Dance Commons^™

Body As Instrument: Crafting A Spatial Representational Language For The Dancer's Body, Avery Boland

Architecture Undergraduate Honors Theses

This project explored the intersection of dance and architecture using choreography, photography, and architectural principles through the development and application of a graphic notation system. Focused on the works of modern dance pioneer Martha Graham and photographer Barbara Morgan, the study tested the representation of the body in space through the use of Graham's choreography as captured by Morgan.

The results of the study demonstrated the effectiveness of the representational language in capturing the spatial dynamics of the human body in Martha Graham's choreography through the notation of “frame” and “plane”. Through a comparative analysis of the selected dances, the …

The Village On The Stage: Dramaturgies Of Modernity In African Concert Dance, Margit N. Edwards

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

My dissertation, The Village on the Stage: Dramaturgies of Modernity in African Concert Dance, analyzes the underlying theatrical logic in African concert dance through a dramaturgical model I call the village on the stage. The village on the stage dramaturgy has had multiple iterations over the 20^th and 21^st centuries both across the African continent and the African diaspora. Commonly presented within the world-dance market as neo-traditional African dance, the village on the stage refers to a set of practices of staging traditional dance and music of Africa and the African diaspora and serves as a …

A Trauma-Informed Socially Just Approach To Working With Juvenile Justice-Involved Youth Utilizing Expressive Arts Therapy, Ciara Carr

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Youth involved with the juvenile justice system often have a history of trauma and oppression resulting from their positionality and circumstances. Most juvenile justice-involved youth are boys, youth of color, low-income, LGBTQIA2S+, disabled, and traumatized. This literature review explores the history of the juvenile justice system, issues with the present-day model, and trauma-informed and transformative justice approaches to practice. The implementation of socially just, trauma-informed expressive arts therapy programs is proposed as a more equitable practice to replace commonly used punitive practices across the United States. More research is needed to understand the impact of such programs on this population …

Perreando To New Lyrics: Integrating Feminist Reggaeton In Expressive Art Therapy A Literature Review | Perreando A Nueva Lírica: Una Revisión Literaria Sobre Integrar El Reggaetón Feminista A Las Terapias Con Artes Expresivas, Marilina Arsuaga

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This paper presents how feminist reggaeton can be used as a creative tool for women's empowerment. The literature review explores the work that has been done with feminism in expressive arts therapies, defines what feminist reggaeton is, and presents different considerations to incorporate the musical genre into a therapeutic intervention. Among these considerations, there is the social stigma that is held about the musical genre and female gender; the community-based work; the importance of cultural identity centered on the Latinx, more specifically Puerto Rican; and recognition of the LGBTQ+ community in the creative spaces. To navigate these issues, the author …

Feldenkrais And Music Informed Listening: A Neurophenomenological Perspective On Autism, Arona Primalani

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Phenomenologists identify the subjective body and its felt-senses as the basis for human development and consciousness, including mental health. Several mental health disorders, when viewed from a phenomenological perspective, share common symptomology related to varying extents of fractured selves, which in turn hinders dynamic interaction between individuals, their actions, and their relationships with their social and material worlds. Autism is one such condition. Hence, I created an intervention to investigate how listening, which foster subjective and intersubjective experiences, lies at the heart of somatic and arts-based interventions. This thesis, first, begins with a summary of the presenting symptoms observed in …

The Value Of Mentorship For Black Ballerinas, Anna Dunn

Dissertations

Much research has been done in other fields about the relationship of gender and race to the success of mentors to increase student confidence to pursue additional training or a career in certain fields. The purpose of this study was to articulate formally the importance of the relationship between Black ballet students and a mentor who has lived a similar life experience, having navigated the ballet industry as a Black ballerina. This research sought to answer the questions of what value do Black ballet students perceive in having a Black ballerina as a mentor and how white ballet teachers can …

Scare If You Dare: A Look Into Scare Acting, Hana Goss

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Scare acting has always been the unsung villains of the entertainment industry. For three months of the year, for about five minutes of a haunted house, they get attention. However, the work scare actors do to is way more than just a five second “boo.” Scare actors have been at the beginning of theatre and continue to influence modern entertainment. Even though the patrons may be the ones feeling the danger, scare actors may be even more in danger than them. Each scare actor is unique from their looks to their moves. It might be take a lot of nerve …

Neurodivergence In Dance Performance: A Thesis, Alannah Martin

Dance Written

Does neurodivergence have any effects on dance performance? The goals of this research project are to reflect, analyze, and understand how individual neurodivergence impacts creativity, identity, and the choreographic process. The intersection of dance and disability studies is an ever-growing area of research that is in conflict because of the societal nature of the two concepts. Within the disability studies field, neurodivergence and neurodiversity are relatively new and undeveloped ideas that primarily interact with dance studies as pedagogical areas of interest. There is little attention on the impacts of neurodivergence in dance makers and their creative products in performance. The …

Embodying The Spiral: A Critical Framework For Returning To The Body Through Dance/Movement Therapy, Lilah Van Rens

Dance/Movement Therapy Theses

Spirals are fundamental to human existence–present in natural geological forms, skeletal and muscular pathways, and developmental patterns. Characteristics of the spiral in relation to the body include: spatiotemporal nonlinearity, the embracing of polarities and dismantling of binaries, grounded curiosity, “contra-lateral connectivity” and multidimensional integration and transformation. Nonlinear and spiralic temporality have been continually embodied, recorded, and practiced transgenerationally in Black, Indigenous, and queer communities as a form of resurgence, resistance, self-expression, building community and being in the world. How can embodying the spiral be a radical resistance to systems of oppression that continually isolate and disconnect people from one another …

The Alexander Technique Applied To Dance And The Choreographic Process: Freeing Physical Expression From Trauma-Based Tension, Julia Johnston

Senior Honors Theses

Ballet, contemporary, and modern dancers have expressed incurring trauma during their training and professional dance experiences; in a 2020 survey, 41% of professional dancers and 30% of ballet students reported experiencing or witnessing sexually inappropriate behavior in their respective workplaces and schools (DDP). This is just one example of a potential source of trauma for dancers. The physiological effects of trauma cause physical effects, creating tension in a dancer’s body. Dance relies on physical expression, the expression of thought and feeling through movement, to connect with the audience. Trauma-based tension inhibits a dancer’s range of physical expression and connection to …

The Anatomical Embodiment Of Morning Routines In The Reduction Of Anxiety: An Intervention, Natalie Wright

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

The topic under investigation is whether physically embodying a morning routine that was designed through the lens of Laban Bartenieff Movement Analysis (LBMA) will reduce daily symptoms of individuals diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder.

Since morning routines play a significant part in one’s preparation for the day, I created an individualized LBMA morning routine for a specific client to embody. In addition to the routine, the client documented the process of their anxiety levels on a weekly basis. This client was a white, female, 19-year-old, lesbian college student who was previously diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). The movement analysis …

...The End (April 18, 20, 2024), Lindenwood University

Student Dance Programs

Event program for ...The End (April 18, 20, 2024), Lindenwood University.

The Beginning Of... (April 17, 19, 2024), Lindenwood University

Student Dance Programs

Event program for The Beginning of... (April 17, 19, 2024), Lindenwood University.

Bibliography For "Keeping The Rhythm Of Creativity: Celebrating The Performing Arts And Intellectual Property", Isabella Piechota, Arianna Tillman, Kalea Brown, Katherine Roth

Library Displays and Bibliographies

A bibliography created to support a display about the performing arts and intellectual property at the Leatherby Libraries during April 2024 at the Leatherby Libraries at Chapman University.

Concert Intime

Dance Programs

No abstract provided.

An Icosahedron For Two: A Many-Sided Look At Making A Duet, Colleen T. Wahl

LASER Journal

The space around our bodies is not empty or neutral. In fact, the space around our bodies is loaded with meaning and important. When we move through it, whether it be in our daily lives or a choreographer making specific choices in order to convey a message, we activate new understandings in our lives. As a dancer and choreographer, I created a duet from improvisational climbs on an icosahedron. This article discusses choreographing from the form icosahedron and connects Laban's theories of space harmony with the activation of meaning in my life.

Works In Progress

Dance Programs

No abstract provided.

Winter Dance Concert (January 25-27, 2024), Lindenwood University

Student Dance Programs

Event program for the Winter Dance Concert (January 25-27, 2024).

Spacious Theories Of Object Relativity & Objective Reality Book Review For "Seven Brief Lessons On Physics" By Carlo Rovelli, Carmiella Salzberg Zorzi

Artizein: Arts and Teaching Journal

An Arts-based Review of Carlo Rovelli’s 2016 book "Seven Brief Lessons on Physics" that incorporates original artworks by the book reviewer. This review concludes with the harvesting of an Expressive Arts Academic Consultation session that was informed by this work of Carlo Rovelli, among many other great creative thinkers in physics.

Tikkun Olam, Book Review For "Art-Care Practices For Restoring The Communal: Education, Co-Inquiry, And Healing” By Barbara A. Bickel And R. Michael Fisher, Valerie Oved Giovanini

Artizein: Arts and Teaching Journal

A book review of Barbara A. Bickel’s and R. Michael Fisher’s "Art-Care Practices for Restoring the Communal: Education, Co-Inquiry, and Healing" published in 2023 by Routledge.