Contemporary Dance Practice Research Articles

Developing an ecological consciousness through 360° immersive dance-making

This article focuses on a digital contemporary dance practice recently developed and authored as part of the artist-researcher’s own auto-hermeneutic practice-based PhD study. It is through artistic practice that the self and other is investigated using improvisational dance making and 360° immersive technologies. This approach is described as an ecological practice using improvisation as the tool to develop the relationship between the body and the nonhuman. The practice takes place in non-anthropocentric spaces. 360° dance film offers opportunities to observe the self and to develop a consciousness that provides an expanded state of awareness. Using 360° digital technology the research ambition was to explore the ramifications of double embodiment, borrowing from Merleau-Ponty’s concept of both being and seeing the body in the digital space simultaneously (Merleau-Ponty 1962). This type of subjectivity encompasses four experiential bodies throughout the process. These bodies are not static, they are in a perpetual process of becoming; the body is understood in an expanded sense (Haraway 1991). The 360° immersive dance-making practice embarks on a process of viewing the body as the other, to develop a new subjectivity, and ethical awareness appropriate for today’s global crisis.

Musculoskeletal Morphology and Joint Flexibility-Associated Functional Characteristics across Three Time Points during the Menstrual Cycle in Female Contemporary Dancers.

Findings are inconsistent with regards to whether menstrual cycle phase-associated changes in physical functioning exist. It is possible that such discrepancies are due to varying rigour in experimental approaches. The current study aimed to systematically evaluate any effect of carefully tracked menstrual cycle phase on precisely measured muscle structure and function in a physically active group (contemporary dancers). Eleven women aged (M [SD]) 23.5 [2.94] years, undergoing 10.5 [1.73] hours of contemporary dance practice and 6.12 [2.36] hours of other physical activity per week, were recruited. Sex hormone level (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA), skin temperature and ovulation kits), physical pain assessments (Ice Water Test, Visual Analogue Scale, The Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire, Self-Estimated Functional Inability Because of Pain Questionnaire, and Pain Anxiety Symptoms Scale), muscle architecture measurement (B-mode ultrasonography), and physical functioning (dynamometry, force-platform and electromyography) on both lower limbs were measured at three time points during one cycle, following three months of menstrual cycle monitoring. There was no difference in musculoskeletal flexibility variables between follicular, ovulatory, or luteal phases. Nonetheless, oestrogen change was associated with variability in 11 musculoskeletal variables, progesterone change was associated with variability in 7, and relaxin change was associated with variability in 15. Negative correlations existed between progesterone and flexibility and between oestrogen and jump variables. Moreover, oestrogen and relaxin were associated with increased musculoskeletal compliance, whilst progesterone was associated with increased muscle stiffness. In short, in absolute sex hormone levels, 'inter-individual' variances appear more impactful than 'intra-individual' variances. Not only are oestrogen and progesterone associated with differing musculoskeletal outcomes, but relaxin is also associated with musculoskeletal compliance changes. These effects are anticipated to impact jump height and flexibility, and hence, they could be expected to affect overall physical performance, including dance.

Contemporary Dance Interacting with Diverse Social Groups: Institutional Aspect and Cultural Impact

Institutionally, contemporary dance in Ukraine is represented only in the curricula of state art educational institutions. As a result, contemporary dance and contemporary choreography are defined and studied according to the formal features and is framed as styles, forms, techniques, and trends. In addition, phenomena and projects of contemporary dance in Ukraine mostly are not considered, perceived, or studied in the context of the development of dance culture and physical culture in general, or the art of dance, choreography, and performing arts in particular. This extremely limits the understanding of the real influence and role of contemporary dance in mentioned contexts. The paper introduces the Little Prince art project of contemporary dance and the related projects of Moving Arts Project company (Netherlands), created in interaction with the social groups of the Transvaal district of the city of Amsterdam, by exploring the cultural impact and institutional aspect of project implementation, including their interrelation. The aim of the paper isto present the practice of contemporary dance in a wider context, to follow their integration into cultural processes, to reveal the interaction of contemporary dance with other institutions, as well as to briefly review the institutional representation of contemporary dance in the Netherlands and its current challenges.

Ecstatic Losers/Depressed Utopias: Cyborgian Dance Scores

A fragmentary polyphonic takes on questions of Yugofuturism in relation to contemporary dance practices / compulsory psychoanalytic references mixed with personal essay escapades and some easy fiction / a self-archiving cyborgian script-loop of hopeful pessimism and an optimistic approach to failure / mindful stealing from wiser prophets / do not get your hopes up / there is no easy way to say this.

Embodied cultural property: Contemporary and traditional dance practices

AbstractThis article discusses the implications of recording and digitizing a variety of cultural and contemporary dance performance practices, core to a European project known as WhoLoDancE, which focused on issues of reuse, ownership, property, and responsibility. The recordings and subsequent processing of dance material into digital data raised questions about the responsibilities to the dancers who have contributed their material to the project, particularly when it is transformed into data visualizations that can be accessed and reused by others. The article not only focuses on how value accrues in these kinds of resources and sometimes in unexpected ways but also draws attention to how dance remains bound to the communities in which it is performed and tends to resist its abstraction from the body to be commodified as a form of cultural property. This then points to how dance, as intangible cultural heritage, is self-regulating in terms of principles of ownership and attribution.

Disorientation as Critical Practice: Confronting Anti-Black Perceptual Regimes and Activating the Otherwise in mayfield brooks's Improvising While Black Pedagogy

AbstractThis article examines how mayfield brooks uses spatial, discursive, and vestibular disorientations to intervene within anti-Black regimes of perception in their Improvising While Black (IWB) workshops, which draw from their ongoing life/art project by the same name. Drawing from insights gathered through my participation in IWB workshops as well as through conversations with brooks and other workshop participants, I examine what brooks's guided disorientations do, that is, what they produce kinetically, perceptually, and relationally among participants. I show how brooks's disorientations expand on Sachi Sekimoto and Christopher Brown's conceptualization of racialized regimes of perception by revealing a set of choreographic tropes that undergird those regimes. These include perceiving from a vertical posture, leading movement from the head, navigating based on visual cues while inhibiting responsivity to other senses, turning away from cultural and ancestral context, and relating to self and others as individuals. Drawing on examinations of disorientation within contemporary dance practice and critical race theory, I argue that brooks guides participants into disorienting improvisations that draw attention to, refuse participation within, and generate otherwise possibilities to this choreography.

Igrà za Bog da prost’: Interethnic, genealogical and semantic aspects of dedicating the dance to the dead in the village of Sviniţa

The village of Svinica (Romanian: Sviniţa) is situated in the southern area of the Romanian Banat, which is known as Dunavska klisura (Romanian: Clisura Dunarii). According to historical sources the village of Svinica was founded immediately after 1738 and was inherited by the Serbs. The geopolitical possition of the village influenced that it was separated from the other villages in this area. The isolation of the villagers was enlarged by the endogamy which was practiced until late 1960’s. Even mixed Serbian/Romanians merriages are numerous nowadays, Serbs are still majority population.
 Based on the immediate fieldwork participant observation, this article focuses on the archaic mortuary ritual which is still alive in this village. This is a ritual known as joc/ora/hora de pomana (called by the locals Igra za Bog da prost’ or namenjuvanje). During this ritual, family members devote a dance to the dead person that takes place within a dance event lasting for several hours. Along with the ethnographic narrative, I discuss this ritual in the context of the contemporary dance practice of the wider area of Serbia and Romania where ritual of commemorating dance to the dead still exists. Genealogical and semantic aspects of kinetic and musical components of the ritual are also discussed.

Exploring the Experience of Contemporary Dance Practices in the Context of Global Art Choreography in the Museum Space

The purpose of the article is to examine modern projects in the field of choreography, interconnected with art museums that open doors for choreographers and together embody creative ideas. It is this creative, largely subjective, controversial dialogue between the museum and dance, accompanied by comments of art historians, choreographers, and artists, that gets its meaning in the presented material. The novelty of the study lies in assessing the main directions of choreographic activity, which can be mutually transformed so that the museum and dance function successfully in modern conditions and build a new communicative space with the audience. Through a creative analysis of the modern experience of dance practices, it is possible to discover the principles and trends that are destined to breathe new life into the museum space. The considered examples of organising a museum space with theatrical and plastic direction interacting with it clearly demonstrate that modern visual strategies, associated primarily with its interactive substance, affect the communicative and exhibition space of the museum in different ways. A choreographic performance was analysed as part of a diverse event taking place on the territory of the cultural and historical museum complex; inclusion of dance in the dynamics of the halls of the interior spaces of the museum; entry of a choreographic performance, theatrical actions into the exhibition space of expositions; the museum itself inviting artists, choreographic schools and studios to conduct regular classes and masterclasses within the walls of the museum to popularise its collections, and other examples of forms of interaction between the art of dance and the art museum.

Intersections between Modern and Contemporary Dance and Yoga Practice: A Critical Analysis of Spiritual Paths through Body Movement and Choreography

Bodily movement, rhythmic response, physical exercise and related techniques are sources of spiritual awareness. Yoga and dance are both concerned with the relationship between spirituality and the physical body. This paper presents a literature review of yoga and modern and contemporary dance as spiritual bodily practices. An electronic literature search was undertaken using Scopus, Google Scholar, CINAHL, EMBASE, PubMed/MEDLINE and Web of Science databases to examine the integration of modern and contemporary dance with yoga practice. The review reveals a number of important choreographic and spiritual similarities between these practices, including coordinated movement of the body with the breath, sequences of movements, rhythm, gestures and energy management. Many modern and contemporary dancers, choreographers and artists, such as Graham, include yoga techniques in their choreography and teaching. Through bodily movements, yoga and dance allow for self-awareness and self-perception, which aid in connecting the body, the brain and the soul with the divine. The paper finally suggests and describes how a combination of these two practices may be applied in conjunction with rhythm and music to enhance spirituality through body movement. This paper sought to expand the ways in which movement through yoga and modern and contemporary dance can be considered and practiced in relation to spirituality. Received: 4 March 2021 / Accepted: 6 May 2021 / Published: 8 July 2021

Corporeality of Architecture Experience

Editorial Summary: In »Corporeality of Architecture Experience« Katharina Voigt examines the embodied knowledge in the perception and the exploration of architectural spaces. She highlights embodiment, experience, and sensation as primary fields of investigation. The interrelation of architecture and the human body is described as dependent on bodily ways of knowing and movement as access to sensory encounters with architecture. Relating to the practice of contemporary dance and particularly the work of Sasha Waltz, she regards the body as an archive, generator, and medium of pre-reflexive knowledge, emphasizing its resonance with the space. She exploits the potential which an investigation of the body-based, sensory experience holds when being explicitly addressed and regarded as an integrated part of both, the perception and the design of architecture. [Uta Graff]

The Phenomenology of the Body Schema and Contemporary Dance Practice: The Example of “Gaga”

ABSTRACT In recent years, the notion of the body schema has been widely discussed, in particular in fields connecting philosophy, cognitive science, and dance studies, as it seems to have bearing across disciplines in a fruitful way. A main source in this literature is Shaun Gallagher’s distinction between the body schema—the “pre-noetic” conditions of bodily performance—and the body image—the body as intentional object—, another is Merleau-Ponty’s writings on the living body, that Gallagher often draws upon. In this paper, I will first discuss Gallagher’s presumed clarification of body schema–body image, and discuss a recent critique by Saint Aubert (2013), who evaluates it against the backdrop of Merleau-Ponty’s thoughts on this issue. While I believe that Saint Aubert’s criticism overshoots the mark, it is useful for a clarification of Gallagher’s analysis and points to a problematic feature, namely the alleged inscrutability of the body schema to phenomenological reflection. This is particularly interesting in relation to contemporary dance and performance practice, where working with—and against—habitual structures is a core element. Certain contemporary training techniques are explicitly aimed at raising awareness of those bodily aspects that condition movement and expression—that Gallagher sees as pertaining to the body schema—and that in ordinary activities often remain hidden. In order to clarify the role that reflection on our own body and its habitual patterns plays in contemporary dance practice, I will examine the movement language and improvisation practice “Gaga,” where this aspect is arguably fundamental.

Dances with laws: from metaphor to methodology

ABSTRACT Though law in/and/as performance is a burgeoning area of scholarship, with scholars exploring the relation between theatre, music and law, there is substantially less attention paid to the possibilities of dancing the law. In this article, the author identifies three styles of legal dance – (1) dance as legal practice, (2) dance as legal resolution, and (3) dance as legal research – providing case studies of each from amongst contemporary dance practice. Drawing from this legal dance practice and a survey of the existing field of dance and law research, the author asserts then challenges some common dichotomies between dance and law, most predominant of which is the claim that dance is body oriented whereas law is word oriented. Arguing against this common dichotomy, as the curtains close, the author choreographs the beginnings of dance as an embodied jurisprudence – one that moves the discussion of dance and law from metaphor to methodology.

Sneaking Meditation

ABSTRACT Contemporary dance and meditative practices are increasingly intertwining in both academic and professional settings as the wide range of current mind/body modalities infiltrate the already vast landscape of modern dance. While the value of emphasizing mindful movement in dance cannot be understated, focusing solely on the slower, sensorial experience generally linked with meditative practices can dampen the “danceyness” of the experience itself. Incoming university dance majors may perceive this shift in concentration and intensity in technical training as a step back and lose interest in the program. How can we present dance as both meditative and virtuosic, thus integrating mindfulness and body-fullness to create a fuller dancing experience? In this article, I share practical and experiential methods of incorporating meditative practices into a contemporary or modern dance course while honoring the energetic rigor that draws many students to initially pursue an education and career in dance.

Training the analytical eye: video annotation for dance

The practice of annotating video for the analysis and transmission of Western contemporary dance practices is in its infancy, and a handful of researchers are exploring its potential for publishing movement and choreographic ideas. Despite growing interest, literature relating to video annotation in dance is not readily available and, therefore, the contribution it makes to dance scholarship is unknown. In positioning video annotation as a form of dialogical mnemotechnics, this article sheds light on a method of analysis that is accessible to those both with and without prior training and experience in dance. The article argues that annotational thinking, an iterative and recursive process of grammatisation, augments video documents and creates complex multi-layered artificial memories that can train the analytical eye in a way that deepens and enriches understanding of dance.

Democracy's Body, Neoliberalism's Body: The Ambivalent Search for Egalitarianism Within the Contemporary Post/Modern Dance Tradition

This article analyzes ways in which dance as labor and artist as a specific subjectivity relate to the material conditions of their production within contexts shaped by neoliberal notions of freedom, ideologies of liberal democracy, and the logic of global capitalism. The discussion focuses on contemporary dance practices that embody some of these values by striving to be more egalitarian, thus giving performers more agency in how they participate in creative processes that lead to a collectively created performance work. This analysis emphasizes the tension between these collaborative practices and modes of producing and distributing financial and symbolic, as well as cultural forms of capital in ways that resist and/or reproduce exploitative aspects of capitalism. Examining some works by Yvonne Rainer, Xavier Le Roy, and Tino Sehgal enables the theorization of the entrepreneurial artistic archive as well as practices of crediting creative labor in relation to notions of capital, ownership, collaboration, and consequently who dance-art makers and performers become as politically progressive artists.

Subverting Precariousness: Work, History, and Aesthetics in Contemporary Dance in Buenos Aires

This article analyzes three artistic acts of the subversion of precariousness in the contemporary dance community in Buenos Aires. It explores the participation of dancers in political groups that demand improvement of their working conditions. It examines how Marina Sarmiento's investigation of dance history stages a precarious body as an archive that deals with aesthetic colonialism. And lastly, it discusses the emergence of an aesthetics of precariousness in Fabian Gandini's work, which brings artistic ethics to the fore. The argument proposed in this article asserts that working conditions, history, and aesthetics represent three dimensions of contemporary dance practice that operate simultaneously and determine the precariousness in the Argentinian dance community.

Contemporary Dance Practice Improves Motor Function and Body Representation in Huntington's Disease: A Pilot Study.

Physical exercise improves neurological conditions, but adherence is hard to establish. Dance might be a promising alternative; however, since patients with Huntington's disease (HD) suffer from rhythmic movement execution deficits, any metric dance practice must be avoided. Here we asked, if contemporary dance, a lyrical dance form, practiced for two hours per week over five months, might improve motor function, neuropsychiatric variables, cognition and brain volume of HD patients. Nineteen patients aged between 43 and 78 years with mild to moderate HD (TFC range 7-13, UHDRS motor score range 3-58) participated in this randomized, controlled pilot study (NCT 01842919). The primary outcome measure was total motor score. Secondary outcome measures were differences in brain structure, cognitive function, neuropsychiatric variables, apathy and quality of life. A semi-structured interview assessed participants' experiences. Adherence to dance classes was very good. All participants completed 5 months of dance practice. Motor impairment (median [IQR] decreased from 28[6-51] to 27[7-33] for the dance group compared to an increase of 19[13-35] - 25[14-42] for usual care, Z = -2.44, p = 0.015). No other behavioral measures showed any changes.Brain volume increased in the medial superior parietal and paracentral lobule, in line with compensatory structural brain changes in areas supporting spatial and somatosensory processing. These changes were also reflected in patients' reports that contemporary dance altered the way they "felt and lived in their bodies". Contemporary dance practice, through work on spatial and bodily representations, helps improve motor function in HD patients.

Double Take – dance duets in the public realm

Abstract Photo essay created as part of a larger performative project exploring what it means to put contemporary dance practice into public spaces and the experience and drive to place this work unexpectedly into the public realm. The duets by Neil Callaghan and Simone Kenyon, Maria Hassabi and Sioned Huws where all conceived to be presented outside of traditional theatre settings but would in other circumstances be unlikely, with their focus on repetition, stillness, a relationship with the floor, be put within the mainstream space of a UK summer seaside town, outside of any festival or art show.

A contemporary dance practice generating ad hoc dances: Inspired by and in conversation with Rosalind Crisp

Abstract Dance artist Rosalind Crisp has developed a practice called ‘choreographic improvisation’ and methods of working in which the sensorial body becomes the material for a dance created in the moment; i.e. ad hoc dances. This article discusses how Crisp’s approach is a fine example of the integration of somatic and artistic processes as well as the incorporation of making choreographic choices while dancing. Intrigued by the quality of the teaching and performance works by Crisp, the author describes the methodology of ‘choreographic improvisation’ that is constituent to both the practice in the studio and in performance. This method is set in context with practices from other contemporary dance artists. Crisp’s understanding of material and the process-based interactions of material within itself and the environment prompts the linking to a current philosophical thinking of New Materialism. Creating ad hoc dances is a dynamic process sustaining emerging creations.

Current music and dance practice of central Kosovo and Metohija: Transformations since the 1990s

Ethnomusicological and ethnochoreological research of the central part of Kosovo and Metohija has been conducted since the late 19th century up to the present. However, the gathered data are sparse and provide insufficient (and only partial) information regarding the music and dance tradition of this area. This fact was the main motive for arranging our own field trip to the region, during 2015 and 2016. The recorded material and numerous informants' narratives provided an important insight into the state of both previous and contemporary music and dance practice, enabling one to examine the transformations regarding music and dance that have taken place since the 1990s from several viewpoints: national and multinational, professional and amateur, local and regional. The causes of the changes that have occurred over the course of the last few decades, will be discussed in this paper through the political, ideological, sociological, and cultural prism. Thus, our attention will focus particularly on the national ensembles Shota (Pristina) and Venac (Gračanica), as well as on the local repertoire of different ethnic groups - Serbian, Albanian, Romani and Croatian, in former and contemporary conditions. An especially intriguing question is to what extent, and in what ways did geopolitical restructuring and cultural evaluations in the post-socialist period influence the sustainability, i.e. the change in music and dance forms, as important aspects of the self-representation of the ethnicities that exist in this region?