Dance improvisation research: embodied self-esteem and self confidence through glass art

Abstract

ABSTRACT ‘Dancing Glass: Reflection of Art through Dance’ was a collaborative project using artwork from the glass gallery at the Lowe Art Museum of the University of Miami, as a springboard for artistic inquiry in improvisational dance. Students enrolled in a Dance Improvisation course, guided by professors Carol Kaminsky and Jorge L. Morejón in order to create dance pieces based on the exploration of shape, line, design, and symbolism of glass art. Several works of art were identified for this project which allowed a moving dialogue based on authentic and aesthetic responses. Students’ generated movement, combined with sound, photo, film, and written responses, resulted in themes that emerged from their personal connection to the art. However, the course was just the frame for a bigger research project whose objective was to find out whether glass sculptures influenced creativity in dance improvisation, and how creativity, in turn, affected the students’ self-esteem and self-confidence. The performance, along with their journal entries, the audience surveys and their personality measurement assessments brought the semester to a successful closure as students gained in self-esteem and self-confidence through dance improvisation.