Dance Theatre Research Articles

Tide motion: Ecoperformance, somatic wisdom and Merger as Research

This article explores the application of somatics in the methodology of Practice as Research (PaR) through ecoperformances in aquatic environments. For the past fifteen years, I have been devising a PaR approach based on Somatics, dance theatre and performative practices, called Somatic-Performative Research (SPR). Through SPR, I have been exploring Laban/Bartenieff Movement System and Authentic Movement in fluid environments, especially the seashore and in the ocean. Influenced by Warren Lamb’s Posture Gesture Merger, I named this unfolding Merger as Research. The current text discusses the somatic premises of this PaR approach, and its role in today’s hectic living circumstances. This discussion is particularly relevant to me as mother of a 20-year-old severe autistic adolescent. Within a hydro-centric context, somatics and ecoperformance generate a neurodiverse modality of PaR, which validates a multiplicity of wisdom beyond what is considered as purely rational. This approach intends to honour different pathways towards much broader forms of knowledge, including more-than-human. Intelligence is no longer a quantitative data produced by an accelerated and abstract (human) mind but rather integrated modes of interacting, learning and growing with/in an ever-changing environment.

Dance knowledge through the body: Gender roles within contact improvisation

This article challenges the assumption of contact improvisation (CI) as a gender-neutral dance form, as it has been claimed since the emergence of the dance form in the 1970s and pertained until recent times. Drawing on ethnographic research in Montreal (2019), the investigation combines autoethnography and participant observation to examine the influence of gender roles and power dynamics on the dance floor. To understand the claim of egalitarianism in CI, the study first exposes a discourse analysis of CI’s initial gender egalitarian ideology (1970s) and its reaction against dominant dance forms like ballet. The article discusses the role of the body in ethnographic work, suggesting that the researcher’s sensorial and affective experiences can challenge scholarly assumptions and fieldwork’s discourses. By highlighting how knowledge is embodied, the article emphasizes anthropology’s contribution to dance theory through the disclosure of knowledge via somatic experience.

Visual Representations of Dance and Gender in the Hebrew Bible and the Ancient World

This essay outlines the visual reception of dance in the Hebrew Bible and the broader ancient world. It begins with depictions of dance within the visual culture of the ancient Near East, as well as Greek, Roman and Egyptian visual art. It next explores texts from the Hebrew Bible which depict dance and outlines various ways in which these have been brought to life visually through the centuries. The representation of gender in these visual depictions is drawn out and explored throughout the essay.

Extending the multiculturalism metaphors: state identity in Nasarawa State’s Su-dir dance theatre as fruit salad juice

The robust multiculturalism debate and its attendant metaphors have paid little attention to the peculiar realities of managing the inherent cultural diversity in Africa. This paper opens up the existing debate on multiculturalism, and offers an option of the Fruit Salad Juice as the identity produced through the active cultural interactions within a typical African multi-ethnic state. The Fruit Salad Juice alternative specifically applies to the theatrical performances that emanate from these multicultural collaborations. The paper examines Su-dir dance theatre being one of the products of the Let’s Sheathe Our Swords (LSOS) project launched by the Nasarawa State government of Nigeria to facilitate social therapy and cultural integration after a protracted period of inter-ethnic, religious and political crises in the state. Data for this study was collated through the participant observation and interview methods. At various points, I conducted interviews with the administrators, consultants, and artistes of the Nasarawa State Performing Troupe, as well as some members of the Su-Dir audience. Nasarawa state is conceptualized as a fruit salad bowl, and the LSOS theatrical pieces as juice produced thereof. The idea of Fruit Salad Juice is demonstrated in the evidence of inclusivity and state identity found in the compositional elements of the Su-dir dance theatre and other outcomes of the LSOS project.

Creation of Dance According to Beliefs from The Namo Coin Sign

The creative performance of the Pallava Namo series. The researcher used mixed methods by conducting qualitative research to find the form and elements of the performance and study the ideas obtained after the creation of a performance of a dance performance based on beliefs from the Namo coin symbol by using research tools consisting of studying and surveying information from academic documents, information media, studying areas and surveying field data, structured interviews and the researcher's experience used the obtained data to analyze and synthesize the content analysis and data triangulate. Then, evaluate the performance by using statistics and finding the mean and standard deviation and presenting them descriptively in the development and design of dance works that are used to explain through the dimensions of creative performing arts that are a medium for conveying values and importance. The results showed that the creative styles can be classified according to 8 elements of the 1) Performance Design; is divided into 3 periods. The first period, “Pain” is the period that conveys pain and suffering and sadness from sickness and death from plague, the second period "Hope" is the period that conveys the prayers of the holy things and having hope. Based on the belief that sacred things will help protect and heal villagers from various illnesses, the third period, “Faith”, is a period that conveys a better life through belief and faith in Namo coins. 2) Selection of performers 3) Design of dance moves 4) Design of performance equipment 5) Performance Sound and music design, 6) costume design, 7) lighting design, and 8) performance space design. In addition, the researcher took into account three ideas obtained after creating dance: 1) considering creativity in dance, 2) considering the use of symbols in creating dance, and 3) considering dance theory, music, and visual arts.

Research on Foreign Art and Culture Communication and Exchange of Chinese Tang Dynasty Music and Dance as the Carrier

The historic moment when Belt and Road is about to go through the first glorious decade, dance is an important cultural carrier and link of China s foreign art exchange. As the starting point of the ancient Silk Road, Chang an of the Tang Dynasty conceived music and dance in the Tang Dynasty as the peak of the development of ancient dance art. In the next key into the Belt and Road under the historical background of ten years, through the tang dynasty music dance as the carrier of the world of Chinese traditional culture and art communication, constantly use theory with practice, with practice sublimation theory, through the dance theory innovation, expression, innovation, communication form innovation, propaganda mode innovation, talent training innovation to concise sublimation, for the Belt and Road great strategy of extension and expand contribution art strength, realize the high quality development of the new era of tang dance.

Recruiting Places: Pearl Primus's Plans for Global Activism through Community-Engaged Dance Theatre

In the summer of 1944, Black modern dancer Pearl Primus searched for authenticity. Over the past year, she had achieved critical success for her modern dance choreography that protested racial injustice in the South, informed by a leftist political mission. However, she thought something was missing. She explained to Dance Magazine, “I had done dances about sharecroppers and lynchings without ever having been close to such things.” In search of that missing component, Primus traveled from New York City, her home since she was a toddler, to the US South. A budding anthropologist, she went to live among Southern communities as a way to retool her protest choreography and make it more authentic. Unbeknownst to them, Southern community members would be recruited by her to provide inspiration for her performances and the leftist political stance that fueled those works. In identifying authentic expressive practices of the South through her anthropological practice, transferring what she found to her choreography, and then performing that repertoire on New York stages, she would further develop her ability to instill in Northern audiences the necessity of leftist activism.

The Past in the Present: The Religious and Royal Dimension of Newar Traditional Dance Theatre, Nepal

The Past in the Present: The Religious and Royal Dimension of Newar Traditional Dance Theatre, Nepal

Examining the impact of the flipped classroom model on student engagement and academic performance in college dance theory courses

Examining the impact of the flipped classroom model on student engagement and academic performance in college dance theory courses

The Trace Dance Leaves Is Air: On Steve Paxton (1939–2024)

Abstract Artist, writer, and choreographer Ralph Lemon tangentially marks his life in dance through an account of the times he witnessed the work of an important artistic guide, Steve Paxton, a founding member of Judson Dance Theater (1962–64) and Grand Union (1970–76), two collectives that indelibly redefined dance for the following decades. In addition to composing major works, while involved with Grand Union Paxton first formulated the dance form known as contact improvisation, which has become influential worldwide. “The Trace Dance Leaves Is Air” is a personal reflection and tribute, honoring a major artist, while also questioning how much one can trust creative inspiration.

The Power of Recollection: A Journey in the Footsteps of Amir Kolben's Via Dolorosa

Via Dolorosa is a procession dance created in 1983 by the Israeli choreographer Amir Kolben with Ramla Dance Theater. A reenactment by Galia Lever in 2019 introduced a new dimension by incorporating a diverse group of dancers with varied backgrounds. In the context of the changing Israeli political landscape, where discussions around refugees, borders, and community are often highly charged, the reenactment of Via Dolorosa serves as a powerful tool for interrogating and understanding cultural and political complexities. Lever's reenactment not only challenges established interpretations of the dance but also encourages a more inclusive and nuanced understanding of Israeli identity and history.

Alvin Ailey and Korean Dance: Writing Afro-Asian Relations into Korean Dance History

A close examination of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s 1962 Seoul performance, as well as Ailey’s influence on Korean dancers’ training and choreography, reveals that Ailey’s impact on Korean contemporary dance is significant. Ailey’s exploration of African American experiences piqued local dancers’ and critics’ interest, and suggested commonalities between Koreans’ and African Americans’ histories of oppression. This article examines performances, interviews, and criticism across a span of four decades, and brings special consideration to similarities between Yuk Wan-sun's Heuginyeongga and Ailey's Revelations in order to reframe Korean contemporary dance’s connections to Ailey and to illuminate Afro-Asian affinity.

Deconstructing giftedness: A relational analysis of the make-up of talent in theatrical dance

This article embarks on a sociological explanation of the genesis of talent as an embodied experience and as bodily hexis generated within a system of social and aesthetic relations which are characterised by symbolic oppositions. Using Bourdieu’s theory of artistic production, I argue that talent in theatrical dance constitutes an ideal type materialised through the construction of the dancing body as a site of excellence, only possible through access to specific forms of capital. Drawing on historical and contemporary empirical material to conceptualise talent in dance, the article critiques the notion of talent as an innate gift, contending that virtuoso physical performance is a product of history and practice and acquires meaning within such conditions of engagement.

Exploring Dance Theory: Philosophical Foundations, Aesthetic Principles, and Critical Perspectives

This paper explores the complex realm of dance theory and explores its philosophical, aesthetic, and critical viewpoints. First, we consider the philosophical foundation of dance ontologically and strive for an ontological problem of action, expression and avatar. Dance semiotics and symbols are studied as basic tools for deciphering the meaning and understanding complex language of movement. Furthermore, the theory of body cognition reveals a complex relationship between mind, body and environment in the background of dance. Then we deeply study the principles of Dance Aesthetics, and emphasize the importance of the work of form and composition, labor force and choreography of expression. We also study the criticism and criticism of dance works using analytical techniques, interpretations, and comparative analysis, and provide a knowledge of the complex discourse of dance as an art form.

"Inseparable": Music and Dance in a Cross-Disciplinary Practice

The following research observes the artistic creative process of a cross-disciplinary theatrical dance and percussion performance, called “Inseparable”. It discusses and analyses the process and methods behind the creation of the piece; the pros and cons of dance-percussion collaboration, and of working as a team of performer-creators; the involvement of a director; the creation of the final performance with a technical crew (light & sound); and the emergence of a mutual artistic language. The cast includes Zaneta Kesik and Matija Franjes - two dancers (doubling as choreographers), and Joao Brito and Kalina Vladovska - two percussionists (doubling as composers), creating the narrative, dramaturgy, choreography and (some of the) music on their own. The director, Renee Spierings, was invited to be an external coach. Teus van der Stelt and Maurits Thiel - light and sound artists - took care of the final presentation. The four performances took place during and thanks to Muziekzomer Gelderland 2023 and were produced by Jarick Bruinsma. Furthermore, in the research I discuss the social impact of the project's themes – technology addiction and human communication - and I examine a number of reactions and feedback from audience members. The chosen form of presentation is a research exposition.

중일(中日) 근대문예론의 형성과 그 이동(異同)에 관한 소고(小考)

This paper attempts to compare the literary theory of Tsubouchi Shoyo(坪內逍遙), which was developed from the 'arts-the arts' examined throughout Wang Guowei's(王國維) literary theory, and Wang Guei's literary theory, which was established as the early modern Japanese literary theory. As Tsubouchi Shoyo's first statement, 'Novels are art(美術)' in 『Shosetsu Shinzui(小說神髓)』 opened the chapter of modern Japanese literary theory, this paper aims to explore Wang Guowei's literary theories in relation to the formation of modern literary theory in China. Therefore, in the case of the formation of Japanese modern art theory, Tsubouchi Shoyo's use of Western literary theory and logic in his own way within the magnetic field of pragmatic thought and literary dance theory that spread throughout Japanese society in the 1880s, while building a literary theory that incorporated the discourse of the Japanese art world at the time, was used as a guide to examine the formation of Chinese modern art theory and Wang Guowei's literary theory treatise. This was further utilized to examine the shifts in the theses that were common to their literary theories. In fact, the formation environment of Sino-Japanese modern literary theory was different in terms of its reception and paragraph situation according to the way the two countries experienced modern East Asia, but there are also similar points. It is also true that Wang Guowei's and Tsubouchi Shoyo's views and arguments on the literary arts developed in very different ways after they published their literary theory works and related papers, depending on their respective life trajectories and the circumstances of their respective countries. Nevertheless, neither Tsubouchi Shoyo nor Wang Guowei built a separate literary theory that completely excluded the dominant discourse in the academic and literary circles of their time. Rather, Wang Guowei, who studied a wide range of disciplines, including mathematics and natural sciences, could be said to have been more attuned to and thought about the axioms of modern China's time and built his literary theories in response to them.

The Repertoire Strategy of the Kyiv Modern Ballet after the Full-Scale Russian Invasion to Ukraine: Tomorrow, DiscrimiNATION, and One Minute Before Christmas Ballet Productions

After the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion to Ukraine in February 2022, the Kyiv Modern Ballet Academic Theater stopped its activities for several months. However, already in 2023, the renewed company under the direction of choreographer Radu Poklitaru presented first performances of three ballet productions. Poklitaru’s ballet Tomorrow, set to the music of the second movements of Chopin’s First and Second Piano Concertos, continues the tradition of ballet Chopinianas: a twenty-minute-long, plotless composition tries to capture the sense of the future, of tomorrow, which in the first months of the Great War seemed lost forever. Twice as long and generally bigger, the ballet production DiscrimiNATION, set to music by George Frideric Handel (fragments from oratorios, operas and instrumental works) and piano Bagatelles by Valentyn Silvestrov, explores through dance various forms of discrimination, e.g., bullying, ageism, homophobia, social and media pressure, shrinking private space and rising social inequality. Developing the line of socially engaged theater, DiscrimiNATION, directed by Radu Poklitaru, is far from moralizing or direct political statement. The third production of the Kyiv Modern Ballet in 2023 was directed by Serhii Kon. One Minute Before Christmas is a family-friendly production, which, in the form of a ballet fairy tale, very close to today’s war reality, interprets the nature of evil and at the same time parodically reinterprets the previous productions of the theater, in particular, the ballets The Nutcracker and Swan Lake set to Tchaikovsky’s music (after February 2022, Kyiv Modern Ballet suspended all performances set to music by Russian composers, including those based on Russian literary works). The 2023 productions revealed three promising and at the same time contrasting trends in the repertoire strategy of the Kyiv Modern Ballet: “ballet essays,” plotless performances that reinterpret the neoclassical tradition of the twentieth century; social dance theater that sets itself specific tasks and tries to influence current public debates; and artistically persuasive and commercially successful productions for young audiences.

Study on the Sports Value of "Subealilu" Dance by Baiyi People in Heqing County

This article uses the method of literature review to study the sports value of the Bai ethnic group's "Yabeilu" dance in Heqing County. The research shows that the origin of the Bai ethnic group's "Yabeilu" dance theory contains profound cultural heritage, returning to mythology, migration, and plague memories through body movements and performances. Analyzing the cultural connotation of the "Subealilu" dance leads to the conclusion that it embodies a multicultural significance. The "Subealilu" dance has been inherited and developed in the local sacrificial activities. Baiyi people also express their emotions and gain a sense of group identity in the process of the folk activities to entertain god and oneself. The "Subealilu" dance has become the spiritual bond connecting other nations and uniting them.

The Continuity Of Shinto Theatrical Dance in Aging Society Era: Case Study Of Kagura Dance Revitalization in Matsumae City Hokkaido

The Kagura dance is a sacred, theatrical dance to entertain the Shinto gods. In several areas, including the city of Matsumae, Hokkaido island, this dance is threatened with extinction due to a lack of the next generation. Using an ethnographic approach, this research aims to describe the development of the Kagura dance and efforts to revitalize the dance amidst the aging society phenomenon that has hit Japan. The data collection techniques used were observation and in-depth interviews. Researchers observed the preparation process for the dance festival for six months and conducted interviews with Shinto priests, local Education and Culture Service employees, and hotel employees to gather data. The research results show that the potential extinction of the Kagura dance is mainly caused by the reduction in the young population because most of the population urbanizes to study and work in big cities. The revitalization strategy that has been carried out is establishing the Kagura Matsumae preservation body which oversees the Matsumae shrine, the Kagura Kiyobe Preservation Society, the Haraguchi Preservation Society, and teaching the locality of Matsumae City from elementary to middle school students. The effort has a positive impact on student's awareness of preserving Kagura dance. Some students have joined and become the main members of the Kagura Preservation Body. Since the majority of people moved to the urban areas, the revitalization effort has not been completely successful. However, it can be seen that the city government's awareness and efforts are very high to maintain traditional culture.

A Comparative Study of Dance Characteristics on Han Dynasty Portrait Stones in Nanyang and Shandong

The Han Dynasty was a prosperous period in Chinese history, during which dance art also made significant advancements. This paper focuses on the study of portrait stones from the Han Dynasty, conducting a classification, comparison, and regional distribution analysis of dance images on Nanyang and Shandong portrait stones. By integrating historical literature, archaeological data, and contemporary dance theory, the paper reveals the characteristics of dance culture in different regions during the Han Dynasty and their geographical differences. The research finds that the dances depicted on Nanyang portrait stones exhibit distinct regional features, showcasing a vivid, natural, and simple folk dance style. In contrast, the dances on Shandong portrait stones are influenced by Confucian culture, displaying a more splendid and standardized character. These differences reflect the diversity of regional cultures and the flourishing of folk dance during the Han Dynasty.