Dance Commons^™

Spring Dance Concert (April 28-30, 2016), Lindenwood University

Student Dance Programs & Brochures

No abstract provided.

The Wishing Well: A Children's Ballet (A Composer's Perspective), Lydia Dempsey

Honors Projects

As a composer, I am passionate about introducing audiences to contemporary classical music. I chose to compose a twenty-five-minute children's ballet titled The Wishing Well based on the fairytale Diamonds and Toads. It premiered on April 2, 2016 at the Bowling Green Performing Arts Center in collaboration with choreographer Sophia Schmitz and conductor Robert Ragoonanan. Other elements of the project included set design, costuming, lighting, audio and video recording, and marketing. The mission was to provide the local community with a free arts event, introduce young audiences to music and ballet, enrich people’s lives through music and dance, provide …

Winter Dance Concert (March 3-5, 2016), Lindenwood University

Student Dance Programs & Brochures

Event program for Winter Dance Concert (March 3-5, 2016), Lindenwood University.

African American High School Girls' Perceptions Of Dance-Based Physical Education And Sport-Based Physical Education, Kimberly Ann Maljak

Wayne State University Dissertations

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, 2013), over the last 30 years childhood obesity has doubled in youth ages 6-11 and tripled in those ages 12-19. Furthermore, obesity trends are higher among minority females, specifically African American (AA) adolescent females. Lack of daily physical activity (PA) among youth is a key factor in rising obesity rates (National Institutes of Health [NIH], 2013; National Physical Activity Plan[NPAP], 2014), with a significant decline in PA among the AA female population (Kimm et al., 2002). Given what is known about the decline in PA among AA adolescent females, (Ennis,1999; …

The Link Between American Deaf Culture And Dance: Assessing Nonverbal Communication And Recognizing The Value Of Deaf Dancers., Chloe Edelstein

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

As a dancer, it is of the utmost importance to know the history behind the origins of movement with intent. In a collegiate setting, we are immersed in the different styles and origins that have shaped the refinement and adaptations of dance into the genres that it exists today. But, I have recognized a lack of knowledge in one extraordinary facet; dance performed by those who are deaf. With this project, I have educated a group of dancers on the different aspects and struggles of being deaf within America and through the creation of a dance that mimics the rehearsal …

Perceiving Dance: Examining The Foundations Of American Ballet And Influence Of The Press In Establishing Today's Perception Of Dance, Robyn Jutsum

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

The 20th century for dance brought forth some of the most iconic names and choreographic pieces to date. This time period also introduced the U.S. to the potential for the arts, with attention from the press guiding dance’s way into the public eye. A major focus was the idea of being American and discovering what being part of America meant and could mean in the future. Establishing a uniquely American identity became a goal of early pioneers of dance in the U.S., and the emergence of the Ballets Russes spurred development of American ballet. As American ballet found its footing, …

Movement And Music: Exploring The Relationship Between Movement And Dance, Savannah Dunn

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

This thesis will examine the goals of dance performance, the craft behind choreographic art, and their respective relationships to music. As it would be impossible to rewrite the discourse and philosophy of dance or reach any concrete conclusions in that regard, I merely aim to present some of the primary theories surrounding this topic and discuss the roles they took on in the dance I created as part of this project, titled Ash Fighting Balance. I worked with a composer, Harriet Steinke, over the course of the 2015-2016 school year to choreograph a dance in three parts. I conscientiously pursued …

The Synergists: An Exploration Of Choreography, Media, And Science, Christine Howe

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Christine Howe

Major: BFA in Dance

Project Sponsor: Cydney Spohn Number of credits: 2

The Synergists: An Exploration of Choreography, Media, and Science

Abstract

This research project combined choreography, media, and science as a means to explore creative process. For this project, I created my own interpretation of mixing dance and multimedia elements through the use of video projection. I questioned how the use of video projection would affect my choreographic process and how the video and live performance would support each other to portray a cohesive idea. The scientific source of inspiration included neuron structure and synaptic function. Through …

Aquell Estiu Del 66. L'Actuació De Merce Cunnigham A Sitges, Ara Fa 50 Anys, Antoni Pizà

Publications and Research

El desembarcament a Sitges de la MCDC ara fa cinquanta anys exactes, es considera un punt crucial en la cultura catalana i espanyola tant en art com en música. Carles Santos ha titllat aquella actuació de «traumàtica» pel que va suposar per a la música espanyola. I a més a més, molts estudis erudits recents sobre l’art conceptual, la música electrònica i la dansa experimental consideren l’actuació a Sitges com un dels inicis de tots aquests moviments a l’estat espanyol. Al final, Clive Barnes va acabar per tenir raó: al Departament d’Estat l’havia subvencionat un pintor europeu, almenys la gira …

Backwards In High Heels: Examining The Careers And Artistic Contributions Of Fred Astaire’S Female Dance Partners, Fiona Mowbray

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

This project examines the careers and contributions of three of Fred Astaire’s female dancing partners during the golden age of movie musicals: Ginger Rogers, Vera-Ellen, and Cyd Charisse. These women receive less recognition than their male co-star, due in part to the political and social environment from the 1930s to the 1950s in America, sexism and competition within Hollywood, and personal obstacles. Rogers, Vera-Ellen, and Charisse are all important as individual performers as well as for the part they played in enhancing Astaire’s legacy. My goal is to bring these women back into the musical theatre narrative in a compact …

An Arts Therapy Case Study: The Vision, Progress, Impact, And Plan Of Canada’S First National Centre For Dance Therapy, Abigail Jane Axelrod

Graduate Theses

Since it’s founding in 1957, the ballet company, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal (LGBCM, Les Grands Ballets), has stretched the reputation of classical dance. Within its first year, the dance company was listed as a “top-rank cultural institution, actively involved in the presentation and promotion of dance in all its forms” (Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal “National Centre for Dance Therapy”). To continue its legacy, the Executive Director of LGBCM began collaborating with LGBCM’s Director of Development of Affairs, to establish the National Centre for Dance Therapy (NCDT, the Centre). Both directors updated Les Grands Ballets’ original …

Fall Dance Concert (November 5-7, 2015), Lindenwood University

Student Dance Programs & Brochures

No abstract provided.

Sarah Mills, Linda J. Hanes

Study Abroad Alumni

Orphanages in Panama are overflowing with kids wishing they had homes and a loving family, and often there’s an unmet need for a creative outlet for these atrisk children. One WMU student spent her summer to help rectify that situation through teaching orphaned children about expression through movement.

Choosing The Right Steps: Management Decisions Of Dance Businesses, Jessica B. Rosina

Business and Economics Honors Papers

Fundamental dance researchers have found that dancers have some of the lowest Human Capital returns. Today, the average dancer has a median pay of $15.87. Only six percent of public schools offer dance as a part of their curriculum. This situation poses a threat to the transmission of culture in our country and will have negative impacts. Children receive little to no dance education in public schooling, leaving private dance education organizations as the only option left. Using a sample of 100 privately owned studios in the tristate area, business decisions will be analyzed to uncover the impact on enrollment.

Spring Dance Concert (April 23-25, 2015), Lindenwood University

Student Dance Programs & Brochures

Event program for Spring Dance Concert (April 23-25, 2015), Lindenwood University.

Digital Expressionism And Christopher Wheeldon’S Alice’S Adventures In Wonderland: What Contemporary Choreographers Can Learn From Early Twentieth-Century Modernism, Kelly Oden

Butler Journal of Undergraduate Research

How can classical ballet adapt to a world that is in an ever more rapid state of flux? By uncovering an example of the kind of interdisciplinary artistic collaboration that contributed to the thriving artistic environment of the early twentieth century, a model for artistic success emerges. By examining modernism and Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes in relation to Christopher Wheeldon’s groundbreaking 2011 ballet Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, a correlation between the success of the Ballets Russes and the success of Wheeldon is exposed. I argue that by applying the modernist practice of interdisciplinary interaction to his own productions, Wheeldon …

Summer Dance Intensive Field Study, Amy Gunter, Nathan Balser

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Gaga, created by Isreal’s Ohad Naharin, is an innovative movement practice focused on enhancing sensations within the body through movement. It is used both as a training method for dancers, and a movement practice for the general public. Because the emphasis of Gaga is to explore sensation and availability for movement in a completely unique way, it is becoming increasingly popular in the dance world today. Gaga is also unique in that there are no expectations of what your body should look like while doing it. Each person must take the instructor’s cues and interpret them inside their own bodies; …

Fandangos And Bailes: Dancing And Dance Events In Early California, Anthony Shay

Pomona Faculty Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

The Perceived Effects Of Dance For Individuals With Parkinson’S Disease And Healthy Amateurs, Taylor Marie Mastin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The objective of the present study was to compare the effects of dance participation on physical and psychological functioning as perceived by two distinct groups of dancers: dancers with Parkinson's disease (PD) and healthy amateur (HA) dancers. Dancers in the Parkinson's sample group were gathered from participants in the Dance for PD® program, while healthy amateur dancers were recruited from university dance departments and through social media. Both groups were administered measures related to affect, self-efficacy, quality of life, and which aspects of dance classes were most helpful and/or challenging. Several open-ended questions for both groups were included, along with …

Testimony Coming To Life: Revealing The Lord Through Dance, Rachil L. Reynolds

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This honors project is a choreographic work based on a testimony of a woman named Ashley Abercrombie who went from a journey of excellence, to drug abuse, to salvation. The objective of this project was to create an artistic social action piece based on faith. The final work of choreography was movement that was directly related to the story line of Ashley Abercrombie’s testimony, at seventeen minutes in length, and includes a cast of eleven. The final work was publicly presented at the Paul A. Daum Theater, Kolbe Hall, The University of Akron on April 24-25, 2015 as part of …

Co-Authorship In Action: Curation & Collaboration In American Post-Judson Dance, Sara Gibbons

Honors Theses

This essay aims to illuminate and champion concert dance through an investigation into a sliver of American postmodern dance, which I term post-Judson dance, in an attempt to better understand, define, and assert dance in academe, art, and culture. This thesis examines the use and benefits of collaboration in today’s dance devising processes and the influences that constructed collaboration as a choreographic working method. Through historical, theoretical, contemporary, and practice-based evidence, this essay argues that through choreographer and performer participation, leading to the transformation of content, style, structure, and discovery, choreographers harvest an expansive collection of information that they use …

Exploring The Relationship Between Text And Dance: Seeking Music In Spoken Word, Anastasia Ellis

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

I assert that dance exists as more than a worthwhile ,inventive ,and ever-advancing art form; it also thrives as a language. The language of dance cannot say everything on its own, for body language is limited to the interpretive. Yet, speech carries limitations as well. Spoken language houses the potential for dishonesty and fails to encompass all that we notably call thought, seeing as the human mind can think in pictures and invent concepts that present themselves without labels. The two languages therefore have the opportunity to complete each other-an opportunity that I, as a dancer and choreographer, fully believe …

Dancing By Numbers: Dance's Expanding Presence In Library Classifications Of The Progressive Era, Dominique Bourassa

Library Staff Publications

Library classifications are artificial systems that use numbers, letters, and symbols to map knowledge as the basis for organizing the contents of libraries. Inevitably influenced by social forces and cultural values, the Dewey Decimal, Cutter Expansive, and Library of Congress classification systems offer a unique perspective to study the status and identity of dance between 1876 and 1930. From the standpoint of library taxonomies, dance evolves during this period from an indoor amusement with moral implications to a recognized art form and discipline.

Enter The Movement: Generating Stimulus From Sceneography And Proposing 'De-Sign' As A Tool For Choreographic Invention, Helene Gee Markstein

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The purpose of this study was to provide the notion of ‘de-sign’ as a proposed aid for movement composition and is the core framework of my research, which is aimed at empowering the dancer/choreographer with a multi-disciplinary aesthetic and a focus for dialectic discussion and experimentation with all material enclosed within the scenographic. De-sign is a method for decoding scenography (as a deconstruction tool to extract the components of composition classified as elements and principles). The play on words is a deliberate acknowledgement of the ‘design’ in the scenographic environment which, in this study, takes into account that all forms …

A Movement Tool Kit For The Divergent And Convergent Cps Guidelines: Instruction Cards And Activity Floor Mats, Adela Vangelisti

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

A Movement Tool Kit for the Divergent and Convergent CPS Guidelines:

Instruction Cards and Activity Floor Mats

Movement is as natural to humans as breathing is, and, yet, passivity starts early in schools. We are taught to sit still and in silence for long periods of time. By the time we reach adulthood and enter the workforce, we have almost forgotten our sense of embodiment. This lack of movement is counter-productive, not only to learning but to the development of creativity as well. For this project, I designed a tool to recapture the joy and playfulness of movement. Furthermore, the …

Fall Dance Concert (November 20-22, 2014), Lindenwood University

Student Dance Programs & Brochures

Event program for Fall Dance Concert (November 20-22, 2014), Lindenwood University.

Lindenwood University Dance Artist Showcase, (October 24-25, 2014), Lindenwood University

Student Dance Programs & Brochures

Event program for Lindenwood University Dance Artist Showcase, (October 24-25, 2014).

The Psychology Of Competitive Dance: A Study Of The Motivations For Adolescent Involvement, Samantha Sobash

e-Research: A Journal of Undergraduate Work

"Competition is a social process that is so pervasive in Western civilization that no one can escape it" (Robson 2004). Dance training for most people begins at an early age, and thus the art form akin to sports introduces youth to competition. The booming dance competition industry has only enhanced the competitive aspect of the art form. Currently there are upwards of 200 local, regional, and national competitions held annually with participants as young as four years old. Is competition innate or are we introducing it as part of youth development in the Western world? Youth are increasingly pushed by …

Performance Sculpture--An Exploratory Collaboration Between Sculpture And Dance, Cesia G. Kearns

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

Kinetic sculpture suggests new visual possibilities when combined with dance. Wishing to explore such avenues of interaction for sculpture, this artist sought to develop pieces that could be incorporated into choreography. An artist and a choreographer wove their concepts and styles together to create a performance art piece that rose from the reciprocal influences of interactive sculpture and dance. The creative process included development of concepts, visual imagery, and movement as the artist and choreographer shared ideas. The choreography of the original dance influenced the form, structure, and conceptual elements of the sculpture, which was developed in reaction to the …

The Effects Of Minimalism/Indeterminacy On The Merce Cunningham And John Cage Collaboration, Janelle M. Morrison

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

Minimalism is movement in both the visual and performing arts that strive to focus attention on the subject as an object, reducing its historical and expressive content to a bare minimum or art without meaning. John Cage’s music stems from the idea of minimalism and expands itself into what he calls “indeterminacy.” Indeterminacy means that chance operations will produce the score and performer’s choices. Through Cage’s study of Zen he learned about The Book of Change, I Ching. Using his charts, based on this book and the toss of three coins, Cage could layout the format of his compositions. Merce …