abstract: Places That Shape You documents the development and experience of composing and presenting Places That Shape You, an evening-length dance performance examining the relationship between culture and urban spaces, inspired by the physical parameters that cities provide for our lives. In the performance, a blend of postmodern contemporary movement vocabulary, text, projection, a mattress, 12 phonebooks and an overhead projector were used to a tell a story through the contrast of objects both obsolete and current. Musical collaborator, Austen Mack, created an original score that worked in partnership with the movement, advancing the unfolding of concepts about public and private spaces, community, memory, expectation and abstraction. In collaboration with six dancers, the choreographer conducted movement and archival research investigating personal stories, urban theory, somatic experience, place-making, and memories left in the spaces people inhabit, culminating in an evening length performance. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Dance 2019

Contextual influence on movement was examined for a selection of everyday activities. Non-medicated and medicated Parkinson's disease (PD) patients and control subjects reached for a drinking glass target from both seated and standing postures, and stepped over a surface-level obstacle while walking on a constrained path. Contextual challenge was increased in the seated reach by filling the glass with water, in the standing reach by increasing the depth of the gap between the target and stationary foot position, and in the obstacle negotiation trials by raising the gait path surface above the floor level. In all cases, behaviour among PD patients was uniquely disrupted by contextual challenge. In addition, benefits of conventional medication therapy for PD patients were limited in challenging contexts. The results suggest an adapted movement control mechanism at work in PD patients, with the neural resources used in this adapted response prone for interference during contextual challenges. / xiv, 186 leaves ; 29 cm.

Changes in postural stability following sensory manipulation were investigated among Parkinson's disease patients and healthy older adults. Sixteen Parkinson's disease patients (PD; mean age 68.2 + 2.7 years) and sixteen older adults (control; mean age 67.6 + 2.6 years) performed quiet standing trials that progressed through baseline, sensory manipulation, and reintegration. Postural control following visual deprivation was assessed following alternate removal and reinsertion of visual information. Postural recovery following sensory incongruence was assessed following the termination of visual, somatosensory, and visuosomatosensory incongruence. PD patients' balance was disrupted following visual deprivation, and was initially disrupted when visual information was returned. PD patients' pstural recovery was comparable to control subjects when sensory incongruence ended. These findings indicate that situations of visual deprivation in particular are initially disruptive for PD patients, and imply initial difficulty for sensory reorganization in these patients. Our results provide insight into environmental situations imposing greater fall risk among the parkinsonian population. / xii, 81 leaves ; 29 cm.

The effects of postural threat on gait initiation and steady state gait among Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients and age-matched adults were examined. Ten healthy adults (CTRL; mean age= 68.8 ± 8.4, range 56-80 years) and ten PD patients (PDOFF / ON ; mean age= 69.7 ± 10.3, range 54-81 years) initiated gait and continued with steady state walking along a walkway of two different height conditions. PD patients were first tested in a non-medicated state followed by testing in a medicated state. The results showed that gait initiation and steady state gait deficits inherent to PD are exacerbated in a postural threatening environment. As well, medication efficacy for overcoming parkinsonian deficits may be context dependent. These findings confirm the dynamic nature of movement deficits characteristic of parkinsonian patients and provide empirical evidence for specific environments that can create movement difficulties for people with PD. / x, 59 leaves : ill. ; 29 cm. --

This artistic inquiry was conducted to explore specific processes in dance making and expand upon how I use my own history in the choreographic process. For my Movement Project Shedding Skin: Expose, Educate, and Evolve, I address my phenomenological experience as an African-American choreographer residing in Oregon. I expanded my choreographic processes after conducting a personal interview with choreographer Gesel Mason based on the Oral Historian Association's interview techniques and analyzed the creative process used by Mason in creating No Boundaries: Dancing the Visions of Contemporary Black Choreographers. This information and that gathered from utilizing the Liz Lerman Critical Response Process in choreographic feedback sessions led to the culmination of three solos, which I choreographed on my dancing body. These works address my identity through exploring African-American culture, identity in new environments, and experiences with racism, bias, and stereotypes. My Movement Project video footage is included as a Supplemental File.

The main objective of this work is to address the growing concern of balance loss and falls in the aging population. The initial aspect looks at balance control in a dynamic environment. Observation of age and gender influence on motor control will be made related to a new dynamic balance testing platform (DBTP). The topic of focus in the second portion relates to reaction time in an unstable environment. Research has found that balance improves when physical activity is a part of daily life for seniors. Physical activity influence on reaction time will be investigated with a new approach to exercise classes for seniors. Finally, an understanding of motor control and balance may be acquired and physical activity incorporated into the life of an elderly individual, however this will never fully prevent falls from taking place. A novel approach to injury prevention due to falls is explored in the final portion of this thesis. Study One - Using a newly constructed dynamic balance testing platform (DBTP), balance ability of three age groups was observed in two visual conditions and in relation to gender. Center of Gravity excursion (COGex) was observed to determine the differences between age groups and gender. Platform response patterns were also observed to asses the functionality of the DBTP as a new tool for balance testing. Three things were found: 1) Age differencesrelated to platform movement suggested that balance decreased with age in both visual conditions. 2) Gender differences between COGex found that males covered the most distance in both visual conditions when compared to females. 3) Gender differences between platform characteristics showed that females balanced longer and had lower platform movement rate than males, in both visual conditions. In order to consider the DBTP as a new tool for determination of balance ability, more refined tests are necessary. Study Two - Using pre- and post-training tests, the effects of a Fitball® exercise program on performance in eight subjects was documented. The exercise program focused on improving dynamic balance and postural stability of seniors. To evaluate progress-related changes, pre and post-tests in a dynamic environment were applied. Center of gravity (COG) excursion, catch success rate, and balance success rate were quantified, and synchronized data collection of 3D motion capture (VICON v8i) and ground reaction force (2 KISTLER platforms) was analyzed. During pre- and post-tests, participants stood in a walk-like stance and were asked to catch a weighted ball, which dropped unexpectedly. Results showed no significant changes in balance success rate. Significant improvements were found, however, in both COG control and catch success rate following training (p 0.05). Study Three - Falls in the elderly are inevitable so it is necessary to take precautions. This study looks at falls in relation to velocity characteristics of various locations on the trunk, and contrasts them to activities of daily living (ADL) in 13 individuals. A threshold level was established to be 2.0m/s, a value that exceeded all maximum resultant velocities for ADL, but was superseded by all fall activity resultant velocities. This suggests that a life vest, which responds similar to a vehicle airbag, may be created and worn that will deploy past a threshold of 2.0m/s with the incidence of a fall. / xiii, 91 leaves : ill. ; 29 cm. --

The sensory control of movements has been shown to be impaired with Parkinson’s disease. I investigated the task, reach-to-eat, in which advancing of the limb towards a target is guided by vision and withdrawal of the grasped target to the mouth is guided by somatosensation (i.e., haptics and proprioception). Parkinson’s diseased subjects display an alteration in the balance of visual and proprioceptive guidance, such that they display increased visual fixation on the target prior to movement onset that persists following the grasp. Music therapy can normalize the balance between visual and proprioceptive guidance on the reach-to-eat task, as visual fixation with the target prior to movement onset is consistent with controls, and disengagement following grasp no longer differs from mild Parkinson’s disease subjects. These results are the first to demonstrate that music can have an ameliorating effect on the sensory impairments seen in the control of forelimb movements in Parkinson’s disease. / xiv, 147 leaves : ill. ; 29 cm. --

The effect of concurrent music on gait was investigated amongst Parkinson‟s disease (PD) patients and age-matched control subjects. Ten people (mean age 66.6 ± 6.5 years) with idiopathic Parkinson‟s disease and ten healthy age-matched (mean age 65.4 ± 6.3 years) control subjects completed steady state gait, dual task and obstacle negotiation trials in two differing test conditions; no music and whilst listening to music. Testing conditions were counterbalanced between subjects. The gait performance of PD patients was detrimentally affected by concurrently listening to music during steady state gait and obstacle negotiation, an effect that was further compounded in the dual task context. These findings imply that listening to music concurrent to gait may increase the attentional cost for PD patients. The findings of these studies have implications for patients, who may be at greater risk of falls in multi-task situations. / xi, 113 leaves ; 29 cm. --

In der vorliegenden Forschungsarbeit nehme ich einen Aspekt der aktivistischen Bildung unter die Lupe, nämlich die Frage nach der Diversität und Inklusivität im Bildungsbereich der linken sozialen Bewegungen in Deutschland. Trotz der scheinbaren Selbstverständlichkeit, dass die linke Bildung weit zugänglich und egalitär sein sollte, scheinen die Ausschluss- und Hierarchisierungsmechanismen der öffentlichen und privaten Bildungssysteme sich im aktivistischen Bildungsbereich zu wiederholen und zu reproduzieren. Wegen der illusorischen Gleichheit und Einheit in den linken Einsichten und im Lebensstil bleiben diese internen Logiken der linken sozialen Bewegungen meistens unsichtbar und unreflektiert. Mit diesem thematischen Schwerpunkt oszilliert meine Forschungsarbeit an der Schnittstelle zwischen Bewegungsforschung, emanzipatorischer Pädagogikforschung und einer Untersuchung zu sozialen Diskriminierungen und zur Inklusion. Den theoretischen Kontext meiner Recherche bildet der Bereich der politischen Bildung und des informellen Lernens. Ich nehme dabei sowohl die Debatten zu den Beteiligungsstrukturen und sozialer Ungleichheit im Bildungsbereich in den Blick, als auch die Forschung zu sozialen Bewegungen in Bezug auf interne Machtverhältnisse und bewegungsinterne Debatten zu Hierarchien sowie der Umverteilung von Wissen und Ressourcen innerhalb von aktivistischen Kreisen. / In this dissertation, I take a closer look at one aspect of activist education, namely the question of diversity and inclusivity in the educational work of left social movements in Germany. Despite the apparent truism that left education should be widely accessible and egalitarian, the mechanisms of exclusion and hierarchization proper to the public and private education systems seem to be replicated and reproduced in the activist education sector. Because of the illusions of equality and unity associated with leftist insights and lifestyles, the internal logics of left social movements remain mostly invisible and unreflected. With this thematic focus, my research oscillates at the interface of movement research, emancipatory pedagogical research and an investigation of social discrimination and inclusion. The theoretical context of my research is the field of political education and informal learning. I focus on debates about participation structures and social inequality in education, as well as on research into social movements, their internal power relations and movement-internal debates on hierarchies and the redistribution of knowledge and resources within activist circles.

This dissertation examines experimental dance in New York City in the 1990s. Earlier periods of American concert dance have received significant scholarly attention to the historical, political, and aesthetic aspects of dance practice. Moreover, certain periods of modern dance — especially the 1930s and the 1960s — have been analyzed as moments of significant change, and the artists that emerged from the Judson Dance Theater in particular have held a significant place in the theorizing and historicizing of dance in the United States. However, experimental dance practices of the early 21st century demonstrate dramatically different aesthetics, approaches, and circumstances of production than those of earlier periods, including their Judson forebears. This project argues for understanding the 1990s as a period of significant change for dance, one with continuing resonance for the decades that follow.This project uses the term "downtown dance" to situate experimental dance in New York City as a community of practitioners, rather than as a particular set of aesthetic or artistic practices. Each of the four chapters focuses on an aspect in this period that would define how dance looked, how dancers practiced, and what shaped the artistic values and priorities of this community. The first chapter presents a history of the dance-service organization Movement Research. Tracing the history of the organization from its founding in 1978 through the establishment of its most influential programs in the 1990s — including the Movement Research Performance Journal and the performance series Movement Research at the Judson Church — the chapter locates Movement Research as a central entity in building the community and shaping theaesthetics of downtown dance. The second chapter examines the effects of the AIDS crisis on dance in the 1990s. As AIDS entered its second decade, it collided with and magnified downtown dance's complex relationship with emotion. This chapter draws on scholarship of AIDS' relationship to visual art, theater, and activism, as well as close readings of several works — by artists including Donna Uchizono, Neil Greenberg, John Jasperse, RoseAnne Spradlin, Jennifer Monson, and DD Dorvillier — most not generally understood as "AIDS dances," to argue that AIDS' impact generated a fundamental shift in the role of emotion in downtown dance. The third chapter examines how shifts in arts funding in the 1990s connected to a major restructuring in production models for dance. This chapter connects the history of the modern dance company with both aesthetic and economic developments over the course of the 20th century, arguing that the company should be understood as a combined economic-aesthetic system. Furthermore, the chapter demonstrates the new model for dance production that began to take hold in the 1990s in the wake of widespread funding and economic shifts: the project model. Teasing out the complex web of funding for dance, this chapter makes extensive use of dance periodicals; several funding trend analyses from organizations including Dance/USA, National Endowment for the Arts, Dance/NYC, and private corporate and foundation reports; and the archives of the presenting institution Danspace Project. The final chapter looks at how the shifts in economic models for dance discussed in the previous chapter connected to changes in training and bodily technique of dancers and performers. Specifically investigating the history of "release technique," this chapter examines how attitudes toward technique and training in downtown dance in the 1990s shifted the connection between movement practices and creative output, reconceiving the role of the dancer in the dancer-choreographer relationship.