This thesis spans two fields - South African dance and the philosophy of humour - and attempts to link them through an understanding of their formal mechanisms. I attempt to establish two main ideas: that there is a need for a critical praxis in South African dance, and that humour in dance can be part of this process. In Chapter One, I discuss elements of the South African dance and theatre industries pre- and post-1994 towards arguing my first point (that South African dance would benefit from a critical praxis). I probe some of the challenges facing artists and describe howchoreographers are dealing thematically and stylistically (but not formally) with the concept of the 'New' South Africa. Through an investigation of concerns voiced by critics regarding choreographic form in the country, I argue that South African dance would benefit from critical formal investigations in dance-making. Finally, I discuss traditional views of humour in South African dance/theatre and in philosophy, which suggest that humour is predominantly seen as frivolous and unworthy of serious attenfion. In Chapter Two, I offer a defence for humour's more profound critical aspects, suggesting that humour can in fact be seen as critical 'thinking in action'. A discussion of theories about humour reveals that the basis for humour is the incongruous. A subsequent discussion of form in theatre and dance shows how the incongruous might work within dance form to create meta-dance. In this way, I attempt to link the two fields of humour and South African dance and to make the connection between the critical capaci~ies of meta-dance and those of humour. I suggest, in other words, that humour in dance can create a critical awareness, of the likes advocated in Chapter One. In Chapter Three, I discuss aspects of two works: my own This part should be uncomfortable (2008) and Nelisiwe Xaba's Plasticization (2004). The two analyses differ from each other as does the humour in both works. Despite the differences, I argue that humour in both works is operating on a critical level that includes a meta-level of signification.

The aim of this Diploma thesis is to create a media image of dancing issues in the selected Czech media in 2011. The research is focused on the selected Czech national dailies and weeklies and public broadcast media. The introductory chapter deals with the dance types which were identified in the content analysis and the development of dance in the country. The space is also dedicated to the Czech dance education, theater facilities, selected dance groups and the summary of existing studies of the dance phenomenon in the field of media studies. The second chapter is devoted to the methodology, the process and outcomes of the research part of the thesis. The quantitative content analysis was determined to be the method of the research part of this Diploma thesis. The third chapter is based on the results of a quantitative content analysis. The chapter is focused on the current dance reviewers, whose texts were identified in the research part of the thesis. Another part of the chapter is dedicated to the publishing of dance topics in the national media and the individual communication with selected personalities of Czech dance critics identified in the results of quantitative content analysis. The final text of the chapter focuses on comparing the identified outputs in the national and professional...