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"Linked Together" is a choreographic piece inspired by at-risk youth and their ability to learn, grow, and transform their lives through dance. The idea for the piece originated from dance programs implemented with under-resourced populations in Virginia, Panama, and India. My teaching experiences in these places sparked the development of a longer, more comprehensive dance program in Arizona, with a Boys and Girls Club. The Arizona dance program included specific somatics exercises, focused on the integration of mind and body, as well as other types of improvisations, to help the participants learn about movement concepts and develop original movement.
The title "Linked Together" suggests that all people are connected in many ways, regardless of personal differences such as socioeconomic status or language. The dancers included myself, Arizona State University (ASU) dance students, as well as Boys and Girls Club dance program participants. For the concert, all dancers portrayed stories and concepts related to empowerment through emotionally charged movement, and thereby provided audience members with a visceral lens through which to see the transformative powers of dance. The data collected from this project through observations, surveys, and interviews suggest that constructive behaviors that are internalized through dance can flow seamlessly into the non-dance world, encouraging people to think creatively, collaborate with others, gain a sense of ownership, and feel empowered in all parts of life.
The title "Linked Together" suggests that all people are connected in many ways, regardless of personal differences such as socioeconomic status or language. The dancers included myself, Arizona State University (ASU) dance students, as well as Boys and Girls Club dance program participants. For the concert, all dancers portrayed stories and concepts related to empowerment through emotionally charged movement, and thereby provided audience members with a visceral lens through which to see the transformative powers of dance. The data collected from this project through observations, surveys, and interviews suggest that constructive behaviors that are internalized through dance can flow seamlessly into the non-dance world, encouraging people to think creatively, collaborate with others, gain a sense of ownership, and feel empowered in all parts of life.
ContributorsDaniel, Chareka (Author) / Fitzgerald, Mary (Thesis advisor) / Britt, Melissa (Committee member) / Manning, Linda (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
This paper outlines the three research projects that I performed between 2009-present: Slow Movement Training (SMT) lab, Self-education Through Embodied Movement (STEM), and the Athletic Movement Program (AMP). It first evaluates the major issues that spawned each research project, and then provides a framework for understanding the shift in the student-centered physical and mental movement practices that I developed in response to the need for reform. The content will address the personal and professional paradigmatic shift that I experienced through the lens of a practitioner and educator. It will focus heavily on the transitions between each of the projects and finally the emergence of the Athletic Movement Program. The focal point becomes one of community needs, alternate resources and hybrid-online classroom support. The paper concludes with an overview and content comparison between the one-size-fits-all model used within public movement education and Athletic Movement Programs' strengths and challenges.
ContributorsCroitoru, Michael (Author) / Mitchell, John D. (Thesis advisor) / Fitzgerald, Mary (Committee member) / Coleman, Grisha (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
What are the embodied educational experiences among students who were forced to migrate from war areas in Ukraine and study at Ukrainian displaced universities? Building on somatic literature and process philosophy, I developed embodied method of data collection and body-echo analysis to explore the complexities, entanglements and relationality of education and embodied experiences in the context of forced migration in Ukraine. The goal of this dissertation was to learn about students’ experiences of forced migration through an essentially embodied learning processes that integrate mental and physical capacities. I believe that students learn through sensing their way through forced migration, accumulating layers of kinesthetic information hidden in their bodies. More specifically, the students in this study moved either with Displaced Universities from the war areas in Ukraine or independently in several waves or enrolled at the Displaced Universities to receive their education in mainland Ukraine at relocated Displaced Universities. The key insights include 1) uniqueness of embodied experience(s) of forced migration for each student; 2) invisible or virtual university spaces created by forced migration in Ukraine; 3) displaced universities created a virtual relational space in Ukraine where university is people not building; 4) somatic practice allowed an entry point into the safe space of talking about forced migration; 5) unique reactions of students to the somatic movement; 6) sense of belonging to space and people; 7) students’ insights very often remain unfinished thoughts and students at times lack the language to talk about their experiences; 8) students educational trajectories should be viewed as unique experiences even when factors are the same or similar; 9) war is a continuous background of the experience even if students move to a safe place in a different country; 10) humor and care have a visible supportive and healing effects in the context of uncertainty. For this reason, I bring embodied experiences of students from Ukrainian Displaced Universities into education, and I expand the limits of cognitive thinking, and focus more into embodied learning through sensing and relating to one-self and others in the context of forced migration.
ContributorsVitrukh, Mariia (Author) / Koro, Mirka (Thesis advisor) / Dinn-You Liou, Daniel (Committee member) / Fitzgerald, Mary (Committee member) / Sereda, Viktoria (Committee member) / Blue Swadener, Beth (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023