Dance Commons^™

Fall Faculty Dance Concert

Dance Programs

No abstract provided.

Dancing Mi Cultura: The Production Of Ethnic And National Identity In Midwestern Mexican-Americans Through The Performance Of Ballet Méxicano Folklórico, Katrina J. Frank

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis studies how Mexican Americans living in the northwest suburbs of Chicago produce connections to their Mexican heritage and culture through the performance of ballet Mexicano folklórico. Through ethnographic interviews of current and former folklórico dancers, as well as participant observation of adult folklórico dance practices, I contextualize the experiences of the interviewees using the anthropological theories of habitus, continuous and discontinuous selves, double-consciousness, liminality, and collective effervescence, as well as the works of Simone de Beauvoir, Michel Foucault, and Frantz Fanon, with the discussion of folklórico as an art, and the concept of institutional use of dance as …

Confidence In The Classroom: A Guide For Teaching Dance To Exceptional Learners, Brianna Janae Denmark

Master's Theses

This study focuses on highlighting the need for proper training for dance educators faced with teaching classes that include students with exceptional needs. Few dance classes will openly welcome or properly accommodate exceptional learners, which means that these learners are presented with minimal opportunities to participate in this extracurricular activity that promotes self-expression and socialization with their peers. Wanting to create more opportunities for exceptional learners to participate in dance, the researcher sought to find a solution that could be applied to multiple programs or organizations. The researcher realized that teaching exceptional learners can be viewed as daunting or uncomfortable …

The Dancer's Unspoken Superpower: Consciousness Of Mind And Body, Mandy Fang

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

“Dancing is visceral, but it is more than just physical,” my jazz professor Steven Sofia likes to say. Dancing is an art of multitasking; it’s interdisciplinary in that it is physically, but also mentally overwhelming on a dancer’s conscious mind. Psychologically, dancers can be more efficient in how they approach training, but there’s a lack of prioritizing the conscious connection between mind and body in the dance community.

So, what mindfulness tactics can contemporary dancers utilize to most efficiently bridge their conscious mind with their physical body? Made possible with funding from the Center of Undergraduate Excellence, I attended Alonzo …

Blackfriars Fall Dance Concert 2023 Poster, Providence College

Playbill and Promotion

Providence College Department of Theatre, Dance & Film

Angell Blackfriars Theatre

Blackfriars Fall Dance Concert 2023

November 17, 2023, 7:30pm

November 18, 2023, 2pm

Choreographers: Brian Jones, Kat Nasti, Wendy Oliver, Ashley Rich, Colin Stilwell & Laura Bennett

In Photo: Bridget Maynard '23

Photo credit: Trevor Elliott, Kat Nasti, Kate Salvato, and Laurel Franczek

Blackfriars Fall Dance Concert 2023 Playbill, Providence College

Playbill and Promotion

Providence College Department of Theatre, Dance & Film

Angell Blackfriars Theatre

Blackfriars Fall Dance Concert 2023

November 17, 2023, 7:30pm

November 18, 2023, 2pm

Choreographers: Brian Jones, Kat Nasti, Wendy Oliver, Ashley Rich - Omisore, Colin Stilwell & Laura Bennett, Ann Huyck,

Dancers: Jade Bocciarelli, Taylor Gifford, Caroline Guanci, Amanda Kleinman, Olivia Krupa, Allie Long, Grace Sittig, Olivia Dailey, Heidy Guzman, Caroline Puccini, Alyssa Rago, Katie Cota, Alyssa Dalto, Gabriella Girard, Emma Daigneau, Liddy Graney, Katie Kudla, Emma Preston, Olivia Egan

Fall Dance Concert (November 9-11, 2023), Lindenwood University

Student Dance Programs

Event program for the Fall Dance Concert (November 9-11, 2023).

Fusion Dance: Exploring Identity And Social Possibilities, Katie Taylor

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

In this collection of personal essayettes about partner dance, particularly fusion dance, I explore themes of discovering social possibilities, evolving identity, finding connection, healing shame and celebrating joy. Fusion dance, besides being a partner dance, often seems to defy definition, but I sought to capture my experiences of attending fusion events, falling in love with the dance, navigating ups and downs on the path of becoming a dancer and allowing it to transform the way that I view myself and the world. In the interdisciplinary, exploratory spirit of the Honors College, I essay (in the original sense of “to try” …

Masters At Chapman, Julianne O'Brien, Ido Tadmor, Dwight Roden

Dance Programs

No abstract provided.

Body Movement Syllabus - The City College Of New York - Department Of Theatre - Prof Timothy Allen, Timothy J. Allen

Open Educational Resources

This course will explore three modules of learning.

1. Anatomy and Psycho-Physical Centering, will explore two foundations: (1) the start of our research and practical application of the human anatomy in regards to how our body moves; and (2) your ability to tune into movement centers within the body by utilizing Chakra as a guiding study. Please note: Anatomy will be a continuous study throughout the entire semester.

2. THE SECOND MODULE, Partnered Connection, will focus on partnering with lifts, counter-balances, falls, and rolls that will build to a partnering sequence of the tools presented.

3. THE LAST MODULE, Global Archetypes, …

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A Dance Program Focused On Health Promotion, Nadalie Valdez, Jazminne Orozco Arteaga

Summer 2023 Virtual OTD Capstone Symposium

This capstone project aimed to develop a dance program focused on health promotion, with the intent to encourage physical, mental, and social-emotional well-being. In response to the rise in childhood obesity and associated comorbidities, especially among underserved communities, the goal of this project was to provide opportunities for children of all backgrounds to establish healthy habits and routines.

Keeping Both History And Magic Alive: Judson Dance Theater: The Work Is Never Done (2018) At The Museum Of Modern Art, Beatrice M. Johnson

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the exhibition, historical reconstruction, and museum acquisition and conservation of postmodern dance, with the 2018 MoMA exhibition Judson Dance Theater: The Work Is Never Done as a case study. This exhibition considered the history and legacy of 1960s postmodern dance through a presentation of artifacts and archives alongside a continuous program of live, in-gallery performances. The Work Is Never Done catalyzed questions in the three areas of dance exhibition, reconstruction, and conservation and, as this thesis argues, represents a unique example of preserving canonical dance history while creating a generative context for spontaneity, experimentation, and reinvention.

Giftedness In Dance: Equitable Audition Procedures & Program Development, Lauren Case

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This study explored the perspectives of dance specialists and gifted and talented resource teachers in a large school district in the southeastern region of the United States. Six educators who teach dance, work in auditioning and identification of gifted and talented dancers, and provide service options for gifted and talented identified dance students were interviewed in this qualitative study which focused on best practices in gifted and talented dance identification. Dance specialists’ perspectives of audition structures and characteristics of dance giftedness were examined. Three themes emerged from interviewees in this field of education: audition structures, opportunities and access of dance …

Follow My Lead: Partner Dancing As An Intervention For Couples Therapy, Ashmita Biswas

Dance/Movement Therapy Theses

Couples seek therapy for various reasons, including managing or navigating conflict, aggression, and infidelity, separation or divorce issues, and navigating psychological disorders or medical issues. Differences in communication style can also contribute to conflicts in couples, and much of this communication happens on a subconscious, non-verbal level. There are various components of partner dancing like,. This thesis proposes utilizing the elements of partner dance, such as nonverbal communication through the roles of lead and follow, use of music for synchronicity, spatial proximity, gesture and posture as interventions in dance/movement therapy with couples. Dance/movement therapy can help individuals be more aware …

Embracing Unity: Reconnecting With The Self In Contemporary Culture Through Dance/Movement Therapy Values, Dilara Akpinar

Dance/Movement Therapy Theses

This thesis explores the interplay between a sense of wholeness, environmental factors, inner conflict and injuries, and the transformative journey towards rediscovering one's sense of Self on a psyche somatic level. This paper delves into the significance of the Self as a central archetype in the human psyche: the totality of one's consciousness, encompassing both the conscious and unconscious aspects of an individual. By recognizing and confronting the unconscious aspects– of inner conflicts, polarities and perceptions– individuals can start to develop a healthier sense of self, based on self-acceptance and self-compassion. The interconnection between movement through dance/movement therapy values and …

Dancers Of The Book: Yemenite, Persian, And Kurdish Jewish Dance, Quinn Bicer

Anthós

Despite the cultural significance of dance in Jewish communities around the world, research into Middle Eastern Jewish dance outside of the modern nation-state of Israel is sorely under-researched. This article aims to help rectify this by focusing on Yemenite, Persian/Iranian, and Kurdish Jewish dance and explores how these dancers have functioned and been received within the societies they have been a part of. The methods that have gone into this article are a combination of analyzing primary source recorded dances and existing secondary source research into the dance of these communities. Through these methods, this article reveals how Yemenite, Iranian, …

Soul Furnace / فرن الأرواح, Isa Ghanayem

Masters Theses

“This is the good washing, this is (the washing) which separates the dirty body from the pure body. This is like silver mixed with lead, it is separated from it by this (process): one makes for it a cupel of bones, which is what is called the “head of the dog” and of which the common name is kūja-which is the crucible—and this must be made of burnt bones. One melts the silver in it, one gives it a strong fire: the cupel will absorb and receive the lead, the fire will make its subtle (part) fly away and extirpate …

A Poetically Embodied Out-Of-Body Experience, Natalie Sunseri

Honors Theses

The choreographic project Euphoric Dysphoria emerged as a response to the choreographer’s gender dysphoria and personal observations about the way that feminine-presenting people are perceived and approached in dance spaces, particularly in comparison to masculine-presenting people. The dance originated as a choreographic exploration of extreme femininity and masculinity, and it evolved into a manifestation of performative gender and experiential gender. The choreographer was guided by her poem “Uneven Envy” when developing movement and building relationships among the dancers. She considered the contributions of Judith Butler, a scholar who writes about gender manifesting in the body due to socialization, and Laura …

Dance/Movement Therapy Used As An Intervention To Heal Racial Trauma Within The Black Community: A Literature Review, Jennifer Noboise

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

The history of dance within the black community has served an important role while living through a racist and discriminatory society. Dance has been used to express anger, grief, and joy during hardships and moments of rejoicing from the black experience. African American people have endured years of trauma and abuse from oppressive systems. Research has been conducted to demonstrate that dance/movement therapy has been effective in treating those who have experienced a form of trauma since the trauma is stored in the body. Examining trauma symptoms such as anxiety, depression, and substance use, the research found these symptoms diminished …

Eco-Interoception: What Plants, Fungi And Protista Have Taught My Body, Sara Riley Dotterer

Art Theses and Dissertations

To me, ecology is the relational, full-body awareness that I am made up of and deeply connected to everything around me; and for better or worse, this is reciprocal. I form ecotones, an ecological transitional zone between two ecosystems, with the world around me. I use this ecotonal lens to blur binaries and dissolve boundaries between me and the world “outside my body.” During my Masters of Fine Arts at Southern Methodist University, I have continuously explored and represented the lives of various more-than-human species outside of my body, including plants, fungi and protista through an ecotonal lens. Although these …

For What Is A Man?: Towards Languaging Contemporary Dance In A Black, Queer, Male-Presenting Body, Thomas Ford

Theses and Dissertations

This paper examines Queering Blackness: Solo on a Theme of Reconciliation, a performance event that invokes movement, spoken text, projections and sound to explore the mechanisms of identity. Engaging performance, Black, queer and dance studies, the paper contextualizes cultural identity markers, towards an understanding of what it means to be Black, queer and male-assigned in Black spaces.

Gloria Rehearsal (Excerpt) A Feminist Mechanism For Metabolization, Eleanor Smith

Theses and Dissertations

Weaving embodied trauma studies with feminist theory, non-hierarchical creative structures, and research in dance improvisation, this thesis paper written by Eleanor Smith contextualizes the dance performance gloria rehearsal (excerpt). The performance piece was choreographed and performed by Molly Lieber and Eleanor Smith, who have been co-choreographing feminist dances since 2006.

Blacklash: Phenomenological Hermeneutics In Black Dance, Darvejon A. Jones

Theses and Dissertations

The horrors inflicted on Black bodies, souls, and spirits in the United States during the transatlantic slave trade, the Jim Crow era, and the current era (2023) have a lasting legacy of trauma metabolized through the body and transmuted generationally. Jones uses this data to contextualize the work of Black dance artists as hermeneutic phenomena in which the Black dance artist is a hermeneut tasked with delivering a message of the Black body/spirit complex: “I AM HUMAN. DO NOT KILL ME.” This paper examines how Black dance artists frequently petition for their survival — incessantly subjugated to the interpreter’s empathy, …

Spring Dance Concert, Jennifer Backhaus, Liz Curtis

Dance Programs

No abstract provided.

Blackfriars Spring Dance Concert 2023 Poster, Providence College

Playbill and Promotion

Providence College Department of Theatre, Dance & Film

Angell Blackfriars Theatre

Blackfriars Spring Dance Concert 2023

Thursday & Friday, May 4 & 5, 2023, 8pm

Blackfriars Spring Dance Concert 2023 Playbill, Providence College

Playbill and Promotion

Providence College Department of Theatre, Dance & Film

Angell Blackfriars Theatre

Blackfriars Spring Dance Concert 2023

Thursday & Friday, May 4 & 5, 2023, 8pm

Director of Spring Dance Concert, Dr. Wendy Oliver

Choreographers - Olivia Dailey, Bianca LaBella, Grace Heffernan, Olivia Krupa, Bridget Maynard, Katelyn Salvato, Mary McDonald, Shaila Murthy, Kellie Greene, Ally Lynch, PCDC's Class of 2023

Dancers: Olivia Dailey, Ally Lynch, Grace McEvoy, Ally Renaud, Sophia Callahan, Emma Daigneau, Kellie Greene, Grace Heffernan, Bianca LaBella, Julianna Martin, Bridget Maynard, Mary McDonald, Shaila Murthy, Alyssa Rago, Kiley Vallee, Katie Cota, Katie Kudla, Olivia Krupa, Liddy Graney, Katelyn …

The Mental Side-Effects Of Commercial Dance, Katie Carnaroli

Honors College Theses

This research evaluates the spectrum between mental adversities and mental triumphs that commercial dancers face within the four professional settings of auditions, training, rehearsals, and performances. As a senior commercial dance major at Pace University, I have found myself in many facets of the dance industry within my four years of higher education wondering how certain environments either took away or fueled my love for dance. I sought to conduct a Qualtrics survey that was completed by college dance majors and professional dancers expressing their experiences of the positive and negative connotations of the mental grit that is required of …

Aging And Dance: Insights, Imagination, And Potential, Chloe A. Schafer

Dance Written

Aging is universal. It is the passage of time. It is the formation of one’s ontologies, epistemologies, maturity, wrinkles, wisdom, memory, and more. Aging is universal for all people. However, much like social categorizations –including gender, race, class, religion, and nationality– age adds a layer of difference, another intersection of identity, and thus another hierarchy of dominance. Much like aging, all people dance; we move and groove across time and space. As we dance and as we age, our social standing and understanding change. Within the United States, the cultural (mis)understandings and systems around aging impact and shape the ideals …

A Qualitative Case Study Of The Role Of Reflective Practices In Pre-Service Dance Teachers' Development Of Pedagogical Content Knowledge And Critical Consciousness, Josey Marie Pickett

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This qualitative case study investigates the ways stakeholders in a senior/seminar teaching practicum construct and engage in reflection. It also explores the ways these modes of reflection intersect with pre-service dance teachersâ?? development of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) and critical consciousness (CC). Specifically, the study contributes to the minimal amount of literature on the use of reflective practices in dance teacher education by using the theoretical framework of reflection-in-action and embodiment to bring greater attention to the informal, social, dialogical, and embodied dimensions of teaching and learning. Themes identified related to pre-service dance teachersâ?? development of PCK and CC in …

The Movie Musical And Jazz Dance: Reflections On Nostalgia In 21st Century America, Alexandra Bilodeau

Dance Written

This research is an in-depth look at dance in movie musicals that were prominent in the United States during the Golden Age of Hollywood. The careers of three movie musical stars during this period: Fred Astaire, Cyd Charisse, and Gene Kelly, are analyzed as their roles in these films were crucial to popularizing tap and jazz dance on screen. The Black choreographers and performers who originated the form of jazz dance, but were left out of this history are acknowledged as the true innovators. Connections are made between my personal dance history and the relevance of this research in American …