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Paseo: becoming self

Description

Paseo is a postmodern dance performance that reveals the migrational passage of bodies through space and time. Paseo included five dance participants, and the choreographer/pedagogue. Paseo members participated in rehearsal and performance events that completed the investigational study. The creative process focused on integrating somatic and improvisational movement practices to…

Paseo is a postmodern dance performance that reveals the migrational passage of bodies through space and time. Paseo included five dance participants, and the choreographer/pedagogue. Paseo members participated in rehearsal and performance events that completed the investigational study. The creative process focused on integrating somatic and improvisational movement practices to design an environment where dancers could build body-mind awareness and sensitivity to their surroundings, participate democratically, and build agency in their performative decision-making. Paseo investigated the performance as an informal site for learning and understanding of migration, identity, and community. Another objective of Paseo was to explore the performance as an informal site of learning and its transformative effects on lived experiences that occur from the act of doing, the act of becoming, and experiential sensations.

Paseo was part of the Arizona State University’s (ASU) School of Film, Dance, and Theatre Emerging Artists I series, one of two performances that shared the stage with fellow graduate cohort member, Grace Gallagher. Paseo took place at ASU’s Margaret Gisolo Theatre, located at the Physical Education Building East. Performance dates were the following; fix punctuation Friday, November 6th, Saturday, November 7th, and Sunday, November 8th. Paseo had a fourth presentation on Saturday, December 5th, 2015, at Margaret Gisolo Theatre as part of the post-conference performance and dialogue event, “By The People.” The conference was hosted by the Participatory Government Initiative on the ASU Campus from December 3rd-5th, 2015.

ContributorsOlarte, David (Author) / Vissicaro, Pegge (Thesis advisor) / Fonow, Mary (Committee member) / Landborn, Adair (Committee member) / Britt, Melissa (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)

Created2016

My Body Speaks: Investigating Movement Strategies for Pain

Description

This thesis is an exploration into somatic movement methods to help ease chronic pain. The study follows my personal experience as a researcher and a dancer with fibromyalgia and other chronic pain conditions. I carry forward a body-centered autoethnographic frame, as the prevailing ethos of this work revolves around considering…

This thesis is an exploration into somatic movement methods to help ease chronic pain. The study follows my personal experience as a researcher and a dancer with fibromyalgia and other chronic pain conditions. I carry forward a body-centered autoethnographic frame, as the prevailing ethos of this work revolves around considering bodily experience as an authority in personal well-being. My research follows the spirit of the Intuitive Inquiry research methodology developed by Dr. Rosemarie Anderson and evolved as I progressed through my own research and organizing processes. This thesis document is organized according to eight physical cycles of intuitive inquiry that emerged from my movement and research processes. The cycles address my conditions of chronic pain and disability, my history with dance competition in the United States, my experience with conceptualizations of the body, and the successes I experience with somatic practices, particularly Tensegrity as it applies to the body. My intuitive physical cycles conclude with a proposal for methods of movement and inner-body communication that promote ease in the body and sustainable movement.

ContributorsSmith, Holly (Author) / Roses-Thema, Cynthia (Thesis advisor) / Olarte, David (Committee member) / Anand, Julie (Committee member) / Tang, Yi-Yuan (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)

Created2023

Solar Flare Dancesport Challenge (Innovating Upon the Ballroom Dance Competition Format to Optimize Competitive and Cooperative Elements)

Description

Ballroom dancing, similar to many other forms of dance, art, and expression, has a nature built upon desire to better oneself, to express oneself, and to relate to the audience. While this sits at the core of the artform, there is another element integral to it: competition. Ballroom competitions contribute…

Ballroom dancing, similar to many other forms of dance, art, and expression, has a nature built upon desire to better oneself, to express oneself, and to relate to the audience. While this sits at the core of the artform, there is another element integral to it: competition. Ballroom competitions contribute significantly to the culture of ballroom dancing itself, often conflicting with or undermining its cooperative elements. The question, thus remains, of what the optimal ballroom competition looks like in order to promote the community aspects without compromising the importance of competition to the dancers. This thesis seeks to identify and execute this optimization, culminating in a ballroom competition and a guide detailing every aspect of the competition that was designed to accomplish this goal.

ContributorsLopez, Sylvia (Author) / Perry, James (Co-author) / Olarte, David (Thesis director) / Daniells, Julianne (Committee member) / Malone, James (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Industrial, Systems & Operations Engineering Prgm (Contributor) / Human Systems Engineering (Contributor)

Created2024-05

Solar Flare Dancesport Challenge (Innovating Upon the Ballroom Dance Competition Format to Optimize Competitive and Cooperative Elements)

Description

Ballroom dancing, similar to many other forms of dance, art, and expression, has a nature built upon desire to better oneself, to express oneself, and to relate to the audience. While this sits at the core of the artform, there is another element integral to it: competition. Ballroom competitions contribute…

Ballroom dancing, similar to many other forms of dance, art, and expression, has a nature built upon desire to better oneself, to express oneself, and to relate to the audience. While this sits at the core of the artform, there is another element integral to it: competition. Ballroom competitions contribute significantly to the culture of ballroom dancing itself, often conflicting with or undermining its cooperative elements. The question, thus remains, of what the optimal ballroom competition looks like in order to promote the community aspects without compromising the importance of competition to the dancers. This thesis seeks to identify and execute this optimization, culminating in a ballroom competition and a guide detailing every aspect of the competition that was designed to accomplish this goal.

ContributorsPerry, James (Author) / Lopez, Sylvia (Co-author) / Olarte, David (Thesis director) / Daniels, Julianne (Committee member) / Malone, James (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor)

Created2024-05

Becoming a Better Engineer Through Dance

Description

The Honors Creative Project evolved drastically from start to finish, despite its origin remaining the same. My core goal in this project was to connect two seemingly mutually exclusive aspects of my life, engineering and dance. After conducting an IRB study and using data from my own personal experiences, I…

The Honors Creative Project evolved drastically from start to finish, despite its origin remaining the same. My core goal in this project was to connect two seemingly mutually exclusive aspects of my life, engineering and dance. After conducting an IRB study and using data from my own personal experiences, I was able to see how dance had in fact made me a better engineer. There were skills that I gained and learned in dance that were directly applicable to engineering, and I believe will be critical to my success as an engineer. As the focal point of the project angled towards myself, I had to look deeply into who I am and how I reached this point. I conducted self-reflections on various aspects of my current life and also on the struggles and hardships I overcame during my years at ASU. From these reflections, I learned a lot about myself and how my personal identity has evolved. This identity evolution became the backbone behind my thesis defense. I took my research and self-reflections and designed a series of artwork that I personally designed and painted myself. I my engineering side to conduct the research and collect the data, and then used my artistic side to present my findings to the public in a way that attracted and audience and caused others to reflect upon their own identities.

ContributorsArizmendi, Romann Fuentes (Author) / Olarte, David (Thesis director) / Welz, Matt (Committee member) / Harrington Bioengineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)

Created2019-05

The Influence of Partnership Dance for Adult Romantic Couples on Intimacy, Trust, and Attachment Style

Description

Romantic relationship research has focused on various characteristics of individual and partner dynamics including intimacy and trust which are important aspects of relationship success. High levels of intimacy in relationships is associated with commitment, passion, psychosocial identity, and lower self-consciousness. Similarly, trust involves the perception of stability and consistency in…

Romantic relationship research has focused on various characteristics of individual and partner dynamics including intimacy and trust which are important aspects of relationship success. High levels of intimacy in relationships is associated with commitment, passion, psychosocial identity, and lower self-consciousness. Similarly, trust involves the perception of stability and consistency in partner behavior that is in accordance with one’s best interests. Another aspect of romantic relationships that has been heavily researched is attachment style which has been shown to strongly influence how partners behave in relationships. Couples that face relationship challenges have been found to benefit from dance and movement therapy. Current research does not investigate the interactions of all of these facets of relationships and how they might be improved. Therefore, the present study strives to explore how established research on trust, intimacy, and attachment style can be used to improve relationships in the context of dance and movement. The experimental group consisted of 7 couples who participated in partnership dance lessons over the course of one month. The control group consisted of 9 couples who did not participate in the classes. We predicted that partnership dance classes would increase intimacy and trust in couples. We also investigated how attachment style might be implicated in this change. Results show a significant increase in intimacy for participants in the experimental group who participated in partnership dance classes. There was no significant increase in trust. While some participants did change attachment style throughout the study, the majority of participants retained their attachment style from the beginning of the study. Future research should focus on what types of dance are most beneficial for romantic couples, coding participant emotions during the dance class, and how the approach to teaching impacts participants’ experience.

ContributorsStrecker, Trinity (Author) / Johnson, Jacqueline (Co-author) / Olarte, David (Thesis director) / Nelson, Elizabeth (Committee member) / Ha, Thao (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics (Contributor)

Created2021-12

The Influence of Partnership Dance for Adult Romantic Couples on Intimacy, Trust, and Attachment Style

Description

Romantic relationship research has focused on various characteristics of individual and partner dynamics including intimacy and trust which are important aspects of relationship success. High levels of intimacy in relationships is associated with commitment, passion, psychosocial identity, and lower self-consciousness. Similarly, trust involves the perception of stability and consistency in…

Romantic relationship research has focused on various characteristics of individual and partner dynamics including intimacy and trust which are important aspects of relationship success. High levels of intimacy in relationships is associated with commitment, passion, psychosocial identity, and lower self-consciousness. Similarly, trust involves the perception of stability and consistency in partner behavior that is in accordance with one’s best interests. Another aspect of romantic relationships that has been heavily researched is attachment style which has been shown to strongly influence how partners behave in relationships. Couples that face relationship challenges have been found to benefit from dance and movement therapy. Current research does not investigate the interactions of all of these facets of relationships and how they might be improved. Therefore, the present study strives to explore how established research on trust, intimacy, and attachment style can be used to improve relationships in the context of dance and movement. The experimental group consisted of 7 couples who participated in partnership dance lessons over the course of one month. The control group consisted of 9 couples who did not participate in the classes. We predicted that partnership dance classes would increase intimacy and trust in couples. We also investigated how attachment style might be implicated in this change. Results show a significant increase in intimacy for participants in the experimental group who participated in partnership dance classes. There was no significant increase in trust. While some participants did change attachment style throughout the study, the majority of participants retained their attachment style from the beginning of the study. Future research should focus on what types of dance are most beneficial for romantic couples, coding participant emotions during the dance class, and how the approach to teaching impacts participants’ experience.

ContributorsJohnson, Jacqueline (Author) / Strecker, Trinity (Co-author) / Olarte, David (Thesis director) / Ha, Thao (Committee member) / Nelson, Elizabeth (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / School of Music, Dance and Theatre (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor)

Created2021-12