Dance Commons^™

Masters At Chapman: La Connections

Dance Programs

No abstract provided.

It's A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play, Otterbein Theatre And Dance Department

2024 Summer Theatre

No abstract provided.

Forever Plaid, Otterbein Theatre And Dance Department

2024 Summer Theatre

No abstract provided.

The Effect Of Dance Training On The Vor During The Video Head Impulse Test, Miranda Scalzo

Dissertations, 2020-current

The vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) is essential to maintain clear vision during head movements and can be assessed through the head impulse paradigm (HIMP). The suppression head impulse paradigm (SHIMP) is used to quantify the ability to suppress the VOR. MacDougall et. al. (2016) demonstrated that SHIMP gain is decreased compared to HIMP gain values in healthy adults. Previous research has supported the idea that vestibular trained athletes, such as dancers, have an enhanced capability of suppressing the VOR than those without vestibular training. The objective of this study was to assess VOR suppression capabilities at increased velocities, similar to what …

Spring Dance Concert

Dance Programs

No abstract provided.

Rehearsing Attention: Contemporary Dance As A Practice Of Sustained Focus, Eve J. Jacobs

Theses and Dissertations

This paper contextualizes the influences, details the creative process, and reflects on the relevance of choreographer Eve Jacobs' artistic research for her MFA thesis, "Four Statements on Attention." She draws upon the legacies of choreographers Merce Cunningham and Anna Halprin; publications by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Johann Hari, Jenny Odell, and others; and resources from the activist coalition Friends of Attention to articulate how her dance practice continues to shape her capacity for sustained attention in an age of distraction.

My Sauce! Living In The Polyrhythm, Zakiya Harris

Theses and Dissertations

This paper contextualizes “Ghana: The Place Where the Chief Sleeps,” for which Harris served as dance captain, rehearsal director, dancer, stager and choreographer. Harris details how her work living inside the polyrhythms of performance, practices, and pedagogies can produce a holistic West African dance education for students.

The Problem Of Scale: Professional Ballet Companies, Their Respective Preeminence, And Factors Outside Of Their Control, Katherine Hanson

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This thesis looks at professional ballet companies in the United States, the factors affecting a company’s preeminence or lack thereof, and whether it is possible in current conditions for large professional ballet companies to develop into preeminent ballet companies. What are the relevant factors historically involved in the growth of a professional ballet company into a preeminent ballet company in the United States? Are those factors still applicable or possible to attain for professional ballet companies today? Contributing categories of factors discussed include: budget, name recognition, numbers of productions and individual performances, touring, numbers of dancers, dancer salaries, union memberships, …

Dancetag: Using Sensors To Improve Feedback Given To Dance Students, Yanelly Mego

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

The structure of dance classrooms has remained unchanged for several years. Very little, if any, technology has been incorporated to improve the quality of teaching. This has motivated our research project, whose goal is to capture dance movements with wearable sensors, to develop DANCETAG (Data Analytics and Notation with Captured Event Tagging). This is a platform that allows the gathering of data captured by Sony’s Mocopi sensors and annotating them with the dancer's movements. The Mocopi sensors make up a motion capture system. It is comprised of six small, round sensors that can be attached to velcro straps and clips. …

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

Student Dance Programs & Brochures

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

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

Student Dance Programs & Brochures

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

Changeable Cohesion: Dance And Disability In Post-War Sri Lanka, Susan Reed

Faculty Journal Articles

Dancers with disabilities are increasingly participating in performances throughout Asia. In this article, based on long-term research, I provide an analysis of changeABLE cohesion, a mixed-abled, intercultural performance co-created by Sri Lankan dancers and Gerda Koenig, choreographer of the renowned German DIN A13 dance company. The article focuses on the experiences and interpretations of the dancers, analyzing the creative process they employed as well as the long-term impacts that participation in changeABLE cohesion had on their lives and work. By providing the perspectives of multiple actors, the article seeks to demonstrate how an expansive ethnographic approach can enrich our …

Concert Intime

Dance Programs

No abstract provided.

Works In Progress

Dance Programs

No abstract provided.

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

Student Dance Programs & Brochures

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

Advocating For Tap Dance Through The Study Of Tap Dance Pedagogy, Lindsey Simpson

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

In private dance studios today, less importance is placed on students learning tap dance technique compared to other genres of dance, which is likely due to a lack of available teachers with the proper training and understanding of the tap dance technique and pedagogy. As a result, students in many private dance studios are left with limited training opportunities in tap dance, and older dancers that lost the chance to train in tap dance at a young age often become discouraged and uncomfortable with the genre. Because of this, older students need an opportunity to train in tap dance at …

The Intersection Of Kinesthetic Empathy And Observation In Concert Dance Performance, Kate Walker

Gaines Fellow Senior Theses

When watching concert dance, observers unconsciously process movement information by forming reflections of their own experiences, resulting in an emotional connection. The artist, however, also has a part in forming meaning around something they create. If meaning is formed in the creation of the work by the artist, and also through observation by an audience, where does meaning reside? The relationship shared between the artist and their audience is valuable, so something must connect these two groups. An artist’s job is to suggest meaning through their work, but once the piece is subject to observation, the process of kinesthetic empathy …

Hame, Russell Clarke

Dance (MFA) Theses

Researcher Russell Clarke contemplates the need for human belonging, looking into ways that human belonging shows up in the contemporary world. Clarke explores the interconnection between his identity and memories from his childhood along with exploring his life’s journey of searching for belonging. He focuses his research on main themes throughout his life that have influenced his need to belong: family, migration, dance, and his connection to the outdoors. Growing up in Scotland and later migrating to America, Clarke found his relationship with his family and dance as constant threads entangling and influencing his life—the call of his homeland is …

Holy Body/Monstrous Body: The Life And Practices Of Saint Catherine Of Siena., Melissa B. Miller

Dance (MFA) Theses

This research examines the violent misogyny and contempt for the female body in, but not limited to, Western Christian environments using as a lens the life and practices of Catherine Benincasa, a mystic and tertiary Dominican sainted in 1461 as Saint Catherine of Siena. Further, the research looks at the use of the abject and grotesque in performance, as well as transformative storytelling, as a means of making lived experience visible, and is explored as a liberatory response to such systems of domination and violence. Though this research is framed in a religious context, contempt towards female-presenting bodies is not …

Integrating Creative Writing And Dance - A Reflective Collection, Grace Becker

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

This project highlights my dual artistic experiences in dance and creative writing throughout my time at WKU through a portfolio website, where all my work will be available in one place. In this project, I showcase the progression of my writing throughout my undergraduate career. This portfolio includes reflections on each piece. As a writer and dancer, I have learned that skills in both art forms enhance productivity in each area. This project allowed me to reflect on my progress as a writer, dancer, and choreographer, and look forward to how I will continue this integration in my professional career.

An Examination Of Working Memory In Dancers And Non-Dancers, Mason Low

All Master's Theses

The present study examined the behavioral working memory differences between dancers and non-dancers. Previous research has indicated that dance can provide an enhancing effect on working memory, particularly in non-dancers. A Dance History Questionnaire along with the letters backward, digits backward, digits forward, letters forward, and abstract visual subtests of the Test of Learning and Memory II was used to collect data. The current study found that dancers had greater visuospatial memory than non-dancers and that dance experience may have an effect on certain working memory tests such as the letters forward subtest.

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 …

The Impact Of Covid-19 On Dancers, Mackenzie Weakland

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

COVID-19 impacted every person who experienced it. Dancers in particular, were a group of people that were not able to participate in their art form in the way that they were always able to. This project explores how COVID-19 impacted dancers and their ability to learn and grow.

“Breathe Easy And Get A Good Night Sleep” : Exploring Parental Relationships In Hardship, Megan Delaney

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This project explores parental relationships with a focus on mother-daughter relationships. I want to focus on the attachment between a parent and a child, and how mental illness and abuse from the other parent affect that relationship. This project derives from a deep love for my mother and the changes between us that I noticed as I grew older. I hope to create a choreographed work that explores our relationship with a hope of creating a stronger bond that suits our new relationship and who we are as people now. I want this dance to aid in our reconnection.

I …

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 …

The Man From Figueras, Chris Burnside

The Man from Figueras

Chris Burnside is an artist/choreographer who was inspired to tell stories on stage after seeing performance artist Spalding Gray at an international theater festival in the early 1980s. After retirement and with the encouragement of a lifelong friend, Mr. Burnside started writing some of those stories down, eventually including others. The stories in The Man from Figueras focus on learning experiences, aha moments, and events that have, over the years, changed his perspective and shaped how he has lived his life. The ninety stories are in chronological order and are grouped by the eight decades of his life.

Burnside attended …

Preserving Caribbean Culture Through Dance: Featuring The Trinidadian Dance Troupe, Zante — Sesame Flyers Intl., Aaliyah T. Fisher

Capstones

During Labor Day Weekend in New York City, millions of people from all over the world travel to Brooklyn to highlight and celebrate Caribbean-American culture. This capstone project explores the way one dance troupe, Zante, who specializes in traditional dance styles from the Caribbean country of Trinidad and Tobago, fights to preserve their culture by way of sharing it with an outside audience.

LINK TO CAPSTONE PROJECT: https://medium.com/@aaliyah.fisher08/preserving-caribbean-culture-through-dance-featuring-the-trinidadian-dance-troupe-zante-sesame-00bc1fc7656a

Fall Faculty Dance Concert

Dance Programs

No abstract provided.

Fall Dance Concert (November 9-11, 2023), Lindenwood University

Student Dance Programs & Brochures

Event program for the Fall Dance Concert (November 9-11, 2023).