Return to search

Finding Voice, The Body Speaks: Original Work and Counter-Hegemonic Performance and Practice

Graduate study in theatre has allowed me to understand my work as an artist and educator from a critical academic perspective. I have researched Butoh as a model for original work that employs multiculturalism against hegemonic control of personal identity. From my own training experience, I am recognizing Capoeira, Contact Improvisation, and Devising processes (co-creation or collaborative creative process in dance) as counter-hegemonic forms and techniques that share a physical/philosophical emphasis on communal engagement, improvisation, circularity and repetition. Looking at them together provides points of intersection for me to examine them as an artist, while posing questions for cross-cultural investigations. In this process, it has been crucial to consider my personal relationship with these forms along with the aesthetics and values associated
with them, their potential use in academic contexts, and their support as practices to match theoretical discourse towards a pluralistic and multicultural society.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:vcu.edu/oai:scholarscompass.vcu.edu:etd-5890
Date01 January 2017
CreatorsThornton, Matthew Paul
PublisherVCU Scholars Compass
Source SetsVirginia Commonwealth University
Detected LanguageEnglish
Typetext
Formatapplication/pdf
SourceTheses and Dissertations
Rights© Matthew Paul Thornton

Page generated in 0.0018 seconds