Dance Commons^™

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 …

Applying The Principles Of Periodisation To Supplementary Training For Dance To Reduce Risks Of Overtraining, Sophie Molony

Theses : Honours

This research investigated the necessity of individualised training adaptations in dance, informed by physiological and psychological factors to nurture dancer physical and emotional wellbeing. Periodisation is a well known framework used, by professional athletes, as a way of dividing the training plan into smaller training cycles to develop skills and biomotor abilities to allow the athlete to perform optimally (physically, technically and mentally) and ensure peak performance at a specific time (Wyon & Allard, 2023). However, it is not yet well studied and implemented in dance (Wyon, 2010). Preparing the dancer with a periodisation model could potentially assist in supporting …

From Pedestal To Power, From Floating Fairies To Feminine Fury: How The Portrayal Of Women In Contemporary Performance Work Reflects Changes And The Lack Thereof In Societal Perceptions Of Women In The 21st Century, Lillany Weber

Theses : Honours

Dance can stand as a social commentary that can improve and progress social and societal development, positively impacting society, widely held views and the world. The research examines shifting gender perceptions in feminist dance practices, delving into how the portrayal of women in contemporary dance performance reflects changes and the lack thereof in societal perceptions of women in the 21st century. Given the extreme complexity of the modern world, this project seeks to build on past research to bring relevant exploration into today’s context. Utilising a qualitative case study analysis of 2023 work Body Body Commodity by Australian choreographer Jenni …

Pleasures And Politics: Moving Towards A Feminist Performance Practice, Delaney Burke

Theses : Honours

The focus of this research is the use of the female body as a tool for developing a feminist performance practice. This research interrogated the use of neo-burlesque and erotic dance in contemporary postdramatic performance. Contemporary feminist performance artists, such as Emma Maye Gibson (aka Betty Grumble), often use the female body as a tool for entertainment and political statement, and this trend parallels an increase of women moving into the burlesque and erotic dance spheres as professional performers and hobbyists. Despite this suggestion that the female body is a fertile site for feminist action and statement, its use is …

The Space Between Writing And Dancing: Dancingwords/Wordsthatdance, Lara Dorling

Theses : Honours

This practice-led research investigates the figurative space between writing and dancing through a looped feedback cycle. The project explores the ‘conversation’ between writing and improvisational dance and how it forms a responsive process named dancingwords/wordsthatdance. Conducted in sessions lasting 30 minutes at a time, this project asks: how can writing and dancing intersect to create a broader and clearer understanding of embodied knowledge, improvisation, creative research process and personal practice? This research project involved solo studio investigation and an hour-long interview with dancer, writer, researcher, and choreographer Dr Jo Pollitt, who is a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at the ECU School …

Mindfulness, Recovery-Stress Balance, And Well-Being Among University Dance Students, Peta Blevins, Gene Moyle, Shona Erskine, Luke Hopper

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Dance students face many physical and psychological stressors in their training and daily lives, therefore methods for coping with stress are essential for performance enhancement and general wellbeing. This study aimed to investigate the relationships between mindfulness, stress, recovery, and wellbeing among university level vocational dance students. Seventy-two dance students at two Australian universities completed online self-report measures of mindfulness, recovery-stress states, and affect. Correlation coefficients indicated a significant positive relationship between mindfulness and positive affect, and significant negative relationships between mindfulness and stress, and mindfulness and negative affect. MANOVA revealed differences between high mindfulness and low mindfulness groups on …

The Dancing Between Two Worlds Project: Background, Methodology And Learning To Approach Community In Place, Anindita Banerjee, Shaun Mcleod, Gretel Taylor, Patrick L. West

Landscapes: the Journal of the International Centre for Landscape and Language

This article recounts the history to date of the Dancing Between Two Worlds (DBTW) project, which was initiated by a team of artist-scholars at Deakin University in 2018. DBTW’s brief was to engage the Indian community living in the western fringes of Melbourne in a project on civic belonging, cross-cultural artistic identity, and the performance of outer-suburban Indian diaspora. Working with the creative and community energies that are activated at the intersection of the creative arts and demographically inflected place, the Deakin researchers collaborated with local artists with an Indian background on a major performance in late 2019: …

Isolated Joint Block Progression Training Improves Leaping Performance In Dancers, Paige E. Rice, Kiisa Nishikawa, Sophia Nimphius

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of a 12-week ankle-specific block progression training program on saut de chat leaping performance [leap height, peak power (PP), joint kinetics and kinematics], maximal voluntary isometric plantar flexion (MVIP) strength, and Achilles tendon (AT) stiffness. Dancers (training group n = 7, control group n = 7) performed MVIP at plantarflexed (10◦) and neutral ankle positions (0◦) followed by ramping isometric contractions equipped with ultrasound to assess strength and AT stiffness, respectively. Dancers also performed saut de chat leaps surrounded by 3-D motion capture atop force platforms to determine center of …

Weather Bodies: Experimenting With Dance Improvisation In Environmental Education In The Early Years, Jo Pollitt, Mindy Blaise, Tonya Rooney

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

This paper reports on insights gained from incorporating dance improvisation into a broader early years environmental education ethnographic research project. Findings are reported from a two-day workshop where a dancer was invited to work with young children to attune to the weather through their bodies. In these workshops, the practice of dance improvisation was used as a deliberate interference to disrupt the disconnected and disembodied ways in which weather is often taught to young children. The paper argues that when children attune with weather through the embodied and relational practice of dance improvisation, this challenges the common practice of learning …

Student And Teacher Attitudes Towards Overtraining And Recovery In Vocational Dance Training, Peta Blevins, Shona Erskine, Gene Moyle, Luke Hopper

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Elite performance in dance is the result of many years of training, during which dancers face high physical and emotional demands. There is little empirical evidence addressing dancer training behaviours in the context of overtraining and in response to training demands; however, underlying dancer attitudes that affect training behaviours must first be understood to truly determine the drivers of dance training behaviour. This study explored the attitudes held by vocational dance students and their teachers in relation to stress and recovery during vocational dance training. Using Q methodology with a sample of 86 students and teachers, six viewpoints were identified …

Préface (English Translation), Jonathan W. Marshall

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

A discussion of the role of pain and suffering in butoh and in the work of renowned butoh photographer and artist Nourit Masson-Sékiné (author of the landmark text Butoh: Shades of Darkness, 1987)

The Jekyll’S Hide Project. Devising Jekyll’S Hide: A Critical Analysis Of The Performative Elements And Working Methods Of Jerry Lewis And The Butoh Dancers Tatsumi Hijikata And Kazuo Ohno, Hugo Belviso

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This practice-led research project explored the process of devising for performance for the stage via physical theatre workshops. The research was informed by Japanese butoh dance-theatre and its two creators, Tatsumi Hijikata and Kazuo Ohno, and by the work of American comic Jerry Lewis. I began with exercises in group workshops derived from butoh movement practice, followed by inspiration drawn from Jerry Lewis’s performance and directorial work in his films, and from Robert Louis Stevenson’s Strange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. I developed a workshop exercise and devising process where ideas and methodologies from butoh and Jerry …

Su Dansi. A Dance Film – And – Dancing Elements: The Making Of Su Dansi - A Dance Film. An Exegesis, Johanna Omodei

Theses : Honours

This research project titled Dancing Elements explores choreographic conversations between the body and natural elements, specifically water on film. I question how natural elements when viewed in relation to the dancing body, can begin to be seen as a dancing entity. This research is divided between scholarship and the creation of a new dance film, su dansi which is Turkish for ‘water dance.’ su dansi is a collaborative and explorative outcome that plays with the dancing body and water through the art form of film. Drawing from author Sylvie Vitaglione (2016), I have adopted her term “natural elements’’ in reference …

Finding Your Balance: An Investigation Of Recovery–Stress Balance In Vocational Dance Training, Peta Blevins, Shona Erskine, Luke Hopper, Gene Moyle

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Professional dance careers require years of intensive training. Stress experienced during training must be balanced with adequate recovery to prevent overtraining and burnout. Little is known, however, about how dancers achieve recovery–stress balance. This study examined dancers’ recollection of stress and recovery during their vocational dance training to identify potential stressors and recovery behaviors in vocational dance training. Twelve current and ex-professional ballet (n=4) and contemporary dancers (n=8) participated in the study. Four general dimensions, based on the extant overtraining literature in athletes, were identified: dance culture, intrapersonal, interpersonal, and situational factors. Cultural norms, health factors related to injury and …

The State Of Dancingness: Staying With Leaving, Jo Pollitt

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Borrowing from Cixous’ ‘State of Drawingness’ (1993), this article proposes a ‘State of Dancingness’ as method of inhabiting the practice of writing as dancing. Understanding the dancing body as a place of virtuosic attention, the practice of writing is activated as a ‘continuation’ of dancing; neither as creative response or description but as frame for housing (staging) emergent content. The work proposes that the dancer begin on the page from the vantage and experience of entering the stage as solo improvising performer. These words come with this body tucked and pressing inside them. Pressing. The State of Dancingness …

An Analysis Of The Foot In Turnout Using A Dance Specific 3d Multi-Segment Foot Model, Sarah L. Carter, Alan Bryant, Luke S. Hopper

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Introduction: Recent three-dimensional (3D) kinematic research has revealed foot abduction is the strongest predictor of standing functional and forced turnout postures. However, it is still unknown how the internal foot joints enable a large degree of foot abduction in turnout. The primary purpose of this study was to use a dance specific multi-segment foot model to determine the lower leg and foot contributions to turnout that female university-level ballets use to accentuate their turnout. Methods: Eighteen female dance students (mean age, 18.8 ± 1.6 years) volunteered for this study. Retro-reflective markers were attached to the dancers' dominant foot. Each dancer …

Writing As Dancing: The Dancer In Your Hands , A Novella <>, Joanna Tollemache Pollitt

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

With the premise to ‘write like I dance,’ Writing as dancing investigates new methods of accessing and revealing choreographic thinking in three distinct ways; writing as a soloist, writing for the ensemble and writing responsively in collaboration. Resulting iterations have variously emerged in the form of performance, novella, play, artist-book, exhibition and long form poem; the novella The Dancer in Your Hands, being the primary solo work presented alongside this exegesis.

The research posits engagement with solo dance improvisation practice as a dynamically charged, and tangible way of thinking that is transferable to the practice of writing. It draws …

Dancing Through It: Enhancing Psychological Recovery In Dance, Peta A. L. Blevins

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Achieving elite level performance in dance requires intensive training and physical demands that may put dancers at risk of underrecovery and overtraining if not balanced with adequate recovery. Dancers have been shown to be susceptible to overtraining and burnout (Koutedakis, 2000), however, little is known about how dancers balance training and non-training stress with recovery to counteract negative training outcomes. This thesis investigated psychological recovery among vocational dance students, using a mixed-method study design to examine dancer experiences of stress and recovery, and the effectiveness of a mindfulness intervention in enhancing psychological recovery in vocational dance training. Study 1 explored …

Creative Awareness At Link Dance Company 2017, Lauren Ebony Sherlock

Theses : Honours

LINK Dance Company at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) offers postgraduate students the opportunity to bridge the gap between graduate level studies in dance and professional practice. Students gain company experience whilst being able to further their research interests in dance throughout their pre-professional year. LINK Dance Company also encourages students to contribute to the choreographic process where possible to enhance professional practice. Using the Company in 2017 for an exploratory case study, the aim of this research was to investigate the presence of creative awareness in the choreographic process between choreographers and dancers. The research methodology …

The Interaction Between Postminimalist Music And Contemporary Dance, Azariah Felton

Theses : Honours

This dissertation examines the manner in which postminimalist compositional techniques such as phasing, polymeter, etc., can be used to aid the creation of music for dance. Music presented with dance generally serves at least two crucial roles: providing the dancers with a framework and impetus to aid movement; and reflecting the concept and meaning, where applicable, of the choreography. Many composers writing for dance must find ways to unite these goals in a way that best suits the total work, and find a balance between supporting the concept and assisting the dancers. This dissertation discusses the relationship between choreography and …

Remnants Of Us: Collective Dance-Making As Multi-Art Form Praxis, Lucinda Coleman

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

The Australian dance theatre collective, Remnant Dance, was established with a vision to ‘create, make, connect’ through artistic practice and performances. Remnant Dancers have generated unexpected social networking and community development whilst exploring connectivity through dance in the collective environment. In particular, during 2015/2016, Remnant Dance ventured into ambitious creative territory by inviting 22 artists from the fields of music, contemporary dance, and visual/multi-media arts to collaborate in response to fragments of literary texts, matched with wines. The project, winery psalms–the mixed half-dozen, generated six short, multi-art form pieces which were installed/performed on site at a winery, inviting audiences to …

Cognitive Imagery Training In A Dancer’S Deliberate Practice: Skills Development, Confidence And Creativity, Sasha Brampton

Theses : Honours

Cognitive imagery training is an effective tool in improving skill learning, technique, confidence, anxiety and arousal management, recovery, rehabilitation, and performance in dancers. Multiple studies (Abbott & Collins 2004; Hall 2009; and Nordin and Cumming 2006, 2011) have established the positive influence imagery can have on dance and sport, and numerous researchers in these fields promote the incorporation of cognitive imagery training into ‘deliberate’ practice. Cognitive imagery, in relation to dance, is the detailed imaging of the execution/performance of movement in the mind. This thesis will outline imagery use: such as the types of imagery and how it can be …

Edges Of Resting And Going: The Possibilities And Limitations Of Recovering From Chronic Fatigue Syndrome In A Dance-Training Environment, Daisy Sanders

Theses : Honours

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) is a common but poorly understood condition that includes limited exercise tolerance. Exercise undertaken via a balanced, holistic approach in which exertion is balanced with rest is recommended in recovery from CFS. This research project investigated how a contemporary dance-­‐training environment can/cannot support recovery from CFS. This investigation is significant given that fatigue, burnout and overtraining are prevalent in dance-­‐training environments. The project drew on the fields of exercise physiology and somatic inquiry to design a purpose-­‐built program of Graded Exercise Therapy and implement it within a tertiary dance-­‐training environment. The project was undertaken as practice-­‐led …

Kinematic Repeatability Analyses Of Multi-Segment Foot Motion In University-Level Ballet Dancers, Sarah Carter, Nahoko Sato, Luke Hopper

ECU Posters

Background:

Dancers are susceptible to overuse foot and ankle injuries, however there is a lack biomechanical studies examining foot mechanics to explain the causality of these injuries. The purpose of this study was to determine the intra and inter-assessor repeatability of a modified Rizzoli Foot Model (RFM) for ballet dancers.

Methods: Six university-level ballet dancers performed the following trials in randomized order, natural stance, turnout plié and stance, and two dynamic trials; turnout rise and flex-point-flex movement. A twelve-camera motion capture system were used to track fourteen reflective markers and one triad on the following segments: shank, entire foot, hindfoot, …

Lower Leg And Foot Contributions To Turnout In University-Level Female Ballet Dancers: A Preliminary Investigation, Sarah Carter, Alan R. Bryant, Luke Hopper

ECU Posters

Functional turnout in ballet involves maximal external rotation through the lower limb kinetic chain. Hip external rotation, is considered the primary contributor of functional turnout. However, dancers will tend to increase their functional turnout angle through additional tibiofemoral external rotation and pronation of the foot/ankle complex. Hip external rotation measures in functional turnout has received extensive examination in dance science. However, the relationship between the ‘below the hip' assessments with functional turnout is poorly understood. We hypothesis that dancers with greater passive external tibiofemoral rotation (pTFR) and/or pronated stance will have a greater functional turnout angle.

Nineteen female university-level classical …

The Reinvention Of Tradition: Transformation Of Chinese Water Sleeve Dance And Tai Ji In Contemporary Performer Training And Performance Making, Min Zhu

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The aim of this practice-led research was to investigate the nature and characteristics of the notion of reinvented tradition in China through the examination of dance practices. First, this research focused on the continuity of tradition demonstrated in the development of Chinese classical dance. Second, it concentrated on the malleability and applicability of two representative Chinese cultural dance practices, water sleeve dance and Tai Ji, in contemporary performance and performer training.

The central concept behind this research was the commonly held perception in China that “tradition is a river” (P. Huang, 1990) in the context of the Chinese dance …

Tracing The Ancestral Roots And The Flow Of Pedagogical Practices In The Development Of Ballet Teaching From 1950 To 2016 In Perth, Western Australia, Diana C. M. Beck

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

In the history of dance, that of ballet is but a fragment. The art of ballet is affiliated with the arts of music, literature, and those of the visual arts: its international history covering some 500 years. This thesis spotlights Perth, the capital of Western Australia (WA) and one of the world’s most geographically isolated capital cities. Throughout its balletic history of less than a century, Perth has seen rapid growth in this art form. As in all the arts, pedagogic rules act as guidelines for the teaching of traditional ballet vocabulary; consequently, in order to understand this development and …

Choreographing Intimacy: The Making Of ‘[They] Slipped Briskly Into An Intimacy From Which They Never Recovered’ – A Dance Film, Antonio Rinaldi

Theses : Honours

In this investigation, I have utilised a practice-led research methodology to capture ‘intimacy’ in film, specifically, the medium of dance film. The exegetical work is divided into the written research with an accompanied dance film component; however they should be viewed as an integrated thesis. The aim of my research was to develop my choreographic practice through a film that is a sensory and evocative exploration of intimacy. I argue that the film components of dance film (directing, cinematography, editing and the like) uniquely capture an intangability of dance and the complexities of human intimacy in a manner that is …

Comparison Of Body Composition, Neuromuscular Characteristics And Anaerobic Endurance Between Novice, Semi-Professional And Professional Ballet Dancers, Penelope Blanco Ochoa

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Study 1 Comparison of body composition, neuromuscular characteristics and anaerobic endurance between novice, semi-professional and professional ballet dancers.
/="/"> The purpose of this study was to compare selected physiological fitness parameters including: body composition, neuromuscular characteristics and aerobic endurance were significantly different between novice, semi-professional and professional ballet dancers. The secondary purpose was to establish which parameters were best discriminators between these dancers. Thirty-five classical ballet dancers (male: n =11 and female: n =24) divided into three different groups according to their dance skill level: novice (n=12) (age: 16.6 ± 1.5 y; height: 1.7 ± 0.1 m; weight: 58.0 ± …