experience, the individual lived experience of the character can emerge and drive the creation and performance process to produce a choreographed character whose subjectivity and lived experience is clearly accounted for.