Matching Items (53)
Filtering by
- All Subjects: Dance
- Creators: Koch, Carolyn
- Creators: Jackson, Naomi
- Status: Published
Description
Bisexuality is a unique kind of sexual identity, as a gray area between heterosexuality and homosexuality. The piece You made up the Story and I Played with all the Parts explores bisexuality as a lived artistic experience based on my sexual journey within a society that advocates heterosexuality. The piece includes movement phrases and text derived from conversations with intimate partners, characters based on former partners, storytelling, a 1950s-style sex education video parody, and audience participation via dialogue. The creation of movement and dialogue manipulated heteronormative social stigmas into a canny social acceptance of bisexuality. The multifaceted nature of the piece provokes viewers to consider how sexuality is constructed socially through my own interpretation. As a result, the work suggests that bisexuality is a legitimate sexual identity and represents a culture within American society.
ContributorsBedford, Crystal (Author) / Corey, Frederick (Thesis advisor) / Dove, Simon (Thesis advisor) / Jackson, Naomi (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Accessing the centre: complementary conditioning & somatic wellness for competitive Irish step dance
Description
This thesis examines the integration of somatic principles into Irish Step Dancing. The researcher conducted a twelve week case study that explored how utilizing the Centre-line Support System in training competitive Irish Step Dancers, through integrating Alexander Technique and Bartenieff Fundamentals of Total Body Connectivity can generate increased height and efficiency in jumping and an improvement in upper-body carriage, while longitudinally reducing the occurrence of over-use injuries. Research occurred between January and March 2012 in Tucson, Arizona and Dublin, Ireland. Additional research and reflection occurred in Belfast, Glasgow, and London, United Kingdom; Limerick, Cork, and Galway, Ireland; Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Chicago, Illinois; Phoenix, Arizona; and Los Angeles, California.
ContributorsBuck, Helen (Author) / Vissicaro, Pegge (Thesis advisor) / Hoffner, Kristin (Committee member) / Jackson, Naomi (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
The purpose of the production and the choreographed work, "Sustainable Place," was to bring awareness to the public about sustainability issues through the medium of dance. The piece was performed in Nelson Fine Arts Center's Dance Lab at Arizona State University on October 8th, 9th, and 10th of 2010. The work was layered with inspirations from sustainability issues, recycling processes, and resiliency concepts.
ContributorsNewman, Emily (Author) / Jackson, Naomi (Thesis advisor) / Fitzgerald, Mary (Committee member) / Pijawka, David (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
ABSTRACT This narrative study traces the development of a dance curriculum as it unfolded in an inner city public school. It examines the curriculum emergence through intersecting worlds of artistic practice, improvisation, lived experience and context. These worlds were organized and explored through themes of gender, emotion, longing and intersections and examined through lenses of critical theory, aesthetics and currere. It examines the interior dialogue within one individual educator who is both a dance artist and a teacher and reflects the differing and at times conflicting perspectives within those two positions. The curriculum acquired the name "curriculum by accident" because several highly unexpected events contributed to its development. The students were initially suspicious and hostile and presented significant resistance to classical dance as an artistic form. This resistance was circumvented through creative process and improvisation. The act of improvisation became both a way to approach teaching and curriculum development and as an artistic process. Improvisation courts chance, the unplanned and the accidental through a structure in which the unknown is as valued as the known. The school setting is one full of known subjects; curriculum, settings, procedures, people and expectations. Curriculum by accident was a circumstance in which a known (school) and an unknown (the evolving curriculum) melded. The development of curriculum by accident was a response to an array of intuitive and serendipitous cues. The curriculum seeped through the cracks of school experience and transmuted into a curriculum that was very successful.
ContributorsBendix, Susan W. (Author) / Blumenfeld-Jones, Donald (Thesis advisor) / Barone, Thomas (Committee member) / Jackson, Naomi (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2010
Description
This project concerns justification for why partner dance, particularly ballroom dance, should be a part of the Arizona public-school curriculum. It consists of a review of peer-reviewed scientific research on the subject, as well as interviews conducted with local experts on dance. Moreover, a sample curriculum is supplied that should provide guidance on how to implement a ballroom dance program in the K-12 system. The goal of this paper is to empower educators to create ballroom dance programs in their schools, with the ultimate plan to help develop students into better citizens.
ContributorsAdams, Benjamin J (Author) / Kaplan, Robert (Thesis director) / Tsethlikai, Monica (Committee member) / Caves, Larry (Committee member) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05
Description
While growing up, I was placed into dance classes, dance started out as a hobby, but as I grew up it became a way for me to escape from the struggles life itself brings. While I was taking a dance culture class at Arizona State University, I stumbled across research that revealed that dance does not just help people like myself, but it also has the ability to help those with more difficult life-altering situations like Parkinson’s Disease. With having about 970 million adults aged 65 years old and up (United Nations), around 10-million of these individuals have Parkinson’s Disease (PD) (Parkinson’s New Today). With these large numbers, Parkinson’s is the second leading neurodegenerative disease worldwide (Parkinson’s News Today) behind Alzheimer’s. Parkinson’s is a motor system disorder that affects the production of dopamine in one’s brain (Harvard). With the current treatment of PD being medication as well as surgical therapy based on the severity of each patient (Parkinson’s Foundation), there is one form of treatment that has been tested but not certified, partnership dancing. The way that partnership dance benefits those with Parkinson’s Disease is by using many areas of the brain to facilitate dopamine production. The four main areas used are the motor cortex, the somatosensory, the basal ganglia, and lastly the cerebellum (Harvard). With the vast amount of existing research, as well as the information gained through secondary research, I feel as though there needs to be a study to open the development of partnership dance as a therapy modality for those with many of the forms of degenerative mental diseases. Although unable to put on this research, I have outlined what this study could look like to be continued in the hopes of having partnership dance become a certified form of therapy for those with Parkinson’s Disease.
ContributorsMillar, Cayla Briann (Author) / Caves, Larry (Thesis director) / Kaplan, Robert (Committee member) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
The goal of this thesis is to explore and present a range of approaches to “algorithmic choreography.” In the context of this thesis, algorithmic choreography is defined as choreography with computational influence or elements. Traditionally, algorithmic choreography, despite containing works that use computation in a variety of ways, has been used as an umbrella term for all works that involve computation.
This thesis intends to show that the diversity of algorithmic choreography can be reduced into more specific categories. As algorithmic choreography is fundamentally intertwined with the concept of computation, it is natural to propose that algorithmic choreography works be separated based on a spectrum that is defined by the extent of the involvement of computation within each piece.
This thesis seeks to specifically outline three primary categories that algorithmic works can fall into: pieces that involve minimal computational influence, entirely computationally generated pieces, and pieces that lie in between. Three original works were created to reflect each of these categories. These works provide examples of the various methods by which computation can influence and enhance choreography.
The first piece, entitled Rαinwater, displays a minimal amount of computational influence. The use of space in the piece was limited to random, computationally generated paths. The dancers extracted a narrative element from the random paths. This iteration resulted in a piece that explores the dancers’ emotional interaction within the context of a rainy environment. The second piece, entitled Mymec, utilizes an intermediary amount of computation. The piece sees a dancer interact with a projected display of an Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) algorithm. The dancer is to take direct inspiration from the movement of the virtual ants and embody the visualization of the algorithm. The final piece, entitled nSkeleton, exhibited maximal computational influence. Kinect position data was manipulated using iterative methods from computational mathematics to create computer-generated movement to be performed by a dancer on-stage.
Each original piece was originally intended to be presented to the public as part of an evening-length show. However, due to the rise of the COVID-19 pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus, all public campus events have been canceled and the government has recommended that gatherings with more than 10 people be entirely avoided. Thus, the pieces will instead be presented in the form of a video published online. This video will encompass information about the creation of each piece as well as clips of choreography.
This thesis intends to show that the diversity of algorithmic choreography can be reduced into more specific categories. As algorithmic choreography is fundamentally intertwined with the concept of computation, it is natural to propose that algorithmic choreography works be separated based on a spectrum that is defined by the extent of the involvement of computation within each piece.
This thesis seeks to specifically outline three primary categories that algorithmic works can fall into: pieces that involve minimal computational influence, entirely computationally generated pieces, and pieces that lie in between. Three original works were created to reflect each of these categories. These works provide examples of the various methods by which computation can influence and enhance choreography.
The first piece, entitled Rαinwater, displays a minimal amount of computational influence. The use of space in the piece was limited to random, computationally generated paths. The dancers extracted a narrative element from the random paths. This iteration resulted in a piece that explores the dancers’ emotional interaction within the context of a rainy environment. The second piece, entitled Mymec, utilizes an intermediary amount of computation. The piece sees a dancer interact with a projected display of an Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) algorithm. The dancer is to take direct inspiration from the movement of the virtual ants and embody the visualization of the algorithm. The final piece, entitled nSkeleton, exhibited maximal computational influence. Kinect position data was manipulated using iterative methods from computational mathematics to create computer-generated movement to be performed by a dancer on-stage.
Each original piece was originally intended to be presented to the public as part of an evening-length show. However, due to the rise of the COVID-19 pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus, all public campus events have been canceled and the government has recommended that gatherings with more than 10 people be entirely avoided. Thus, the pieces will instead be presented in the form of a video published online. This video will encompass information about the creation of each piece as well as clips of choreography.
ContributorsJawaid, Zeeshan (Co-author, Co-author) / Jackson, Naomi (Thesis director) / Curry, Nicole (Committee member) / Espanol, Malena (Committee member) / School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (Contributor) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / School of Film, Dance and Theatre (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
According to a survey conducted by the National Endowment for the Arts, 32% of adults in the United States participated in social dancing in 2012, more than any other form of art-making and art-sharing. Partnership dance styles including Ballroom, Latin, and Swing are the most commonly practiced forms of social dancing. T.V. shows like "Dancing with the Stars" and "So You Think You Can Dance" have piqued the interest of local high schools in partnership dance. Arizona State University's (ASU) School of Film, Dance and Theatre (SoFDT) is uniquely positioned to leverage the large partnership dance program and the vibrant Phoenix Metro partnership dance community to address this interest. The School of Film Dance and Theatre should implement a course teaching partnership dance in local high schools. The class will be modeled after existing student teaching programs with changes made to reflect the requirements of teaching partnership dance. Specifically, ASU students will spend one day a week teaching a partnership module in a local high school and one day a week developing pedagogical skills in a lecture and discussion group format. High school students will learn the basic steps of 3 dances and perform a partnership dance showcase. ASU students will get hands-on experience teaching as part of a team in high school settings. This program fulfils ASU and SoFDT goals by making dance accessible to new audiences and engaging students in the local community. This proposed program benefits current undergraduate students by developing a functional understanding of teaching partnership dance in a group setting. Beyond ASU, it stands to give high school students a chance to learn a cost-prohibitive art and teach them a lifelong skill.
ContributorsLangenbach, William Paul (Author) / Caves, Larry (Thesis director) / Jackson, Naomi (Committee member) / Harrington Bioengineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
Global occurrences from the past and present such as colonization and globalization play a part in current realities. With the advent of such events, a false belief seems to have been created that in order to be modern, relatable to the present trend and global, it is mandatory to be Westernized and/or Americanized. This document focuses on the issues behind some Indians’ perception of their own culture(s), its traditions and values and how that perception might impact their everyday life. It aims to create an awareness that such a false belief seems to exist and wants to encourage the youth of India to develop their own preferred ways of connecting with their culture and its traditions. It requests and encourages every individual to question and inquire into traditions, practices, rituals, stories, songs, etc.Since India has diverse philosophies, practices, values and principles and approaches to life to offer, and coming from South India, my first two steps to be a part of this futuristic movement involve 1) studying initial works under Saiva Siddhantham - a philosophy that is unpopular, about 800 years old and believes in godliness as an energy-oriented existence, experience and way of life rather than a worship of form-based mythological characters solitarily, and 2) decoding and analyzing/interpreting characters and stories from mythologies, to understand if and how they might relate to the contemporary world. Bharatanatyam and oral storytelling have been used as artforms to represent issues, and shine an interpretative rather than mystical perspective on historical mythologies. The question “What is True to you at this Moment?” is also sought after as a way of honoring multiple ways of living and epistemologies.
ContributorsRamachandran, Siva Pooja (Author) / Jackson, Naomi (Thesis advisor) / Lerman, Elizabeth (Committee member) / Sandoval, Mathew (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2022
Description
This MFA project in dance involved a dance concert that fused together different socio-cultural dance forms. Goals of the project included engaging the audience members in ways that are meaningful and express cultural identity, looking at similar and contrasting values or norms between different dance styles, and seeing how that might be expressed in a Western concert theatrical space or be adapted to that space. The research explored the themes of fusion, emotional states, and engagement through collaborative processes of choreography. A series of dance sections were developed based on different cultural movement styles that were ultimately woven together into a live performance.
ContributorsDimitrov, Tanya (Author) / Dyer, Becky (Thesis advisor) / Koch, Carolyn (Thesis advisor) / Landborn, Adair (Committee member) / Fossum, Dave (Committee member) / Rohd, Michael (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023