Dance Commons^™

Hysteria, Fear, And/Or Delight, Alessandra Ferrari-Wong

Bachelor of Fine Arts Senior Papers

My Bachelor of Fine Arts thesis statement, Hysteria, Fear, and/or Delight, establishes the forms and concepts of my art practice as it stands as of May, 2020: performance-based and interdisciplinary. My practice implies narrative while acknowledging the audience. Physical language, in both dance and gesture, can be a means of communication or subversion. Pieces exist as ephemeral, often private, performances and then separately in archival forms ranging from video, to photography, to installation. The body of the statement details my thesis project, a remaking of Giselle, a 19th century Romantic-era ballet, into a performance series and video trilogy. …

Company Management For Dance Space ‘19: A Background And Documentation, Devin Mcmahon

Honors College Theses

The position of Company Manager for Pace School of Performing Arts productions was created for the Fall 2019 semester. I had the privilege of being the Company Manager for the first production of the fall, To Clothe the Naked , and then was asked to fill the role again for the final show of the semester, dance sPace ‘19 . I was excited for this opportunity, as it allowed me to take what I had learned and what had been perfected about the duties of the position and put it into my final show at Pace. Throughout the process, my …

Pilgrimage: True Belonging: Exploring The Human Desire To Belong Through Dance And Storytelling, Lincoln K. Belford

Undergraduate Distinction Papers

The human sense of belonging morphs and changes as we mature and gain life experience. The relationships we make, or choose not to, affect the way we perceive ourselves, which directly correlates to our understanding of how we belong to the universe as a whole. Perception of self and belonging are inextricably connected, therefore by focusing on belonging to ourselves rather than to the world around us, we experience self-acceptance, allowing us to forge deeper, more meaningful connections with those we choose. True belonging is an active practice that takes effort, and involves reflection and critical evaluation of self. A …

Basics Of Stepping Club, Hana Pham, Yara Madit

Honors Program: Expanded Learning Clubs

Originating in West Africa in the 1500s, step has since evolved into a form of dancing that places emphasis on rhythmic movements and high energy. It is commonly used amongst greek organizations and within schools. This club introduces stepping to older children through activities such as stamina, focus, teamwork, and problem solving.

Winter Dance Concert (February 27-29, 2020), Lindenwood University

Student Dance Programs & Brochures

Event program for Winter Dance Concert (February 27-29, 2020), Lindenwood University.

In Support Of Abstraction: Physical Interiority Beyond Postmodern Dance, Irene Hultman Monti

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

I investigate how speculative philosophy informs critical thinking about dance and its performance, encompassing both the act of creating and the action of executing. Speculative thinking augments and draws out new experiences and realities in the artistic body. I will argue that speculative theories widen the understanding and implementation of dance and its performance through a combination of human and nonhuman forces. This broadened understanding encourages progress, transformation, and evolution within the field of dance. I discuss the human (that which is experienced through sensibilities, therefore tangible and understandable on a cognitive and practical level) and the nonhuman (forces beyond …

"Becoming-Pite: An Application Of Deleuzian Theory To Crystal Pite’S Choreography, Kyra Laubacher

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

Art destabilizes the human, rupturing the concept of the individual as primary universal organizer. The artist recognizes infinite potential in the virtual as expressed through intensity, something semantically inarticulable but nonetheless accessible via artistic production. Chrystal Pite, contemporary dance choreographer, is one such artist in whose creations the workings of affect make themselves perceptibly clear. We may turn to poststructuralist philosopher Gilles Deleuze and his theories of multiplicity, repetition, and nomadism in order to further understand the work that she has put forth. Pite, through art and affect, reminds us of the human condition of the de-centered individual, and Deleuze’s …

The Specificity Behind The Sparkle: The In’S And Out’S Of Disney Choreography And Park Productions, Laura Theisen

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

The Walt Disney Company has revolutionized the use of choreography and dance in commercial settings to showcase the value, talent, and passion of the dancer while impacting and inspiring their guests. This has led to the development of their signature style felt throughout all of their productions. Dance is vital to the Disney aesthetic as they use the art form to illuminate the “Magic.” People have very high expectations for the Disney brand, especially the theme parks. To make sure that the Disney quality is upheld they utilize their foundational rules and promote their trademark style. The creative teams ensure …

Tap For The Times: A Study Of Contemporary Tap Dance, Elise Wilham

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Tap dance is an American art form that began with the blending of traditional dance styles from English and Irish immigrants and African slaves. Throughout the 20th century, tap dance developed many styles in response to cultural changes that took place. Contemporary tap dance emerged in the latter half of that century and continues developing today with the fusion of other dance genres and new technologies. This research examines tap dance history to create an understanding of how it developed through a historical lens and analyzes the current approaches applied to the artform along with the characteristics and creative processes …

An Investigation Of California Classroom Teachers' Beliefs And Ratings Of Creativity In Dance, Patricia R. Reedy

Doctoral Dissertations

Creativity is a fundamental aim of art education. Because classroom teachers are responsible for teaching the arts at the elementary-school level, how they perceive and recognize creativity effects the quality of art education their students receive. This study investigated California teachers' beliefs about creativity in dance and the relationship of their beliefs to their ratings of student dance compositions. It also investigated the extent of agreement in creativity ratings across teachers and between teachers and dance experts. Classroom teachers’ beliefs were collected through a research-constructed questionnaire, and classroom teachers (n=74) and dance experts (n=35) rated students’ creative-dance products using a …

The Delicacy Of Breath: Tribute To Cystic Fibrosis, Natalie Minns

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

A simple breath is something that we do not completely focus on enough in the art of dance, and it can be something that we often take for granted. For my project, my goal is to not only shed light on the simple breath, but to delve deeper into its importance in someone living with a breathing condition. My ultimate goal is to allow these separate entities to coexist through a piece of choreographic work. Through the art of dance, I want to be able to bring awareness to cystic fibrosis (CF) in a more expansive and exploratory approach. This …

Cruzando La Frontera: Choreographing The Mexican-American Identity, Chloe Vich

CMC Senior Theses

This dance project explores the consequences of assimilation on immigrants’ cultural practices and identity specifically for Mexican-Americans in Southern California. The dance project explores the crossing of borders through mixed contemporary and Mexican ballet folklorico dance styles in order to tell a story of immigrants trying, failing, and succeeding in crossing the U.S. and Mexico border. By exploring the integration of Western dance styles with Mexican ballet folklorico, this paper will analyze how Mexican identity, as expressed through dance or song, is maintained by immigrants to remain connected their culture, but is changed through the process of assimilation.

Mexican ballet …

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)

They Dance To Bring Attention To A War. But Who’S Watching?, Fruhlein Chrys Econar

Capstones

Potri Ranka Manis Queano has been at the helm of Kinding Sindaw, the heritage dance troupe she founded, for the last 27 years. When a group of ISIS-affiliated local terrorists attacked Marawi City, the home of the Maranao people, it infused a sense of urgency into her group’s work.

http://www.fruhlein.com/kindingsindaw

Spring Dance Concert (April 11-13, 2019), Lindenwood University

Student Dance Programs & Brochures

Program for Spring Dance Concert (April 11-13, 2019), Lindenwood University.

The Philosophy Of Dance, Aili W. Bresnahan

Philosophy Faculty Publications

This encyclopedia entry surveys the field of philosophy of dance both within and beyond Western philosophical aesthetics.

Movement In Elementary Education, Elizabete Bosse

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Movement in Education explores the impact of movement on the quality of a student’s learning experience in education. This thesis is the culmination of four years of study from 2019-2023 in East Tennessee State University’s education and dance programs. Participating in these programs has provided me with many opportunities to explore the impacts of movement pedagogy in elementary education. The research portion of this thesis focuses on the educational benefits of incorporating movement into classroom activities and assessments. The experiential portion of this thesis focuses on both observations and data collected from students in a 3rd grade classroom who participated …

Pantomime: The History And Metamorphosis Of A Theatrical Ideology, Karl E. Toepfer

Open Educational Resources

This book offers perhaps the most comprehensive history of pantomime ever written. No other book so thoroughly examines the varieties of pantomimic performance from the early Roman Empire, when the term “pantomime” came into use, until the present. After thoroughly examining the complexities and startlingly imaginative performance strategies of Roman pantomime, the author identifies the peculiar political circumstances that revived and shaped pantomime in France and Austria in the eighteenth century, leading to the Pierrot obsession in the nineteenth century. Modernist aesthetics awakened a huge, highly diverse fascination with pantomime. The book explores an extraordinary variety of modernist and postmodern …

Effort Reduction In Articulation In Sign Languages And Dance, Donna Jo Napoli, Stephanie Liapis

Linguistics Faculty Works

Sign languages exhibit the drive for ease of articulation found in spoken languages, particularly in fast and casual conversation, where the methods that reduce effort are shown here to be limited by the need to maintain recognizability. Participatory dance, which uses the same articulators as sign languages plus additional ones, also demonstrates methods of reducing biomechanical effort, analogous to those seen in sign languages, and, again, limited by the need to maintain recognizability of the dance figures/phrases. However, when we look at performance language (here, sign poetry) and performance dance, we find a contrast: sign language poetry uses reduced and …

Moving Through Feelings Integrating Dance And Private Counseling: A Creative Dance Technique Based Curriculum For Children Ages 10-12 Undergoing Talk Therapy, Jessica Bourassa

Honors Program Theses and Projects

According to Private counselors, one of the top reasons children are undergoing talk therapy is because they have experienced a trauma that affects their day to day lives, learning abilities, difficulties with social interactions, and behavioral issues. More than sixty-eight percent of children have experienced a traumatic event by the age of twelve and more than twenty percent of those children develop side effects that can lead to anxiety disorders, depression, suicidal thoughts and other emotional issues (Hamner 1). With these side effects, children often undergo talk therapy in order to work through their experiences and learn to heal from …

The Art Of Promotion: An Exploration Of Public Relations And Dance, Shannon Cleary

Honors Projects

This PR proposal is a guideline that can be successfully implemented into the BGSU Dance Program’s promotional efforts, specifically publicizing the annual Winter Dance Concert. Through inventive social and multi-media efforts, innovative collaboration with community and campus partners, and interactive updates to the Dance Program promotional efforts, this campaign will target and reach BGSU students, faculty and staff, Wood County community members, prospective BGSU students, local media and K-12 students in Wood and Lucas County. This proposal will mold a declining program into a thriving and engaging dance environment at BGSU.The implications for the field of dance and PR are …

The Art Of Promotion: An Exploration Of Public Relations And Dance, Shannon Cleary

Honors Projects

This PR proposal is a guideline that can be successfully implemented into the BGSU Dance Program’s promotional efforts, specifically publicizing the annual Winter Dance Concert. Through inventive social and multi-media efforts, innovative collaboration with community and campus partners, and interactive updates to the Dance Program promotional efforts, this campaign will target and reach BGSU students, faculty and staff, Wood County community members, prospective BGSU students, local media and K-12 students in Wood and Lucas County. This proposal will mold a declining program into a thriving and engaging dance environment at BGSU. The implications for the field of dance and PR …

Shift Dance Intensive: Developing Dance, Arts And Culture In Hong Kong, Kelsey Marie Ang

Honors Thesis

Currently, Hong Kong “lags behind” other countries in terms of arts and cultural development (Chow). There is a lack of support for the arts in Hong Kong (Chow; Lee). Although Hong Kong needs world class, high quality performances in order to develop and build arts audiences (Lee), dance training in Hong Kong is inadequate at enabling dancers to reach an international level (Yung). My senior thesis project investigates how to increase dance education opportunities, nurture local talent, develop the artistic community and increase community engagement with dance by developing and executing a summer dance intensive in Hong Kong. My project, …

Mccartt-Jackson, Sarah, B. 1982 (Fa 1290), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 1290. Student collection titled “’Clogging’s Just Clogging’: The Richard McHargue Cloggers and Approaches to Vernacular Percussive Dance Study” in which Sarah McCartt-Jackson conducts an interview with Richard McHargue, a clogging instructor from Richmond, Kentucky. The interview contains McHargue’s early dancing memories, clogging terms, and opinions about the contemporary state of clogging. The collection also contains a partial transcript, fieldnotes, interview questions, content index, photographs, and the recorded audio interview on CD.

Body Dissatisfaction Among Ballet Dancers, Isabelle Fatima Barlaan

Senior Theses

Athletes are required to maintain a healthy and strong physique, however they can experience pressure to look a specific way. Certain types of sports promote a thin body image which athletes are insisted to follow. As a result of this, there is a trend often seen in female athletes and body dissatisfaction because of the sociocultural and sports community pressure. Body dissatisfaction is the negative subjective evaluation of the weight and shape of one’s own body. The level of body dissatisfaction a female athlete can experience varies among the type of sport they participate in. Studies show that female athletes …

Dance: Music, Movement, And Performance, Elise Beal

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

Dance is an art form that incorporates many different mediums. Music is selected to determine the quality of movement that is visualized. Movement becomes realized through repetition of listening to music and outside influences. All dances require collaboration between choreographer and dancers to construct the piece and prepare for performance. The process of development, refinement, and completion is known as the choreographic process. The methods for the process include determining the style of movement and choosing music to satisfy the inspiration. Once music is selected, movement and steps can be determined with influences from previous pieces or other choreographers. The …

Embodied Nostalgia: Early Twentieth Century Social Dance And U.S. Musical Theatre, Phoebe Rumsey

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In this dissertation, I claim the collective emotional connections and historical explorations characteristic of musical theatre constitute a nostalgic impulse dramaturgically inherent in the form. In my intervention in the link between nostalgia and musical theatre, I look to an area underrepresented in musical theatre scholarship: social dance. Through case studies that focus specifically on how social dance in musical theatre brings forth the dancer on stage as a site of embodied history, cultural memory, and nostalgia, I ask what social dance is doing in musical theatre and how the dancing body functions as a catalyst for nostalgic thinking for …

The Modern Synthesis Of Josephine Baker And Carmen Amaya, Justice Moriah Miles

Theatre & Dance ETDs

The Modern Synthesis of Josephine Baker and Carmen Amaya explores how flamenco dancer Carmen Amaya and African American performer Josephine Baker utilized modern synthesis in their careers. I define modern synthesis as a synthesis of various ideas and identities that supports a modern fluid identity that points to the idea of an alternative space that is beyond definition and human categorization. Expanding upon the ideas of Brenda Dixon Gottschild and William Washabaugh, I propose that there exists a thread of a tragic/comic dichotomy in African American performance and simultaneous opposition in flamenco and that Baker and Amaya came out of …

Spring Finale, Dance Ensemble, Performing Arts Department, 2018/2019 Season, Performing Arts Department

Edgerton Center Programs

Program for the Spring Finale of the Dance Ensemble, Edgerton Center for the Performing Arts 2018/19 season.

Dance – A Healthy Gateway To Steam Practice, Kenneth Walker

The Transdisciplinary STEAM+ Journal

A rumination on dance and STEAM