Community Dance Research Articles

エイコ＆コマのDelicious Movement Workshopの検討 2

A dance unit called “Eiko&Koma” by Eiko Otake and Takashi Otake has been an extremely highly-admired artist in American dance community for more than 40 years. Eiko&Koma has been creating their own workshop style called “Delicious Movement Workshop” (DMW). By using the qualitative research approach (GTA), this paper aims to grasp the basic characteristics of Eiko’s instructional words toward the students in the two basic programs (called “scores”) of DMW, “Sleeping” and “Sleeping Together”, which will intensify and deepen the understanding of DMW structures, and also provides the knowledge related to the instructional words which the physical expression educators can refer to. In the result, through the case studies, we extracted 4 core categories such as [Time(successive)], [Relationship between Oneself and Others], [Image of Nature ], [Consciousness toward Body] and 8 concepts and we linked them into a theoretical mode (Eiko’s words’structure model). From these results, it became apparent that Eiko’s “instructional words” functions as an important tool to induce the creative and expressive movements from the students. The words dissolves the students’ daily senses toward the body and lead them to the unusual, non-daily life world.

Establishing and Evolving a Dance Community in Samos, Greece

Now celebrating its eleven-year anniversary, Samos School of Dance is the island's first dance school to date. This presentation aims to describe the challenge in offering quality dance education during the current economic recession while balancing aesthetics in concert dance at the isolated location. The school continues to collaborate with local and visiting artists to broaden its venues and audiences. Through volunteering and community service, Samos School of Dance hopes to empower its students to become active artists. The community continues to strive for dance on its shores and for dancers who may choose to search further beyond its waters.

The Price of Everything and the Value of Nothing: “Scholarly Activity” and Creative Collaborations on Dance in the Days of Austerity in Greece

This paper initially exposes the resistance and reluctance of the Greek state to systematically support dance by means of long-term planning/institutionalization. Despite its establishment, during the 1970s, as an independent discipline studied at professional dance schools and under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Culture, dance has never really gained its rightful status in the Greek academia, nor has it ever been approached with the intention of truly comprehending and appreciating its nature. Further, the paper critically discusses government planning for dance education and funding for Greek dance companies. Finally, the author explains how the Greek dance community eventually has, on its own initiative, developed the necessary infrastructure in order to maintain and promote dance, both in education and in production. The Greek dance community—practitioners for the most part, plus a small number of researchers/academics—has implicitly influenced the existing state structures and cultural centers, and applied what in the current art/educational context is termed Scholarly Activity and Creative Collaborations. These ad hoc but regular actions might nevertheless prove to be the right choice for the sustainability of dance as an art form in Greece, within the current financial, political, cultural, and social predicament.

Freshmen! Don't Be Afraid of Hip Hop

Freshmen! Don’t be Afraid of Hip Hop If you want to increase your artistic creativity and stay current in contemporary dance, you’ll want to expand your artistic horizons by Megumi Iwama At UC Irvine, during Week Zero of freshman year, you walk through the Anteater Involvement Fair shoveling your way past what feels like millions of flyers thrown in your face. You look up at the tall stage set up for the occasion, and you see the intimidating, powerhouse hip-hop dancers lined up waiting to perform. You wish you could be as cool and impressive as they are, but you say to yourself, “Nah, I am a concert contemporary dancer and hip-hop isn’t really artistic. I could never pursue that as an artistic career so I’m not gonna try…” Well I am here to tell you that hip-hop and contemporary are not that much different from each other. GASP, yes, I mean to tell you that contemporary dance and hip-hop are very stylistically similar in approach. Definition-wise, according to the National Arts Centre, contemporary “specifically means dance that developed from the roots of modern dance, but that it is no longer aligned with the modernist art movement of the 1930s” (artsalive.ca). On the other side of the spectrum, Christopher Gorney, the author of Hip Hop Dance: Performance, Style, and Competition, says, “hip hop dance is hip which the Merriam Webster Dictionary defines as ‘keenly aware of or interested in the newest developments or styles,’ so in a way it is always changing with time. Because it is hip, there are always new styles developing, but there are four that are generally accepted as the traditional styles of hip hop dance—locking, popping, b- boying/b-girling, and up-rocking” (Gorney). Both definitions state that these two kind of dance are evolving and always focused on developing new and modern ways of movement, so why is there such a disconnect between the hip-hop community and the concert contemporary dance community? Perhaps it has to do with concert dancers believing that hip-hop is inferior in artistic value. Contemporary stems from modern dance, which evolved from ballet, which was initially only performed for royalty and higher class audiences; whereas hip-hop grew from the streets, expressing frustrations of the African American community facing poverty and injustice. Dennis Dang, a fourth year bio major at UCI is involved in Common Ground, one of the most advanced competitive hip-hop teams on campus. Although he is not a dance major, he recently participated in two pieces in the undergraduate dance concert, Physical Graffiti, and was fully a part of the creative and rehearsal process. Since he can now compare, I asked him whether he believed hip hop has its own artistic elements and why. His first reaction was, “Of course! Hip hop is VERY artistic.” He further explained that, “Hip hop at its core is art because it combines intention with form. People use dance, especially hip hop, as a form of expression, and even so much as a survival tool in some communities.” So, yes, although Common Ground is a competitive dance team and art is something that goes beyond technique and winning, hip hop teams can also be artistic. The teams, Dang explains, “don’t really care about winning really—the competitions are just a stage space that allows the hip-hop community to come together and share their different ways of expression, movement, and stories, and the winning placements just come with.” He elaborates, saying, “We see more ‘technical’ movements integrated into hip hop sets now, and I want to say hip hop today is only different from contemporary and other similar styles in its spatial and temporal

Experiential learning: A narrative of a community dance field trip

In this paper we offer a co-constructed narrative of experiential learning in the context of a community dance trip undertaken by tertiary students. We describe the unfolding experiences of a weekend field trip and reflect on community dance practices and values with a view towards articulating a shared vision for community dance. A framework for community dance (Kuppers, 2006; Peppiatt, 1996) provides a context for the students' learning and for situating our understandings of the interrelationships between art, education, politics, society and environment. Literature on community dance practice and from sociology, experiential learning, and environmental and cultural education provides direction as we interpret our experiences. While this paper is presented as a co-constructed narrative based on our observations during the field trip, we also include comments made by students, along with reflective interludes as we discuss the field trip in relation to dance education. 1

The Relationship between Wellbeing Tendency, Health Consciousness, and Life Satisfaction among Local Community Dance Program Participants

The purpose of the research was to find the relationship between wellbeing tendency, health consciousness, and life satisfaction among local community dance program participants. In order to achieve the goal of purpose of the study, a total of 511 surveys were analyzed for frequency analysis, reliability analysis, one way ANOVA, correlation analysis, structural equation modeling: SEM, and bootstrapping method. The results have revealed that wellbeing tendency among the local community dance program participants have a positive influence on health consciousness and life satisfaction. Thus, this proves the usefulness of the dance program, which could lead to program development and practical use for the wellbeing life of mid to elder women. Implications, limitations and future research direction are discussed.

Creating Musical Theatre: Conversations with Broadway Directors and Choreographers by Lyn Cramer (review)

Reviewed by: Creating Musical Theatre: Conversations with Broadway Directors and Choreographers by Lyn Cramer Rockford Sansom Creating Musical Theatre: Conversations with Broadway Directors and Choreographers. By Lyn Cramer. London: Bloomsbury Methuen Drama, 2013; pp. 304. Creating Music Theatre: Conversations with Broadway Directors and Choreographers offers critically minded interviews with some of Broadway’s most prolific and honored directors and choreographers. Lyn Cramer’s selection of interviews features both veterans and rising stars, many of whom are well-known to the dance community, though they may not have received mainstream attention. The focus of this book ultimately calls attention to how each interviewee perceives his or her role and personal artistic process as a director/choreographer. Through entertaining personal accounts and process-oriented dialogue, each interviewed artist offers practical advice and insights into the theory and practice of musical theatre dance. The catalog of interviews presents choreographers and directors whose work crosses virtually every form of the performing arts, yet all have had great influence and success in musical theatre on Broadway. The twelve interviews include: Rob Ashford (Thoroughly Modern Mille), Andy Blankenbuehler (In the Heights), Jeff Calhoun (Bonnie and Clyde), Warren Carlyle (Chaplin), Christopher Gattelli (Newsies), Kathleen Marshall (Anything Goes), Jerry Mitchell (Legally Blonde), Casey Nicholaw (The Book of Mormon), Randy Skinner (White Christmas), Susan Stroman (The Scottsboro Boys), Sergio Trujillo (Jersey Boys), and Anthony Van Laast (Sister Act). Cramer states that through the interviews she aims both to transcribe a contemporary director/choreographer’s creative methodology and to explore each of their personal journeys through the musical theatre world. Every interview contains a fairly systematic arc. Cramer begins with the individual’s background and early entertainment career, predominantly highlighting how each dancer transitioned into a choreographer and then, if applicable, director. Each artist describes seminal works in his or her career, and the influence that these works have had on more recent projects. Cramer then shifts to the creative process and delves into topics like using research to create dance, the nature of collaboration, preproduction concepts, casting, and rehearsal techniques. Each interview ceremoniously closes with a request for advice to young dancers moving to New York City for the first time. In the foreword Cramer argues that she intends the interviews for three different audiences: the musical theatre performer searching for audition and rehearsal advice; the aspiring director/choreographer looking for inspiration; and the researcher investigating how each artist perceives their own creative process. The greatest strengths of this text lie in the material for the first two audiences. The interviews are intensely pragmatic; Cramer and each choreographer speak artist-to-artist and dancer-to-dancer in frank, simple, and consistently practical terms that dancers at any level of the theatre industry will find insightful and useful. Through questions like “[o]nce they’re hired, is there something dancers need to know before they walk into the rehearsal room?” [End Page 308] (45) and “[d]o you communicate with your creative team any differently, regardless of whether you’re choreographing, directing, or both?” (75). Cramer keeps the conversations refreshingly balanced and practical, avoiding inquiries that could have easily turned unproductively erudite. Her casual yet respectful tone as interviewer encourages the choreographers to offer humorous and intriguing antidotes that concurrently entertain and reinforce the lessons they are trying to teach. A few of the interviews even contain harmless jabs at some of the icons of the dance world and a playful lampoon of elements within the theatre, such as the audition process, out-of-town tryouts, and so on. Cramer also avoids dance jargon and interpolates explanations about each artist within the interviews, making the book user-friendly to those who do not have extensive musical theatre knowledge. For the researcher, Cramer does ask questions that critically explore every director/choreographer’s aesthetic theories and praxis. The discussions of each artist’s early mentors and how these influences have affected his or her process stand out as noteworthy examples. Additional significant dialogues include the artists’ explanations of how a choreographer transitions from early choreographic concepts to the rehearsal room, and how to best utilize the rehearsal process. Cramer’s personal knowledge of musical theatre dance seeps through the interviews in...

‘It has really amazed me what my body can now do’: boundary work and the construction of a body-positive dance community

Boundaries around normative embodiments in physical cultures can be exclusionary if one’s embodied identity does not ‘fit’. Normative boundaries are particularly marked in codified forms of dance such as ballet. Moves towards body positivity aim to challenge these normative boundaries by redefining what dancers’ bodies can look like and how they should move. This paper stems from an appreciative inquiry undertaken with one such project, a gender-neutral, LGBTQ-friendly adult ballet school in the UK; a subcultural context that marks itself as distinct from broader cultures of dance. Interviews with learners are analysed through a Bourdieuian lens to explore the construction and maintenance of a body-positive subculture. Findings suggest that boundaries of ability were crossed, with celebration of all bodies’ capabilities, and boundaries of normative gender expression were transformed through a commitment to gender-neutrality and LGBTQ-friendly behaviours. However, boundaries around technical and aesthetic norms, while shifted or challenged, ultimately remained in place.

Using a Principle-Based Method to Support a Disability Aesthetic

ABSTRACTThis article calls choreographers and educators alike to continue building an awareness of methodologies that support a disability aesthetic. A disability aesthetic supports the embodiment of dancers with disabilities by allowing for their bodies to set guidelines of beauty and value. Principle-based work is a methodology that supports a disability aesthetic by focusing on qualities, aesthetic ideas, and concepts either for a creative practice or a technique practice. Principle-based work is an umbrella term that includes many practices and teaching methodologies. The dance community might hone skills in principle-based work as an additional option to a “form-based” technique, thereby allowing for a more inclusive dance space and pedagogy. This article offers both pragmatic and theoretical considerations for working with students with disabilities as a way to change how disability is represented and presented in dance culture.

Dance mobility: a somatic and dance programme for older adults in New Zealand

This article describes the significance of Dance Mobility™, a new community dance programme that follows a New Zealand partnership research project, designed for older adults with diverse motor skill levels and dance experiences. The programme includes high-functioning older adults, some with sensory or balance impairments and others with Parkinson's disease. We discuss the benefits and challenges of facilitating a once-weekly dance practice model and the ways the programme affects individuals’ sensorial states of well-being and awareness. Somatic practices are introduced as integral to Dance Mobility™ teaching methods and dance activities. We include observations and comparisons with dance embodiment theories, cross-disciplinary goals of gerontology and exercise science/rehabilitation research to debate benefits and limitations of dance for older adults, and adaptive methods of the Dance Mobility™ approach. Somatic research is needed to build evidence-based conclusions that advance older adults’ feelings of well-being and safeguard their motivations to continue moving freely.

Interview with independent dance artist Cecilia Macfarlane

Abstract In this interview, independent dancer Cecilia Macfarlane talks about her project with the Japanese Contemporary Dance Network (JCDN) in 2013. To date, Macfarlane has undertaken eight trips to Japan, primarily to introduce her community dance practice to Japanese artists. However, during her visit in 2013, she was invited to learn folk dances from the north-east of Japan, in the Tohoku region most affected by the earthquake and tsunami in 2011. The interview is movingly interwoven with Macfarlane’s experience of losing her son. The sudden devastation following his death is described by Macfarlane as a ‘personal tsunami’, which is discussed alongside the loss and destruction wrought in Japan by earthquake, tsunami and nuclear devastation. In this way, autobiographical material is brought to bear on understanding the experiences of the survivors and to contribute to the development of Macfarlane’s artistic process alongside the project.

Dancing with Down syndrome: a phenomenological case study

Dance for individuals with Down syndrome has many benefits; however, there is little research on this topic. Down syndrome is the most common genetic condition, resulting in psychological, physical, and social impairments. There is research to suggest that dance may be a beneficial activity for people with Down syndrome; however, there is little research to substantiate the effects of participating in a community dance class. The present study utilized the theoretical orientation of phenomenology to explore the lived experience of a 21-year-old male with Down syndrome as he participated in a community dance class through his perspective, as well as that of his parents and dance instructor. The dance program was inclusive for children and young adults with special needs. Data collection included background questionnaires, interviews, observation of the dance class, member checks, and field notes. Analysis of the data revealed four salient themes although only the theme of Luke at Dance will be discussed. Overall, all participants agreed that the experience had social, physical, and psychological benefits. Specifically, the dance class provided Luke with the opportunity to expand his social circle, engage him cognitively, and become physically active.

“We all carry each other, sometimes”: care-sharing as social justice practice in integrated dance

ABSTRACTIn this article, we explore how one integrated dance community engages in everyday practices of care-sharing as a form of social justice. The notion of care-sharing emerged from a performance ethnography in which 12 dancers co-created a research-based integrated dance. For this community, integrated dance is a recreational and pre-professional art practice that is inclusive of people with a wide range of embodiments and capacities, including those experiencing disability. Within this dance context, disability is not regarded as a bodily problem in need of therapy, but as a matter of social injustice. To navigate these and other forms of social injustice, dancers practised care-sharing, which involved: life-sustaining, communal acts of radical interdependence; practices of consensus-building and the sharing of discomfort; and a commitment to negotiating complex power relations. We conclude by sharing some points of learning, hoping that they may offer new perspectives on therapeutic recreation research and practice.

Embodying Hebrew Culture: Aesthetics, Athletics, and Dance in the Jewish Community of Mandate Palestine by Nina S. Spiegel. 2013. Detroit, MI: Wayne State University Press. xii + 257 pp., 47 illustrations, notes, bibliography, index. $39.95 cloth, $31.99 e-book. - Seeing Israeli and Jewish Dance edited by Judith Brin Ingber. 2011. Detroit, MI: Wayne State University Press. xii + 458 pp.,

Embodying Hebrew Culture: Aesthetics, Athletics, and Dance in the Jewish Community of Mandate Palestine by Nina S. Spiegel. 2013. Detroit, MI: Wayne State University Press. xii + 257 pp., 47 illustrations, notes, bibliography, index. $39.95 cloth, $31.99 e-book. - Seeing Israeli and Jewish Dance edited by Judith Brin Ingber. 2011. Detroit, MI: Wayne State University Press. xii + 458 pp.,

Origin, Development, and Expansion: A Brief Argument on Terminology and History of Korean Community Dance

Origin, Development, and Expansion: A Brief Argument on Terminology and History of Korean Community Dance

The gaze or the groove? Emerging themes from the New Meanings and Pathways: Community Dance and Dance Education Symposium in Beijing

Established in 1954 and drawing heavily on dance conservatory models from Russia, the Beijing Dance Academy (BDA) has become a predominant influence on dance education in East Asia. As it addresses the artistic, cultural and educational needs of China into the twenty-first century, the BDA is now negotiating a new terrain and seeking new pedagogical strategies. Investigating similar issues, the Dance Studies Programme at the University of Auckland has become a research hub for applied uses of dance in community and educational contexts. This article critically reflects on a dialogue held between these two institutions, on the meanings, functions and future directions for dance in education and the community. This includes a historical analysis of the term ‘community’ in English and Mandarin, a political analysis of possible relationships between dance and a community (drawn from different UNESCO mandates), and a pedagogical analysis of educational strategies employed within dance in community contexts. Queries emerge regarding the potential challenges and opportunities of intercultural education in dance education. Through historicizing the cultural, political and pedagogic environments of the two institutions, the authors hope to provide some clarity around differences and commonalities, and consider how this institutional dialogue might provide a platform for further intercultural collaboration.

Dance house as the art of (co)existence: Interview with Gisela Mu?ller and Barbara Friedrich

Abstract Uferstudios is a monumental space for contemporary dance in Berlin consisting of 14 bright studios that range from 85m2 to 415m2. An old electrical trolley depot built in 1920s was rebuilt in 2010 and now hosts the Inter-University Centre for Dance Berlin HZT, Tanzfabrik Berlin, ada Studio, Tanzbu?ro Berlin and the freelance dance community. Uferstudios is run without an artistic director or an artistic board, and coexistence is based on a constant dialogue and sharing the vision and the paying of the rent. The nonhierarchical way of governing the space offers a new model for a dance house - which is both intriguing and very different from other dance houses in Europe that I had a chance to experience. I invited Barbara Friedrich, the managing director of Uferstudios, and Gisela Mu?ller, a board member and artistic director of the Tanzfabrik school, to speak about the protocols of coexistence, the con_icts, the vision and the costs of running the space. Both of them are founding members and driving forces of Uferstudios.

Injuries presenting to a walk-in clinic at a summer dance intensive program: a three-year retrospective data analysis.

Summer dance intensive programs are an integral part of many serious dancers' training. The risk and rate of injury in this setting have not been well studied. The goal of this data analysis is to detail the epidemiology of dance injuries reported during a summer dance intensive over a consecutive 3 year period. Data collection included information regarding the number of evaluation and treatment sessions conducted at the program's walk-in clinic, body regions injured, whether the injuries were recurrences of pre-existing conditions or newly sustained during the intensive, and at what point in the program they were recorded. Overall, more of the clinic's clientele presented with multiple injuries than with single discrete injuries. The anatomic distribution of injuries appears to be consistent with previously reported data, with the four most commonly injured body regions being ankle, pelvis and hip, knee, and lumbar spine. Injuries sustained during the intensive (IR) occurred at a 2:1 ratio to pre-intensive injuries (PR). Relative to those with PR injuries, dancers with IR injuries were far more likely to present during the first half of the program. This study is a first step toward filling a gap in the literature by describing injury incidence in a specific population within the dance community.

Dancer perceptions of the force reduction of dance floors used by a professional touring ballet company.

The mechanical properties of dance floors have the potential to influence dancers' performance and injury risk. Little information is available that describes dancers' preferences for dance floor mechanical properties. Investigation of dancers' perceptions of varied dance floors can serve to enlighten governing bodies, floor manufacturers, and the dance community. The aim of this study was to assess the perceptions of dancers from a touring professional ballet company regarding four floors with varied force reduction (FR) that were created to replicate those used by the company in normal dance training and performance. A specialized questionnaire was developed that incorporated a series of qualitative and quantitative measures that could be used by participants to express their perceptions of the custom built dance floors. Floor FR was quantified with reference to the protocols specified by European standards. Dancer perceptions were in general agreement with floor FR values; however, some discrepancies were observed. Dancers expressed a preference for floor FR within the mid to upper limits (57% to 72%) of the European standards, although a minority preferred low FR (approximately 36%) floors. A limited ability to perceive inconsistencies in FR across test floors was observed, which may have implications for injury risk. Investigation of the perceptions of dancers from more diverse backgrounds, on floors that provide a closer representation of typical dance studio and stage sizes, over longer periods of time, would provide further insight into the perceptual and adaptive responses of dancers to varied floor mechanical properties.

EDUCAÇÃO ACESSÍVEL: ESTÉTICAS, CORPOS E DEFICIÊNCIA

Este artigo introduz o modelo social da deficiência aos professores de dança e discute as implicações dessa concepção sobre a deficiência para o ensino de dança, a apreciação da dança e da coreografia. A relação entre o dançarino de balé deficiente e o conceito do corpo dançante do balé é analisado como uma maneira de desafiar o entendimento sobre o corpo em estudantes de dança. O uso de estruturas e técnicas da dança-teatro são discutidas por meio do trabalho de performance de grupos de dança profissionais e comunitários de pessoas com e sem deficiência. A tese central deste artigo é que uma cultura de dança acessível não precisa somente de técnicas, espaços de trabalho, instalações de treinamento e palcos acessíveis, mas também de um trabalho educacional mais amplo no que se refere ao entendimento sobre a dança: a nossa capacidade de ler dança e apreciar a manipulação de corpos, no tempo e no espaço.