Dance Commons^™

Mary Grace Geise Bfa Graduating Presentation, Mary Grace Geise

Honors Theses

The Bathers takes inspiration from the late 19th-century impressionist painter Paul Cézanne and his series of paintings known as Bathers. Cézanne believed in the harmony between art, emotion, and nature. This piece explores the healing powers of nature and how it reflects the human experience, beauty, ugliness, and inner peace. The Bathers endure a journey to rebirth by ways of nature, traversing through moments of desertion, cleansing, surrender, ecstasy, and freedom.

Paige Mulick Bfa Dance Graduating Presentation, Paige Mulick

Honors Theses

Paige Mulick’s Graduating Presentation/Honors Thesis was created to be a piece that explored recurring dreams and built a dream on stage. Mulick developed this piece beginning with a concept, auditioning dancers, developing choreography, designing costumes, developing a lighting design, and rehearsing the piece for multiple months before it was performed on stage. As supporting research for this choreographic project, Mulick drew on her personal experiences, the experiences of her dancers, and readings from texts about the science and history of dreams. In addition to her work in choreography, Mulick took on the roles of Production Coordinator and Schedule Coordinator for …

I Am Because You Are, Avree Gundersen

Honors Theses

As a performer, I am honored to be trusted with the message that each choreographer decides to share. It is important that I keep an open mind, body, and soul which allows me to be a versatile mover. I find that my passion for dance is rooted in the essence of community and in sharing the space and energy with those around me. This builds a mutual trust and understanding that dance allows us to be vulnerable with each other. From that state of vulnerability comes strength, challenges, healing, and curiosity. I find that when fully immersed in the authenticity …

Graduating Presentation, Erin Bates

Honors Theses

tethered is a seven minute dance for film that explores the baggage that every individual carries with them on a daily basis. When walking through a crowd, it is hard to imagine the people, thoughts, and experiences others might be connected to, as if by a tether. This graduating presentation thesis is a culminating project which combines the knowledge and experience I have gained as an artist in dance, choreography, costuming, conceptualization, and most recently - film. The full portfolio includes my artist biography, dance and headshots, resume, personal artistic statement, as well as the project elements. These project elements …

“Graduating Presentation: Sunday”, Lauren Smith

Honors Theses

This portfolio fulfills the requirements for both my Department of Dance senior capstone, DANC 4800: Graduating Presentation, titled sunday, and my honors thesis for the Lee Honors College. DANC 4800 requires the senior BFA dance students to collaborate and produce a dance concert, usually held in-person, but was hosted virtually this year due to COVID-19. This capstone is designed for the students to create a portfolio worthy of sharing with the public and to aid in their career post-graduation. Responsibilities during this process include the choreographing an original work, managing production elements, promoting the concert, and coordinating with any personnel …

Graduating Presentation: Stones Beneath A River, Lauren Desmedt

Honors Theses

Stones Beneath a River is an eight-minute collaborative staged work through the eyes of a soloist who is exploring the concept that you are the product of the five people you surround yourself with. The soloist realizes the ebbs and flows of relationships and how to let go of relationships that no longer serve the individual. The graduating presentation is a culminating project of everything I have learned in the past four years. This includes collaboration, performance, choreography, production, conceptualization, costuming, and much more. My final portfolio consists of my dance and headshot, artistic statement, biography, resume, proposal application, essay, …

Graduating Presentations 2020: Six Point Convergence - Inner Workings, Jasmine Clark

Honors Theses

This portfolio serves as the fulfillment of both my honors thesis for the Lee Honors College, and my Department of Dance capstone for DANC 4800: Graduating Presentations. The typical process for DANC 4800 involves producing a concert in collaboration with the rest of the senior B.F.A. class, in which each member presents an original piece of choreography. Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 crisis and the switch to distance education, our concert was cancelled, and we were forced to abruptly stop rehearsing. In this transition, my project shifted from the creation of a new work to the revisiting of a solo …

Formulated Ataxia, Alexandra Renner

Honors Theses

Formulated Ataxia is an athletic and vigorous choreographic work based on the overall theme of recognizing order within chaos. With a cast of eleven dancers, I created a world that depicts the cycle of anxiety and how I seek organization within chaos. Choreographically, I toyed around with aspects of my neurological condition, synesthesia. Synesthesia can be described as a way of organization people and situations with numbers. Part of my research involved delving deep into the theory of chaos, as it mirrors the cyclical nature of my mental and emotional instability. This work invites a thrilling and exhausting experience for …

Stigma Mitigation Through Fine Arts, Kendall Owens

Honors Theses

Social stigma has plagued our society for centuries. It isolates groups of people based on erroneously defined characteristics causing stigmatized persons to be viewed as socially “abnormal”. This debarment from full social acceptance results in poor population health and well-being. Fine arts have been an integral component of society since the beginning of civilization; current and past research have found involvement in fine arts to improve health and well-being in many ways. In this project, relevant studies related to stigma, fine arts, and population health will be reviewed to support the argument that “fine arts combat and mitigate the …

Planning A Year End Formal, Anna Volkman

Honors Theses

The intended outcome of this project was to create an event not only to celebrate the successes of the Department of Dance at Western Michigan University, but also to gain visibility for the student-ran organization, Orchesis Dance Society while emphasizing the power art has to unify communities. This project is an example for the organization and the Department of Dance as to how events like this are important for visibility, community involvement, and the celebration of art’s power. I created a year-end formal as an example of how art brings communities of people together and should be celebrated in order …

A Written History Of The Western Michigan University Department Of Dance, Amy Russell

Honors Theses

This historical, introspective telling of the Western Michigan University’s Department of Dance examines its development in relation to dance in higher education and dance across the United States. An analysis of the development of dance at Western Michigan University in comparison to other universities and the dance field was conducted by studying professional influences in the field and evolving social, educational, and industry trends. Research from texts written by respected dance scholars was collected, and trade journals were consulted for information regarding current trends in the dance field. Archival research at the Western Michigan University Zhang Legacy Collections Center: Archives …

Impulse Graduating Presentation Of Erzsi Bernath, Erszebet Bernath

Honors Theses

No abstract available.

Western Michigan University’S Department Of Dance Marketing Plan, Cassandra Hartline

Honors Theses

The following report constitutes the formal marketing plan for the department of dance at Western Michigan University. This plan is intended to synthesize all of the marketing related information pertinent to Western’s dance department and provide easy one step access to this material at any time. The other purpose of this plan is to dictate the primary objectives the department is looking to accomplish through implementation of marketing tactics.

The first primary objective includes increasing visibility of the department of dance as a whole to both our primary and secondary target audiences; the second objective is to create innovative marketing …

Movement In The Classroom To Practice Sight Words, Galina Vander Meer

Honors Theses

This project encompassed the development and implementation of a unit plan that proved beneficial for first grade students in learning and practicing their sight words. Sight words are words that students are expected to read and write by the end of the school year. Every student learns differently, and using movement to enhance students’ learning can give kinesthetic learners a chance to grow. There were four lessons in the unit plan that incorporated different modes of learning, including movement and technology, and correlated to the first grade curriculum. By the end of the four lessons, the students collaboratively created a …

Recurring Ankle Injuries In Dancers, Alexis Jawny

Honors Theses

The purpose of this research, obtained from various Journals of Dance Medicine and Science, is to identify the cause of recurring ankle injuries in the dance community. Ankle injuries are the most common type of injury making up 50% of injuries in dancers. The main cause of recurring ankle injuries is improper diagnosing and then leading to the wrong treatment plan. The research focusses on how to prevent these improper diagnoses and what the dancer and specialty care professional (orthopedics, physical therapists, and rehabilitative medicine) can do to decrease the number of ankle injuries occurring and reoccurring in the dance …

Sarah Mills, Linda J. Hanes

Study Abroad Alumni

Orphanages in Panama are overflowing with kids wishing they had homes and a loving family, and often there’s an unmet need for a creative outlet for these atrisk children. One WMU student spent her summer to help rectify that situation through teaching orphaned children about expression through movement.

"Existing On A Continuum Of Intensity" Original Dance, Sarah Rot

Honors Theses

The following documents display the many aspects of my Graduating Dance Presentation, a culminating project of my choreographic, performance, and academic studies at Western Michigan University. This project displays my focus in both the fine arts, as well as the behavioral sciences, combining the two into a multi-dimensional project. This portfolio includes the technical, budgetary, and scheduling aspects of the project, as well as the analyses for my spatial design, music, and movement. Finally, there is a video of the dance portion of the project, which is the first piece featured in the concert.

Incite, In Mind, Ashley M. Deran

Honors Theses

I create because I am more fluent in the language of movement than any other dialect. Performing and choreographing serves as an outlet through which I convey my feelings, thoughts and opinions in the most direct and innate way possible. My capstone project illiustrates that movement and language hold equal potential to impact an audience. This comprehensive work serves as a culmination of artistic exploration and includes a video of original choreography entitled Under Ouse for the 2012 Graduating Presentation Concert, Incite, In Mind. Under Ouse explores weight and momentum as well as dependence in relationships while drawing from the …

At The Bus Stop: A Dance Film, Rachel Nadler

Honors Theses

Documents the experience of the author's learning process in creating a dance film.

A Kinematic And Kinetic Analysis Of First, Fourth, And Fifth Positions In The Classical Ballet Method, Mary Sue Hill

Masters Theses

The problem of the study was to compare electromyography (EMG) responses, ground reaction forces, and torques on female college-age dancers' knees in selected positions. Subjects were 18 female dancers, aged 18 to 30 years, with 6 subjects from each of three levels: Ballet Technique I, II, and III. The rectus femoris, vastus lateralis, and vastus medialis were analyzed in a grande plie in three positions, (1) first, (2) fourth, and (3) fifth, with two phases: (1) eccentric, and (2) concentric. No differences in force or EMG data were found for the concentric phases of the three positions. Significant differences were …

Choreography For The Camera: An Historical, Critical, And Empirical Study, Vana Patrice Carter

Masters Theses

This study investigates whether a dance choreographer's lack of knowledge of film, television, or video theory and technology, particularly the capabilities of the camera and montage, restricts choreographic communication via these media.

First, several film and television choreographers were surveyed. Second, the literature was analyzed to determine the evolution of dance on film and television (from the choreographers' perspective). Third, shooting and editing theories that maximize kinesthesis were examined.

Three primary conclusions were drawn: (1) Historically, choreographers of critically acclaimed film or television products seemed to understand major principles for shooting and montage; (2) choreographers who expanded their knowledge of …

A Comparison Of Selected Critical Writings Of Jean-Georges Noverre And Theophile Gautier And Their Continuing Influence On Dance, Kathleen Carol Tenniswood

Masters Theses

This thesis compares selected critical writings of Jean-Georges Noverre and Theophile Gautier and the impact these writings have had on dance and dancers. It also illustrates that the influence of these writings helped to shape the attitudes of the public concerning dance.

Research included primary sources, Noverre's Letters on Dancing and the Ballets and Gautier's The Romantic Ballet, and secondary sources which related to the specific area of dance. This study has contributed to the literature concerning Noverre and Gautiur and has examined their influence from their lives to the present time.

Principles Of Choreography As Exemplified In The Works Of George Balanchine, Virginia E. Bird

Masters Theses

This thesis presents an examination of George Balanchine's choreography. The examination is directed to three principles which are discussed in relation to his choreographic works.

The thesis is composed of six chapters and a summary including an introductory chapter. The second and third chapters discuss the historical background of George Balanchine as it relates to his choreographic development. The subject of the fourth chapter is Balanchine's musicality: how it was developed and how it is exemplified in his ballets. The fifth chapter is devoted to a discussion about Balanchine's neo-classical style. The last chapter examines Balanchine's ability to elucidate the …