This thesis offers critical exploration of the intersection of four elements within the historical space, or field, of UK theatre dance between 2007 and 2012: disability, impairment, dance and artistry. It addresses four questions: What is disability? What is disability in relation to dance? What supports the entry of a disabled dance artist into the field of professional dance in the twenty-first century? How can we approach a critical analysis of the works they create? At the centre of the thesis are case studies of three self-described disabled dance artists, performers and choreographers: Caroline Bowditch, Marc Brew, and Claire Cunningham. The studies attend to the form and content of their creative work, the structures of the dance field in which they practice as artists, and their personal and career trajectories. The studies are both situated by and situate earlier chapters addressing constructions of disability, cultural representations of disability and the emerging field of Disability Arts. They demonstrate that disability, in dance as in other fields, concerns attitudes, arrangements and structures that disable participation. These are attitudes fed by imaginings around the ideal dancing body, and the illusion that variations in bodily form and capabilities are neither normal nor to be expected. I draw on Bourdieu’s concepts of habitus and field to consider the interconnections between structures, external and internalised, that support or limit the disabled artist’s perception of what is possible for them within the professional dance field. Using Cameron’s affirmative model of disability, I argue that when disabled dance artists are freed to use their experiences of living in a disabling world, and to make use of the unique capabilities of their bodies as valid sources for their art, they can and do contribute to the capacity of dance as an art form to explore the full depth and range of human experience.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Michigan, 1980. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 277-280).

Communication in all its various forms has one common goal: expressing and deciphering ideas. Education in recent years has taken a move towards more global approaches to learning/teaching. Within this context, more innovative and inclusive methods of communication need to be created. This study investigated the meaning-form connections in a modern dance experiment. Based on a poem, a dance was created and then performed for various audiences. Responses were recorded through survey and focus group interviews; and analyzed based on grounded theory (Strauss and Corbin, 1998; Charmaz, 2006). GT analysis coupled with hermeneutic constructivism offered an instructive and inclusive means of looking at the data. The results of the analysis along with inductive reasoning led to the result of six categories through which modern dance produces meaning and audiences decipher meaning from modern dance: Conflict Resolution, Personal Experience/Trait, Linguistic Structures, Abstract Concepts, Compatibility, and Technical Ability. The last stage of the study looked at a constructivist communication model “ecology of meanings model”, utilized its basic concept to build a communication for modern dance, and configured the newly found categories within it. My aim in this thesis project is to shed light on the manner in which a non-verbal means of communication, namely dance, is used to convey a message. The end result is a prototype of a possible communication model for modern dance which could afford choreographers/dancers/dance educators/dance spectators the ability to understand not only what modern dance means but also how. By illuminating this process, I hope that dance and communication experts will be able to enhance their educational procedures.

Thesis (M.S.)--California State University, Northridge, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 34-35). Also available online (PDF file) by a subscription to the set or by purchasing the individual file.

Thesis (M.S.)--California State University, Northridge, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 34-35).

Thesis (M.A. in Dance)--Shenandoah University, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.F.A.)--State University of New York College at Brockport, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 155-157). Also available online (PDF file) by a subscription to the set or by purchasing the individual file.

Thesis (M.F.A.)--State University of New York College at Brockport, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 155-157).

Looking for ways that dance could be used as a tool for health promotion, I sought to explore dance choreography and performance as an alternative medium for educating and increasing awareness about college student suicide. Suicide is the second leading cause of death amongst college students and while research suggests that suicide is decreasing, in terms of attempted suicides, the problem may be increasing. While attempts to understand, predict and prevent the loss of lives have resulted in extensive literature, there has been very little systematic research completed. Compounded by limited proposed models for addressing college student suicide, and lack of evidence there remains a growing need to find effective health communication practices and best health promotion practices. This research study is an autobiographical case study that explores my embodied experience of choreographing and performing a dance about college student suicide. As a health promotion professional and a trained dance artist, I assumed the role of researcher and dance choreographer and I and my experience became the subject of this research study. I launched and conducted a six-week project on my university campus called "Dance For Life" and worked with a small group of three female undergraduate dancers to make the new dance piece. This dance project was the case under investigation out of which I presented an autobiographical narrative in the findings and discussion section of this paper. Reviewed health information, research findings, and data, as well as knowledge extracted from the dance group became in part material used to make the dance. As the choreographer, my role in the choreographic process spanned from expert to collaborator and rested on my vision for the story told that would be told through the dance. I collected m data in the form of:- video recordings; audio recordings; pictures; journal entries; field/ observational notes; video diaries; drawings; interviews with community-based artists; and memory recall. I then worked to sort, label, group, and analyze the data, piecing together my findings to write an autobiography that answered my research questions. My exploration highlighted the importance of community involvement in community-based health programming.Through participation in this project the dancers\' knowledge and awareness of college student suicide increased and positively affected their empathetic response toward members of the community. Using non professional dancers with varied dance skill levels did not inhibit creativity or diminish the quality of work produced. Instead it brought together real life people with diverse perspectives, creative solutions, and a passion for dance to produce a piece of art effective in its ability to \'touch\' the audience and draw them in to a place of greater awareness. Stigmas, and the lack of  education and visibility about this particular health challenge, have resulted in a low community response to affecting change. The post performance discussion, brought the greatest gains, in terms of educating the audience. They interacted with the project, asked questions, gave feedback and provided comments about what they experienced, learned, and understood. The overall success of the project, points toward the possibility of dance as an art form playing a more significant role in educating communities about sensitive, and difficult to talk about, health challenges. Being able to affect the knowledge, attitudes, and empathetic response of communities is a beginning step  towards overcoming the health challenge of college student suicide. Future research needs to focus on best choreographing techniques as it relates to audience interpretation. / Ph. D.

This thesis explores the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) of mid-career artists in England and the South West of England in particular during 2000 to 2010. It identifies what their needs are and asks what CPD means to them; how they navigate their careers through their practice; how they articulate their needs; and how they negotiate to fulfil those needs. It examines to what extent the providers’ thinking about, and provision of, CPD in the region is aligned with the needs of the artists themselves. The individual narratives of artists are represented at the centre of this research. The research was developed in collaboration with University of Plymouth and the CPD agency, ArtsMatrix Ltd. Research methods used to collect data included extended dialogues with the artists Alyson Hallett, Mariele Neudecker, Helen Poynor and Phil Smith, via a series of walking interviews, using walking as an ethnographic research tool. By walking I engaged with a literal momentum of movement paralleling the physical and theoretical momentums of the artists’ practices. Policy and literature reviews; group interviews; artist interviews; desk-based research; observation and attendance at artist-led seminars and practice groups were also used. The research contrasts two CPD Schemes: The Contemporary Craft Fellowship Scheme, and The Artist as Cultural Agent: DIY. The thesis includes a policy and provision review of CPD literature in the UK and South West of England over the past ten years; a mapping of South West CPD provision for artists; and the identification and application of relevant theoretical and critical approaches to place, space, language and momentum in order to consider CPD provision in relation to the articulation, situation and concept of a career. This thesis argues that the language of CPD can constrain as much as enable artists’ development; that the terms “mid-career” and “South West” are open to contestation and can affect provider conceptualisations of artists in the region; and that artists need professional development throughout their careers but may not name it as such. I advocate for policy and provision to understand artists’ need to be supported “throughout” their practices rather than at certain points in a career, and advocate walking as both a research method and as one of a number of facilitative practices for those who provide CPD with or for experienced artists. I also advocate for artist-led CPD initiatives and an administrative support agency for artists.