Theatre and Performance Studies Commons^™

(Re)Claiming Homeplace: Dance As Embodied Resistance & Healing For Health & Spatial Justice, Preeya G. Kannan

University Honors Theses

This thesis argues that dance functions as both an upstream public health intervention and a form of radical spatial resistance; creating healing, agency, and belonging among historically marginalized communities. Drawing on bell hooks' concept of homeplace, Jasbir Puar's assemblage theory, Nancy Krieger's eco-social theory, and Katherine McKittrick's Black geographies, I position the body as both an ecological and political landscape shaped by histories of colonialism, racial capitalism, displacement, and resilience.

Through this community-based participatory research study, Homeplace, I explore dance as a form of social prescription that centers liberation rather than pathology. Movement is often reduced in public health discourse …

Embark: 2026 Bfa Dance Showcase

Dance Programs

No abstract provided.

Spring Dance Concert

Dance Programs

No abstract provided.

Who Can Dance If They Want To?: Intersections Of Dance, Gender, And Political Control In Late Archaic And Early Classical Athens, Adeline P. Strickler

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

This thesis investigates the evidence for women's public choruses in the polis of Athens and the wider Greek world prior to the 6th century BCE and their decline in Athens following the Kleisthenic reforms of 509/508 BCE. Emphasising analysis of visual sources through Athenian fabric vases in the Beazley archive, and supporting literary evidence, this research seeks to establish a base of evidence for a neglected area of dance and women's research in the classics. Additionally, by analyzing the significance of choral dance in polis social and political life, this research seeks potential reasons for the lack of a culture …

Notes On Rhythm, Maya Lee-Parritz

Theses and Dissertations

Line meets impulse, association meets sign. I weave the eye towards the smudge and sublime—a fractal lineage flowing through the brush, my body, space itself. I walk toward reality in serial successions, allowing what is fragmentary to move me, to cohere in shards, murky and strange inside of me. My body is a repository of images, of broken rhythms and dissonant ideologies. All of these flow and stutter onto the surface, dripping and blurring over each other. Through all of this, I always try to make something whole, perfect, and true.

Identidad Flamenca: Formation Of And Negotiations With The Flamenco Identity, Kayla Lyall

Theatre & Dance ETDs

The core of this dissertation is an inquiry into belonging in flamenco. Expanding beyond the personal, it examines how flamenco identity is constructed through embodiment and practice. Challenging dominant narratives of purity and authenticity, I argue that identity in flamenco emerges through multiple pathways—including inheritance, training, cultural proximity, and artistic inquiry—and is continually reshaped by social, political, and aesthetic forces. Through phenomenology and practice-as-research, I position the body as an archive of knowledge and a site of meaning-making. My creative project, NUDE, serves as an embodied investigation into vulnerability, lineage, and self-definition, demonstrating identity as something enacted rather than …

Concert Intime

Dance Programs

No abstract provided.

Works In Progress

Dance Programs

No abstract provided.

Winter Dance Concert (January 29-31, 2026), Lindenwood University

Student Dance Programs & Brochures

Event program for the Winter Dance Concert (January 29-31, 2026), Lindenwood University.

Theatre And Dance As Divine Purpose: Liberating The Christian Performer In Pursuit Of Artistic Worship, Abby Owen

Dance (MFA) Theses

This study examines the historical relevance of theatre and dance alongside religious forms of worship, with a particular emphasis on their integration into Christian churches of the Middle Ages, in comparison to the current Western era. Beginning with their origin, this research examines the creation of theatre and dance in Ancient Greece as a means of connecting with spiritual deities, tracing their recorded transition into accepted acts of everyday worship by Christian leadership. At the same time, this research scrutinizes contemporary congregations’ lack of artistic incorporation, denouncing the rise of restricted worship in response to present-day condemnation of the female …

Symbolism And Choreographic Practice: Exploring The Application Of Symbolism To Dance Through The Creation Of A Solo Choreographic Work, Ruby Brazzalotto

Theses : Honours

This research project explored the significance of symbolism as a communicative tool within dance theatre. The project drew upon Symbolist theory and Pina Bausch’s choreographic approaches, in an attempt to understand how the symbolic use of props and gestural movement can communicate and elevate meaning within dance performance. This project involved the creation of a new solo dance work, self-reflexivity, and analysis of how Bausch’s and Symbolists’ modes of presenting ideas overlap. The project sought to document how symbolic props can be chosen, developed and combined with theatrical choreography to convey meaning to audiences.

The Travelling Dancer: The Exploration Of Strength And Conditioning And Lifestyle Strategies To Mitigate The Risk Of Posterior Ankle Impingement Whilst Dancing Abroad, Emma Tucker

Theses : Honours

Ballet dancers commonly experience posterior ankle impingement (PAI), and while there is research regarding the biomechanical risk factors for PAI in ballet dancers, and mitigation and rehabilitation strategies for this type of injury, there is little research conducted surrounding further barriers posed by international travel. This study investigated the implications of international travel on the risk mitigation and rehabilitation of posterior ankle impingement in ballet dancers, exploring barriers posed by international travel to regular strength and conditioning and lifestyle practices. Three ballet dancers and two physiotherapists were interviewed and shared their lived experience with, or treating, posterior ankle impingement in …

Emotions As Work Material: On Dancers' Refined Use Of Affectivity, Camille S. Buttingsrud

Duquesne Studies in Phenomenology

As part of their professional practice, dancers allow their affectivity to enhance their kinesthetic work. Their intentional and disciplined use of personal, emotional resources ensures both creativity, interpretation, absorption, and connections in ways that extend beyond the traditional phenomenological understanding of affectivity as pre-reflectively based. The affective regulations dancers employ can be seen as an “artistic epoché,” and their layered performance awareness corresponds with Edmund Husserl’s descriptions of “image-consciousness.” Through qualitative interviews with three professional dancers, phenomenological theory, and additional supportive literature, this article shows how affectivity can be experienced through high-order levels of Leib, constituting states of “bodily …

Masters At Chapman: Dance And Fashion

Dance Programs

No abstract provided.

Dancing With Logic: The Impact Of Integrating Dance In Teaching Introductory Computer Science Concepts On Student Understanding And Engagement, April Monk

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of dance-integrated pedagogical methods in enhancing the learning experiences of students in an introductory computer science course. In particular, the research aimed to measure the impact of creative movement on student comprehension, engagement, and perceptions of computer science. To guide this investigation, the study explored three research questions: Does integrating dance into lessons impact students’ comprehension of fundamental computer science concepts? How does dance integration affect student perceptions of both dance and computer science? And what elements of dance contribute to differences in comprehension between dance-integrated and traditional lessons? A …

Fall Faculty Dance Concert

Dance Programs

No abstract provided.

Fall Dance Concert (Nov. 20-22, 2025), Lindenwood University

Student Dance Programs & Brochures

Event program for the Fall Dance Concert (Nov. 20-22, 2025), Lindenwood University.

Deslenguadas: A Photo Essay On The Performative Remembering Of The Impact Of 1940s Americanization Programs In Northern New Mexico, Yvonne M. Montoya, Fawn-Amber Montoya

International Journal on Responsibility

This photo essay captures the dance performance Deslenguadas by choreographer Yvonne Montoya. Deslenguadas, a dance inspired by a writing of the same name published in Gloria Anzaldúa’s Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza, is a series of three dances – one duet and two solos. The dances in the series explore the impact the forced loss of the Spanish language had on three generations of one nuevomexicano family from the 1940s to the present day. Through dance, movement, projected animation, and spoken word, the dances explore how each generation internalized racism and shame. At the same time, these generations …

Mary Victor And The Monster, Otterbein Theatre And Dance Department

2025-2026 Season Productions

No abstract provided.

Urinetown: The Musical, Otterbein Theatre And Dance Department

2025-2026 Season Productions

No abstract provided.

Dust To Dust, Emma Ask

SPARK Symposium Presentations

"Dust to Dust" is a small group dance composition inspired by Genesis 3:19 and other passages referring to the human experience as that which is Earthly (dust). In this piece, the scripture is used as a framework for telling the story of life and the cyclical nature of being molded and created by God, the interweaving pathways of life in Creation and the eventual return to that which we were created from. In this piece, we are offered a chance reflect on the juxtaposition of the intricacy of our individual lives and the vastness and beauty of the collective human …

Dames At Sea, Otterbein Theatre And Dance Department

2025 Summer Theatre

No abstract provided.

Always... Patsy Cline, Otterbein Theatre And Dance Department

2025 Summer Theatre

No abstract provided.

Movement As Metamorphosis: An Examination Of Transformative Learning In Dance, Whitney Egstad

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Using the arts-based methodology of Educational Criticism and Connoisseurship (Uhrmacher, Moroye, & Flinders, 2017) to examine the curriculum and pedagogy of a Colorado-based dance studio, this qualitative dissertation explores how transformative learning (TL) unfolds within the context of adult dance education. Grounded in Mezirow’s (1991) theory of transformative learning, the study investigates how dance becomes a medium for personal transformation, identity reconstruction, and emotional healing. Data collection included six hours of interviews with instructors and students and twelve hours of class observations, focusing on how adult learners experience curriculum not just as technical instruction, but as an embodied, relational journey …

The Glass Menagerie, Otterbein Theatre And Dance Department

2025 Summer Theatre

No abstract provided.

Bfa Dance Showcase

Dance Programs

No abstract provided.

Spring Dance Concert

Dance Programs

No abstract provided.

Leading And Following: Exploring The Impact Of Mentorship On Collegiate Dancers, Peyton Winsett

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Mentorship plays a pivotal role in student development across various disciplines, yet its specific impact on dancers within collegiate programs remains underexplored. This literature review and small pilot study investigates the hypothesis that mentorship in university dance programs positively influences students’ artistic identity, academic achievement, and career readiness. Drawing from six empirical studies, including research in arts education, peer mentorship, and emotional development, the paper analyzes how mentorship structures shape dancers’ holistic growth. While mentorship is generally associated with beneficial outcomes, findings also reveal critical nuances regarding mentorship quality, accessibility, and the risks of informal or biased systems. Through a …

Inherited Fervor: Maternal Archive, Maria Angela Talavera Tejeda

Theses and Dissertations

Inherited Fervor: Maternal Archive investigates the deconstruction of the non-verbal language of Catholic ecstasy rituals to develop a choreographic language. Through the piece Doves Don’t Fly at Night, it explores the expansion of dancers’ physical range, positioning the body as an archive that embodies memories and mirrors the audience’s humanity.

Raised Spirits The Visceral Journey Of Black Generational Female Trauma And The Transcendent Healing Power Of Spiritual Dance, Wendy Ann Powell

Theses and Dissertations

Black female bodies have endured sustained trauma globally since the transatlantic slave trade, and it continues into 2025. The collective consciousness has carried the generational burden and mobilized it within the womb. Powell uses this intergenerational knowledge to frame the basis for spiritual dance practices as a healing praxis.