Dance Rehearsal Research Articles

Quality of Life Measures in Young Pre-Professional Dancers Compared to Non-Athletes and Non-Dancer Athletes.

Aim: To investigate quality of life (QoL) measures in a cohort of young female dancers. Methods: Cross-sectional survey study design was utilized to study dancers 8 to 17 years enrolled in two elite dance schools in the Boston area. The main outcome measure was the Pediatric Quality of Life (PedsQL 4.0) questionnaire, a validated QoL survey for children, with established normative values for comparison. Demographics and questions pertaining to training regimens and injury/illness history were also included. Sub-groups (8-11 years, 12-14 years, and 15-17 years) were created to analyze outcomes by age. Results: One hundred and forty emails were delivered, 72 were completed and included in the final data analysis (51.4%). The median scores for physical, psychosocial, emotional, social, and school PedsQL sub-scales were 87.5, 90.0, 80.0, 100.0, and 92.5, respectively. The median score of the total PedsQL scores was 88.8. No difference in QoL outcomes by age group was found (physical: P = .328; psychosocial: P = .918; emotional: P = .673; social: P = .573; school: P = 0.962; total: P = 0.766). 52.5% of the participants responded that they regularly perform in shows. Median hours/week of dance rehearsal was 10 hours (mean ± standard deviation: 10.3 ± 4.9; 95% CI: 9.0, 11.6; IQR: 7.0, 13.5; range: 2.0, 20.0) and 68.9% reported they practice and rehearse throughout the entire calendar year as opposed to solely during the school year; most dancers reported participating in dance 11 months (median value) per year (mean ± standard deviation: 10.7 ± 0.8; 95% CI: 10.5, 11.0; IQR: 10.0, 11.0; range: 9.0, 12.0). Conclusion: QoL measures for young female dancers were higher relative to existing data for the general population and lower compared to other sports participation. These results will support the social, emotional, and physical health of young dancers.

Effect of 12-week rehearsal on cardiorespiratory fitness and body composition in Brazilian samba dancers.

To investigate the effect of 12 weeks of rehearsals on cardiorespiratory parameters and body composition in Brazilian samba dancers belonging to a first-league samba school. Twenty-six women were divided into a Samba Group (n=13) and a Control Group (n=13). Cardiorespiratory parameters (cardiopulmonary exercise test) and body composition (skinfold assessment) were assessed before and after the 12 weeks of rehearsals. The Samba Group rehearsed three times per week for 30-60 minutes, and the Control Group participated in no physical activity. A comparison test was performed within and between groups, with p<0.05 indicating statistical significance. Compared with the Control Group, the Samba Group showed a significant increase in maximal oxygen uptake (19%), oxygen pulse (13%), and lean body mass (3%) and a decrease in body fat percentage (11%) and fat mass (12%). Twelve weeks of samba dance rehearsals improved the cardiorespiratory and body composition parameters in women dancers compared with the Control Group. These findings suggest that dancing samba regularly can increase physical activity levels and positively affect the health parameters of samba dancers.

The Functional Grammar of Dance applied to ELAN annotation: meaning beyond the naked eye

Abstract The main purpose of this article is to show how Functional Grammar of Dance (FGD) can be applied to dance discourse analysis to reveal the discursive strategies that underlie choreographies and support movement-based communication. In recent years, studies in Systemic Functional Multimodal Discourse Analysis (SF-MDA) have benefited from the development of several models of analysis, and from the emergence of a new focus on the materiality of semiotic modes. The Functional Grammar of Dance is a recently developed model of analysis that draws on Systemic Functional Linguistics theory and focuses on movement-based communication starting from dance (particularly ballet as a starting point). The Functional Grammar of Dance has been adopted as a central theory in an international collaborative project funded by the AHRC (Arts and Humanities Research Council) in the UK and the DFG (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, ‘German Research Foundation’) in Germany, The Kinesemiotic Body, where it has been used with the ELAN annotation system. ELAN annotation based on the Functional Grammar of Dance was used for both live-collected data from dance rehearsals and for dance videos and revealed aspects of dance performances that are not necessarily captured by the naked eye. This paper proposes three case studies where we show that our ELAN annotation with the FGD provides an effective and very flexible interface for the grammaticalization of movement-based communication and the study of movement-based discursive strategies.

Dance Rehearsal System Based on Linear Partial Differential Mathematical Equation

Abstract In this paper, a linear partial differential mathematical choreography model is proposed for the accuracy of action recognition in dance rehearsal systems. This paper more accurately represents the action change features. The article uses the pyramid algorithm (LK) to calculate pixels’ optical flow vector change in dt time. Then this paper adopts a multi-feature fusion module to fuse multi-channel features. Finally, the system completes the accurate identification of dance choreography movements. The research results show that the algorithm can perform dance movement recognition. The dance rehearsal system realizes the movement correction of dancers.

Constructing a hybrid Samoan identity through Siva Samoa in New Zealand: a multimodal (inter)action analysis of two dance rehearsals

Abstract The construction of Samoan identity in New Zealand is shaped by complex historical and contemporary social, economic, cultural and political factors. In addition, New Zealand-born Samoans are negotiating an ethnic and identity that incorporates their experience with the intergenerational stories and cultural knowledge of their ancestors. Such cultural and identity negotiations are occurring through the practice of Siva Samoa, Samoan dance. Using Multimodal (Inter)action Analysis we conduct a micro analysis of two excerpts of video data involving female Samoan dancers rehearsing for a dance showcase. Vertical identity production (Norris, S. (2011). Identity in (inter)action: introducing multimodal (inter)action analysis. Berlin and Boston: Mouton: 179, 2020:85) is used as a framework to analyze the multiple layers of discourse within each site of engagement that shape the construction of Samoan Identity for the participants involved.

Making a mark: Transforming everyday work of city arborists into dance

This article expands on previous scholarship on the choreographic practice of marking by studying two disparate communities—community-based dance makers and arborists—who collaborate to create a large-scale, public dance performance. With the dance company's goal being to bring public awareness to the embodied skillfulness of the city's urban forestry department and the impacts these city workers have on the community green spaces they service, the dancers for the performance are the foresters themselves who enact dancerly versions of their professional movements. We analyzed 21 h of videotaped data of dance rehearsals, proffering up an interaction-based approach to the study of marking, analyzing the moment-to-moment way, both groups mark out dance phrases for a sub-section of the final performance: the brush truck routine. In doing so, we develop the termmarking togetherto denote how dance ideas are built, transformed, and enacted through group idea formation and revision. Ultimately, we provide insights into how to study dance marking in its full, interactional complexity.

Temporal procedures of mutual alignment and synchronization in collaborative meaning-making activities in a dance rehearsal

Synchrony is a members' interactional solution for dealing with multiple relevant interactional tasks simultaneously when working on two or more separate, perceptual, and equally relevant projects, e. g., when dancing while pointing out a feature of the ongoing dance. This paper focuses on moments in which participants engage in joint meaning-making to identify, negotiate, and implement displayed multimodal gestalts of the choreography. Three temporal procedures of mutual alignment and synchronization were identified through a conversation analytical approach in combination with marker-less motion tracking movement analysis of a dance rehearsal: delays, accelerations, and accentuations. The analyses revealed that synchrony requires constant coordination in order to establish, maintain, and dissolve alignment between participants and their multimodal resources.

The acoustical design of the Imig Music Building addition—An end user’s perspective and an acoustician’s perspective

The design of the Imig Music Building addition at the University of Colorado/Boulder, which started in 2017, culminated in a building opening in Spring 2021. The facility includes a dedicated recital hall, a large ensemble rehearsal room with flexibility to double as a recital hall, a choral rehearsal room, theatre rehearsal room, and dance rehearsal studio along with many music teaching studios, practice rooms, and other acoustically sensitive spaces to support the College of Music’s program. The footprint of the building addition was very limited, resulting in an unusually large number of acoustically critical horizontal and vertical adjacencies. Perspectives on the design process and the successful resulting building will be presented by the end user and the acoustician. One goal of this presentation is to help attendees understand how to translate end user goals into acoustic design criteria and communicate those criteria to the other design team members (architects, engineers, and other specialty consultants such as theatre consultants).

THE PROCESS OF POWER/KNOWLEDGE INTEGRATION IN THE PERIOD OF KNOWLEDGE EXPLORATION: A CASE STUDY ON COLLECTIVE CHOREOGRAPHY

Taking knowledge sharing between authoritative teachers and group dancers in a group dance rehearsal as the research object, here we are analyzing relevant literature and using the methods of interview and observation to collect relevant data. Then, we have been using the method of qualitative research to code the collected data and build the theoretical model of power / knowledge integration process in the knowledge exploration period for a group dance rehearsal. The constructed model further enriches the existing theoretical research area. This study may also help predict the problems that will occur in the process of knowledge integration, that is, the potential influencing factors. Thus, the participants of the process in question could adjust themselves through a better grasp of the dynamic process of knowledge integration. Better preparation and participation in cooperation inside the performance team can make team planning and team organization much more sufficient.

Touring the Screen: Cinematic Resonances of Diaghilev's Ballets Russes

Touring the Screen: Cinematic Resonances of Diaghilev's Ballets Russes

Embodying the Dance Rehearsal: The Time, Space and Situatedness of Dance Making

ABSTRACT One of my principle aims as a dance educator is to cultivate somatic-based learning environments so that students develop, integrate, and hone a holistic, embodied sense of self. In order to achieve this objective, I strive to help students connect their movement to their ongoing thoughts, sensations, and perceptions. In this article, I describe the work that I have developed in relation to M.M. Bakhtin’s dialogism and the practice-based approach of F.M. Alexander. I suggest that while these objectives are readily attainable in dance technique classes and somatic-specific courses, the process is decidedly more challenging during the dance rehearsal. In an effort to design a somatic-based learning environment that supports the rehearsal process, this article describes work on self-other relations and the conveyance of meaning through embodied movement, with an eye to creating an approach to the rehearsal process that focuses on embodiment and dialogism.

Il paesaggio sonoro in relazione. Suono, movimento e immagini per stimolare complessità percettiva

This article wants to explore the topic of the soundscape in the context of dance and video, especially in the site-specific creation process of dance live performances and video dance, with a brief mention to a particular type of audiovisual installations. The exploration develops starting from the soundscape that two dancing bodies produce merely moving in a dance rehearsal room, it continues with the description of a soundscape composed with sounds detected by a specific environment, and it ends with the analysis of the dance movie Car Men, by Paval Conen. The final reflections start from an example of dramaturgical use of sound in the context of film production and arrive at the description of laser drawing performance as a final example of perceptive complexity.

Agbacha Ekuru Nwa Dance: A Study of Performance Ethics for Music Students in Colleges of Education

performances and providing the theoretical framework for the study of general music education by students in colleges of education. To promote the baseline from which dance performance is produced to enhance cultural heritage and the structure with which all aspects of social events are finally understood. The need for increased awareness and participation in dance is apparent. In tertiary institutions, the study of dance as an academic course virtually does not exist. Dance should be given the attention it deserves in the curriculum for the promotion of sustainable development in creating jobs for the youths.&#x0D; Methodology: Participant observation-adopting this survey is very necessary due to the nature of the research, it is a practical performance that involved dance groups. There are varieties of approaches to research in any field of investigation. Using the descriptive method is aimed at obtaining information concerning the current status of Agbacha ekuru nwa dance as it is expressed in the traditional setting. This is important in understanding the dance similarities among the groups selected from each of the 3 local government areas in Mbaise. The data collected for this project are obtained through oral interviews, observation, personal contact, and participation. Observation and participation in dance rehearsal are very necessary for future performance with the students. Uzoigwe (1998) explained that the descriptive method allows for better acceptance and understanding of all music elements discovered during research.&#x0D; Results: Traditional dance is a part of life evolution, memory, and history, it is integral with the communities of the peoples' culture. And because communities re-shape and re-model folk music in line with changing tradition, ideals, and social interaction, it should be used to educate the people on the ills and goodwill of the society. Given the multiplicity of social performances in Nigeria, it will be possible to agree that the people's total culture is subsumed with music and dance and that it has become very important in promoting and developing our cultural heritage.&#x0D; Unique contribution to theory, practice and policy: There is the need for us to revive our cultural heritage by ensuring that those subjects which teach and safeguards morals, norms and value system are given attention in school curriculum to revamp the fallen standard of education, cultural ideologies, and judgment regarding the way we see ourselves. This will lead to a drastic change in our attitude and behaviour. To better attract the interest of learners, the curriculum has a part to play; this is by designing a solid structure for the dance program in all levels of education in Nigerian schools. The nature of dance, as well as students' interest, will be captured and aimed at revitalizing general music education in our schools providing a balance between intellectual tasks and social interaction. This will be a way of expanding knowledge and skills for future use as a form of integrating cultural heritage into our educational system. Using Agbacha ekuru nwa dance as a case study will be beneficial to students because if all organizational principles are applied to teaching and learning it will provide structured performance ethics towards achieving collective objectives. Dance is teamwork and should be organized as such. One of the benefits is creativity in performance; talent development could be formed where students, lovers of music, and the larger society can function very well in creating dance. This will be one of the most valuable courses to enhance human personality.&#x0D;

The Anatomy of Dance Discourse: Literary and Philosophical Approaches to Dance in the Later Graeco-Roman World by Karin Schlapbach

174 PHOENIX persuasively advocates both sides of the debate here and in the notes—that Sulpicia was a woman and that Sulpicia was the fiction of a male author. Fulkerson concludes that, while the question cannot be answered based on the existing evidence, “much is gained, and little lost, in treating the poetry of S. as an authentically recovered female voice from antiquity” (53), in accord with her philosophy about the collection as a whole—to accept the collection in the form that has been handed down to us. In Section VII, “Style, Metre, and Syntax” (53–58), Fulkerson lays out the technical similarities and differences between the AT and the works of Propertius, Tibullus, and Ovid, drawing attention to the unique style of each group of poems within the AT. The last section, “Manuscript Tradition and Text” (58–59), examines the manuscript tradition of the Corpus Tibullianum, with special attention to the inclusion of the AT. Following the text is commentary on each poem. The notes on the first poem of each group begin with a brief introduction to the group and its “author.” Fulkerson situates each poem and its themes in Augustan elegiac generic practices. She treats individual verses by couplets, reprinting each couplet before annotating words and phrases. Entries include useful cross-references to her introduction, copious comparanda from Greek and Latin poetry, references to ancient and modern sources, and explanation and selective bibliography for the cultural and historical context. Fulkerson’s eloquent and often witty prose makes this commentary a pleasure to read. Her clear explication of the poems and their place in the canon of Roman erotic elegy is a valuable resource both for scholars in the field and for intermediate students just beginning their studies of this genre. Fulkerson’s treatment of the AT has convinced this reviewer to include these poems, regardless of their authorship or dating, in all of her future assessments of Roman erotic elegy. University of Tennessee, Knoxville Jessica Westerhold The Anatomy of Dance Discourse: Literary and Philosophical Approaches to Dance in the Later Graeco-Roman World. By Karin Schlapbach. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. 2018. Pp. x, 339. A striking photograph appears on the cover of Karin Schlapbach’s new book on ancient dance. A snapshot of what seems to be a dance rehearsal captures the silhouette of a performer in mid-pose, practicing under the watchful eye of two sitting figures, all surrounded by the industrial architecture of the studio with a harbor visible outside. One of the two attentive spectators is the American dancer and choreographer Merce Cunningham, seen here in a wheelchair only a few months before he died in 2009. The choice of book cover does not seem to be a random one at all. The Anatomy of Dance Discourse offers an insightful review of ancient literary and philosophical approaches to dance from the fourth century b.c.e. to the fifth century c.e., encompassing traditional Graeco-Roman and Christian ideas of body performance while also providing a narrower focus on the cultural context of the second century c.e. The relevance and timeliness of Schlapbach’s monograph are twofold: it opens up a new dimension for accessing prose and poetry from classical and late antiquity by employing the direct physical and dynamic reality of dance as a tool for reading and imagining, while also highlighting the crucial features of ancient dance practice and experience as straightforward referents to current performance theories in a broader sense. The book, in fact, takes advantage of the growing interest in dance from the past two decades, both BOOK REVIEWS/COMPTES RENDUS 175 within and outside classics. The result is a magnificent piece of work, which artfully filters and assimilates the valuable contributions of previous scholarship in order to consolidate a new stage within the field of ancient Greek and Roman dance studies.1 As the book’s title suggests, Schlapbach defies commonly held assumptions about the ephemeral—and therefore elusive—nature of dance by carrying out an incisive examination of the elements of ancient dance discourse, the structural and narrative complexities of dance practice, and the ways that this discourse related to other artistic disciplines...

1217 Narcolepsy in a Preschool-Aged Child

The diagnosis of Narcolepsy in the pediatric population is a challenging process, and can result in unnecessary diagnostic work-ups and hospital admissions. 4-year-old African American female is admitted following an episode of “passing out” while on stage at a school dance rehearsal. A teacher described a 2-minute episode with “diffuse shaking” without incontinence, consciousness was preserved. She had a one-month history of excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS). An anti-epileptic drug was started, by her Pediatrician after presenting with periods of staggering, nonsensical speech, and enuresis. Mother also noted snoring and weight gain. An exhaustive work up was negative for seizures, autoimmune disease, stroke, CNS infection, or metabolic disease. She was treated for presumed autoimmune encephalitis with IV methylprednisolone and immunoglobulin. She developed visual hallucinations, but was discharged after resolution of all symptoms. A second admission with similar symptoms occurred a week later. Sleep Medicine was consulted and ordered an HLA DQ1B*0602 marker, which was positive. In-lab Polysomnography showed fragmented sleep with an Apnea-Hypopnea Index = 0.2/h, Total Sleep Time = 4.6 h, Sleep Latency = 55.5 min, REM Latency = 55.5 min, Sleep Efficiency = 53%, and Periodic Limb Movement Index = 0/h. The Multiple Sleep Latency Test was unremarkable with a Mean Sleep Latency = 12.8 min and Sleep-onset REMs = 0, but struggled to stay awake in-between naps. Finally, a cerebral spinal fluid sample was sent to the Center for Sleep Sciences at Stanford University, revealing a hypocretin-1 level of 0 pg/mL. This case demonstrates the challenges in diagnosing Narcolepsy, in the prepubescent population. EDS is usually the presenting symptom, but even with cataplexy, the diagnosis can be missed. Patients can be referred to multiple physicians, undergo overwhelming and lengthy work-ups, or be treated inadequately. Consulting a sleep specialist early in the clinical course may be of significant benefit.

How multimodality shapes creative choice in dance

Creative choice is an individual act. As in other fields such as filmmaking, dance creation is based on a cognitive dualism that considers the choreographer as the creative decision-maker, while the dancer is objectified. The dancer’s body is an instrument for exploration of the choreographer’s imagery. We claim that the products of creativity are minute but crucial modifications of transitory stages of a dance rehearsal. On the one hand, attention is given to a dance company as a distributed cognitive system. The choreographer communicates in diverse modalities, which carry specific information, physical as well as symbolic. Through the analysis of an audiovisual and cognitive ethnography with ELAN software we find differences in decision-making patterns across multimodal instructions. On the other hand, we apply Social Network Analysis and UCINET software as a methodological innovation in order to formalize data from observed rehearsal settings. In all, the choice of modalities in the chorographical instruction shapes movement production, which is based on dyads, triads and other forms of creative interaction.

The strength of creative ties: social networks of a dance rehearsal

Este articulo formaliza las pautas de actividad de un ensayo de danza neoclasica. El objetivo es iniciar la construccion de una representacion relacional de la mirada bailada, parafraseando a Simmel (1908) y su teoria del control social relacional. A partir de un trabajo etnografico de los procesos de ensayo de una compania de danza, explicaremos como los bailarines toman decisiones. La distribucion de un cuestionario sobre las interacciones durante los ensayos permite mostrar el habitus que se configura en la interaccion local y social. Ellos y ellas miran, hablan, y se relacionan en una red de conocimiento distribuido. El analisis de la centralidad, de los cliques y de lazos simmelianos, realizados gracias a Ucinet, cristalizan la multiplicidad de roles y de grupos de afiliacion de los y las bailarinas.

Shift … centre: cross-cultural spaces for dance training and choreographic enquiry

Contemporary dance in East Africa, specifically Kenya, is a newly emerging art form informed by the political drive of a small number of choreographers. In this article, I discuss Kenyan choreographer Opiyo Okach’s contribution to dance training as exemplified through the Shift … centre Series 10 which was performed at The Place, London, October, 2009. The research for this writing draws on observations of dance rehearsals, workshops and performances and interviews conducted during a number of visits to Nairobi, Dar es Salaam and Kampala from 2007 to 2010. Shift … centre combines improvisation, responses to site-specific locations, collaborations between artists, and offers an opportunity for dance training for the performers. Okach’s choreography is informed by his desire to de-centre the performing space and to challenge mainstream dance practice. This case study offers an example of a choreographer who creates both in his homeland and Europe and has been instrumental in the development of contemporary dance in Kenya and internationally.

Dance Rehearsal Practices in Early Modern Court Spectacles

While a thorough understanding of pre-production processes for early modern court spectacles is probably now not possible, there is enough surviving documentation from Italian, English, and French courts to shed light on important characteristics of the dance rehearsal process. We know the importance placed on dance rehearsals, the length of the rehearsal period, when dancers started practising onstage, whether costumes were worn for any rehearsals, and whether the rehearsals were private or public events or somewhere in between. Often the dance performers included members of the elite who placed their attendance at rehearsals ahead of other state duties. Yet the dynamics of rehearsals with elite dancers and non-elite singers and musicians in early modern Europe could not have been what is normally found in rehearsals today.

Implementing the Rock Challenge

This paper presents the qualitative process findings from an evaluation of a school-based performing arts programme, ‘Rock Challenge’. Rock Challenge aims to promote healthy life styles ‘by building resilience amongst young people involved’. The research aimed to capture the experiences and perceptions of young people’s involvement in the programme, particularly in relation to the concept of the ‘drug-free high’, support offered throughout the programme and participants’ response to Rock Challenge as a drug-prevention initiative. Findings from the study suggest young people felt very positive about their involvement and, in particular, valued the skills and experiences associated with organising a performance, team-working, developing confidence, friendship, fun and excitement. The excitement felt during dance rehearsals and the live performance was associated with the concept of a ‘drug-free high’, feeling good in the absence of drugs and alcohol, and was seen as a key benefit of the programme. While support from teachers and families was perceived as high, difficulties were identified in the recruitment of males and students vulnerable to substance misuse and recommendations are made for improvement. The health promotion opportunities for school nurses and other public health practitioners and personal, social and health education co-ordinators are highlighted.