This thesis theorises the practice of three female British dance artists, Miranda Tufnell, Helen Poynor and Hilary Kneale. It engages with the central idea that a combined practice of creative writing and movement improvisation enhances the artist's articulation and assimilation of the experience of dance, consequently developing a deeper connection to the experiences of the body in relation to one's environment. Refuting common perception that the inadequacy of language fails to embody the experience of dance, I argue that the approaches used by these women contribute to a distillation of experience thus revealing the essence of movement. Importantly, it focuses on practices that have been born of the feminist consciousness that facilitated the development of both British postmodern dance and women's writing since 1970. As a result, I utilise Elizabeth Grosz's notions of freedom and writing otherwise, and David Abram's Merleau-Pontian ideas on participation to underpin theoretical endeavours. Fieldwork, in the form of interviews and the participation in/observation of various performances, workshops and training programmes, run by each of the dance artists studied, is presented. The development of my own practice resulting from these enquires is documented, analysed and appraised throughout the thesis. The Introduction outlines research questions addressed and methodological approaches undertaken before considering the historical context of each artist's unique practice. Each case study is preceded by a chapter that identifies biographical circumstances, creative choices, and socio-political conditions that have influenced the careers of these dance artists. The function of writing as a bridge between the subjective embodied experience and objective analysis of that experience is examined alongside an assessment of the scope of each practice as a method of harvesting a [re]connection with nature and its power to generate self-affirming stories. Finally, the conclusion offers thoughts on the difficulties of such an endeavour within the framework of contemporary thought that maintains its stance on the split between [body]dance and [mind]written language.

abstract: ABSTRACT This narrative study traces the development of a dance curriculum as it unfolded in an inner city public school. It examines the curriculum emergence through intersecting worlds of artistic practice, improvisation, lived experience and context. These worlds were organized and explored through themes of gender, emotion, longing and intersections and examined through lenses of critical theory, aesthetics and currere. It examines the interior dialogue within one individual educator who is both a dance artist and a teacher and reflects the differing and at times conflicting perspectives within those two positions. The curriculum acquired the name "curriculum by accident" because several highly unexpected events contributed to its development. The students were initially suspicious and hostile and presented significant resistance to classical dance as an artistic form. This resistance was circumvented through creative process and improvisation. The act of improvisation became both a way to approach teaching and curriculum development and as an artistic process. Improvisation courts chance, the unplanned and the accidental through a structure in which the unknown is as valued as the known. The school setting is one full of known subjects; curriculum, settings, procedures, people and expectations. Curriculum by accident was a circumstance in which a known (school) and an unknown (the evolving curriculum) melded. The development of curriculum by accident was a response to an array of intuitive and serendipitous cues. The curriculum seeped through the cracks of school experience and transmuted into a curriculum that was very successful. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Curriculum and Instruction 2010

Planejamento, controle, coordenação, padronização foram e continuam sendo importantes para a efetividade das práticas no ambiente organizacional. Entretanto, novas lentes de análise são necessárias para contribuir na compreensão da atuação dos indivíduos nas organizações, e uma destas novas propostas, apresentada neste trabalho, consiste na improvisação e sua articulação com a aprendizagem. A complexidade do mundo contemporâneo do trabalho muitas vezes exige a capacidade de o sujeito atuar na resolução de problemas emergenciais. Mesmo organizações com alta tecnologia, planejamento e padronização, em determinadas ocasiões podem precisar improvisar. O presente estudo tem por objetivo descrever e compreender os processos de improvisação e possíveis articulações com a aprendizagem em cervejarias artesanais do Brasil e Alemanha. A abordagem é qualitativa, com base em um estudo multicaso realizado em dez cervejarias artesanais brasileiras e alemãs, nas quais coletou-se dados por meio de entrevistas semiestruturadas, observação direta, análise de documentos. A pesquisa delimitou-se a partir de dois eixos norteadores: improvisação e teoria da aprendizagem situada. Entendese o conceito de improviso como a ação que ocorre de forma extemporânea, sem espaço para planejamento. A improvisação não ocorre sem uma base de conhecimentos prévios, pois há a necessidade de considerar a influência direta das normas, contexto, forma de participação e experiência sobre o tema do improviso. Concluiu-se que na sua articulação com a improvisação, a aprendizagem pode ocorrer: a) antes do improviso – já que o indivíduo ou grupo baseiam-se nas estruturas mínimas, nos conhecimentos previamente adquiridos, normas, regras, experiências; esta base de conhecimentos molda o improviso a ser realizado; b) durante o improviso – como uma forma de aprendizagem em tempo real, são criados novos caminhos, formas e estruturas; existe a procura por novos conhecimentos para resolver o problema dentro de um período curto; experiências, ações e mudanças convergem no tempo; c) após o improviso – permanência na memória; possibilidade de reflexão sobre erros e acertos na improvisação, busca de outras soluções possíveis. / Elements such as planning, control, coordination, standardization, were and are important for effectiveness in the organizational environment. New perspectives are necessary to contribute to understand the performance of individuals in organizations, and one of these new proposals, presented here, is the improvisation and its relationship with learning. The complexity of the contemporary world often requires the ability of the people to act solve critical and urgent problems. Even organizations with high technology, planning and standardization, on some occasions may need to improvise. This study aims to describe and understand the processes of improvisation and the possible links with learning in craft breweries located in Brazil and Germany. The approach is qualitative, based on a multicase study conducted in ten craft breweries in Brazil and Germany. The data was collected through semi-structured interviews, direct observation, document analysis. The research was delimited from these two themes: situated learning and improvisation. It is argued in this research that improvisation requires some structure and prior knowledge, because there is a need to consider the influence of norms, context, forms of participation and experience in the field of improvisation. It was concluded that in its articulation with improvisation, learning can occur: a) before the improvisation - as based on the minimum structures, the previously acquired knowledge, norms, rules, experiences, and this base of knowledge shapes the improvisation; b) during the improvisation - as a form of real-time learning, people created: new ways, shapes and structures; there is a search for new knowledge to solve the problem within a short time; experiences, actions and changes converge in time; c) after the improvisation – the performance stay in memory; reflection on mistakes and successes in improvisation; search for other possible solutions.

Este memorial apresenta os processos de composição de peças escritas durante o Mestrado na UFRGS, integrando técnicas para gerar materiais de alturas e ritmos com improvisações espontâneas ao violão. Esta pesquisa em composição musical teve como referências obras de György Ligeti, Maurice Ravel, Bela Bartók, Morton Feldman e Alberto Ginastera, Astor Piazzolla e Radamés Gnattali. Os textos e as composições de Antônio Carlos Borges-Cunha e Celso Loureiro Chaves contribuíram para as reflexões sobre a formação técnica do compositor na atualidade, bem como para a importância do desenvolvimento de uma identidade estilística. Para tanto, minha experiência com instrumentista e improvisador - atuante, principalmente em gêneros da música regional do Rio Grande do Sul - foi incorporada na invenção e desenvolvimentos de materiais. / This memorial presents the compositional processes of pieces written during the Masters at UFRGS, integrating techniques to generate materials of heights and rhythms with spontaneous improvisations on the guitar. This research in music composition used as references the works of György Ligeti, Maurice Ravel, Bela Bartók, Morton Feldman and Alberto Ginastera, Astor Piazzolla and Radamés Gnattali. The texts and songs by Antônio Carlos Borges-Cunha and Celso Loureiro Chaves added to the discussions about the technical training of the composers today, as well as about the importance of developing a stylistic identity. For that, my experience as an instrumentalist and an improviser - acting especially in genres of Rio Grande do Sul's traditional music - was incorporated to the invention and development of materials.

Esta pesquisa situa-se no campo das criações artísticas interdisciplinares, envolvendo as relações entre teatro e cinema. Seu objetivo é explorar as possibilidades de contribuição entre essas duas artes a fim de destacar possíveis intercâmbios de procedimentos criativos entre as diferenças de suas especificidades de linguagem. De um lado, há a colaboração da improvisação teatral como um dispositivo de composição de um roteiro de cinema. Do outro, há as metodologias do set de filmagem como um gatilho de criação cênica. Assim, intenciona-se a construção de uma escritura cênica a partir de improvisações. Esta propõe-se a não ser exclusivamente teatral e a ter um potencial cinematográfico. O corpus de análise desta investigação é a elaboração de um experimento cênico e de um curta-metragem híbridos, ambos gerados em um processo colaborativo. A metodologia de pesquisa dá-se em três etapas. Primeiramente o desenvolvimento será calcado no estudo das especificidades de ambas linguagens, nutrido por ideias de teóricos do campo das artes cênicas como Walter Benjamin, Patrice Pavis e Roland Barthes, assim como por teóricos do campo do cinema, tais como André Bazin, Cristian Metz e Susan Sontag. A segunda etapa, de caráter empírico, dará origem ao corpus de análise da pesquisa e será realizada no período de seis meses. Chamada de Experimento Interdisciplinar, a prática contou com o elenco de cinco atores e uma equipe de diretores convidados e contemplou a produção de um experimento cênico e de um curta-metragem. A terceira etapa apoia-se na análise do experimento interdisciplinar e de seus resultados. / This research is situated on the field of interdisciplinary artistical creations involving the relationship between theater and cinema. Its goal is to explore the possibilities of contribution between these two arts in order to highlight possible interchanges of creative procedures between the differences in their language specificities. On one side, there is the collaboration of theatrical improvisation as a composition device for a movie script. On the other side, there are the filming set methodologies as a scenic creation trigger. Therefore, a scenic scripture is intended to be built from improvisations. This is proposed not to be exclusively theatrical and to have a cinematographic potential. The body of analysis of this investigation is the elaboration of a hybrid scenic experiment and a short movie, both generated in a collaborative process. The research methodology is given in three stages. First the development will be centered in the study of both languages’ specificities, nurtured by ideas from theorists of the scenic arts field, such as Walter Benjamin, Patrice Pavis and Roland Barthes, as well as by theorists from the cinema field, such as André Bazin, Cristian Metz and Susan Sontag. The second stage, of empirical character, will give birth to the body of analysis of the research and will be performed in the period of six months. Named “Interdisciplinary Experiment”, the practice is supported by a casting of five actors and a team of guest directors and has contemplated the production of a scenic experiment and a short movie. The third stage leans on the analysis of the interdisciplinary experiment and its results.

Improvisation är ett ämne som teoretiserats och dissikerats inom jazzpedagogiken. Undervisningen utgår ofta från att lära sig rätt skalor och arpeggion över rätt ackord medan forskare och framstående jazzmusiker framhäver plankning och transkription som viktigt för att lära sig improvisera. Syftet med detta arbete var att undersöka hur plankning och transkription kan utveckla improvisationsförmågor. Metoden för detta arbete var att spela in mig själv när jag improviserar, planka fyra jazzsolon och sedan spela in mig själv igen för att analysera eventuella skillnader i mitt spel utifrån det jag plankat. Studien tyder på att plankning och transkription utvecklar improvisationsförmågor avseende fundamentala stildrag inom jazz såsom timing och frasering. I detta arbete har jag kommit fram till att plankning och transkribering är effektiva medel för att utveckla ett jazzspråk, men de bör kombineras med vedertagna metoder såsom Chord Scale Approach (CSA).

Both researchers and jazz professionals believe the expansion of jazz performance programs in universities over the last several decades warrants a need for critical research into the processes and experiences by which jazz students develop into professionals. Although the number of colleges offering degrees in jazz performance has risen dramatically during this time, instructional approaches remain relatively standardized throughout the schools. The purpose of this study was to investigate the experiences of five working professional New York City jazz musicians in an attempt to better understand how they learned to improvise and develop their individual voices. These musicians included Joe Lovano, Otis Brown III, Francisco Mela, James Weidman, and Matthew Wilson. In this study I used Wenger's (2008) theory of Communities of Practice as the theoretical framework for an exploration of the meaning, practice, community, and identity of these five professional jazz musicians. Data collected for this case study entailed interviews, observations, and collection of artifacts. The interview data provided by the participants were transcribed and coded for the purpose of identifying emerging themes. The themes were then woven into a narrative based on the participants' responses to a series of open-ended questions. The themes that emerged included auto-biographical recollections of the participants' earliest musical experiences. The musicians spoke openly about their childhoods and various aspects of the context of their learning experiences on the way to becoming jazz professionals. The discussion included the musicians' views on communicating through improvisation, mentoring, and the value of relationships created through involvement in a jazz community on the development of a unique improvisational voice. Two major themes emerged in data analysis. First, Joe Lovano and Us Five experienced university jazz educations but in interviews and observation, the musicians seemed not dependent on, or even utilizing that part of their past. Instead, the musicians strongly emphasized community and community building, professional on-stage experience, and longitudinal exposure and life study that many college jazz majors may never experience. Second, the musicians eschewed certain viewpoints within the music profession, within university music programs, and within the public sector that musicians can simply blend technical prowess with diligent study of a prescribed curriculum to become a professional jazz musician. Here the interviewees uniformly suggested that a unique, individual voice was necessary for acceptance within the field. Finally, I present an example based upon the data from this study of how Wenger's (2008) community of practice could be used to develop a new understanding of the process of jazz improvisation and the development of a unique improvisational voice in an institutional setting.

Este trabalho apresenta o portfólio de composições, com partituras, gravações de áudio e vídeo, e descrição dos processos composicionais, integrado pelas peças: Conversando a Gente se Entende, para sexteto com flauta, clarineta, violino, violoncelo, piano e percussão; Trova, para viola, fagote e piano; Oração, para quarteto de trombones; Trio para Madeiras, para flauta, clarineta e fagote; e Páscoa de San Juan, para viola, baixo elétrico, fagote, voz, com movimentação cênica e parte gravada. As motivações que nortearam o processo composicional partiram do princípio da indeterminação, utilizando improvisação como ferramenta composicional. As peças resultaram de improvisações e planejamentos em diferentes níveis durante o processo composicional. São enfocados os procedimentos acrescentados à minha prática composicional, como o uso de précomposição com planejamento da forma, e reaproveitamento de materiais oriundos de improvisação. São debatidos ainda alguns aspectos ligados ao uso de indeterminação e improvisação. / This study aims at presenting a portfolio of compositions comprising worksheets, video and audio recordings, and the description of the composition processes of the following works: Conversando a Gente se Entende - flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano, percussion; Trova - viola, bassoon, piano; Oração - 4 trombones; Trio para Madeiras - flute, clarinet, bassoon; and Páscoa de San Juan - viola, electric bass, bassoon, voice, scenic movement, and pre-recorded part. The motivational aspects found in the composition process are characterized by the principle of indetermination, through which improvisation is used as a tool in the process of composing. The works result from the use of improvisation and planning at different levels during the composition process. The present study also focus on the procedures added to my personal practice in composition, such as the use of precomposition with shape planning, and the reuse of material found in improvisation. Moreover, it discusses some aspects related to the use of indetermination and improvisation.

xxv, 492 p. ： music / This study applies Schenkerian theory to Chet Baker's jazz improvisations in order to uncover the melodic, harmonic, and contrapuntal hallmarks of his style. Analyses of short excerpts taken from multiple recorded improvisations reveal Baker's improvisational vocabulary, which includes recurring underlying structures that Baker embellishes in a wide variety of ways and places in a wide variety of harmonic contexts. These analyses also explore other traits (rhythmic, timbral, etc.) that appear in Baker's improvisations throughout his career. The dissertation culminates in three illustrative analyses that demonstrate the ways in which Baker constructs single, unified improvisations by masterfully controlling the long-range voice-leading tendencies of his improvised lines. As he weaves his vocabulary into these lines, he creates improvisations that unfold in a way that is logical, satisfying in the fulfillment of expectations, and motivically cohesive on multiple levels of structure. / Committee in charge: Steve Larson， Co-Chair； Jack Boss， Co-Chair； Stephen Rodgers， Member Anne Dhu McLucas Member； George Rowe， Outside Member； Timothy Clarke， External Contributing Member

This research uses dance and film to investigate the creation and conveyance of a kinesthetic experience of place. The choreographer, dancers, and videographer participating in the study aimed to create a kinesthetic experience of place by engaging the senses in a sensory experience of place and exploring the different feeling states of place. The study utilized choreographic methodologies of site-specific dance and screendance to facilitate a creative process rehearsed, performed, and filmed in the Oregon Dunes National Recreation area at Eel Creek. The footage from this choreographic process was edited into a screendance intended to convey a kinesthetic experience of place to viewers. The pilot study, At Eel Creek, and the final screendance, ensō, can be viewed through supplemental files included with this document. The evaluation of the study has resulted in key discoveries into the components necessary for the creation and conveyance of a kinesthetic experience of place.