Summative Writings
Choreographic Aesthetics:
I enjoy taking two elements, side by side, while comparing and contrasting in order to produce knowledge.
I appreciate the contrast but in the end, most want to inform the viewer's and my understanding.
Surprise knowledge develops through juxtaposing elements--lightness & darkness, solitude & community, etc.
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Week 1 Embodied Cognition: Shared Environments
Summative Assessment: Video link https://youtu.be/M2h
I have previously discussed this idea of Phenomenology dealing with a single interpretation, but Max van Manen also emphasized that “complementary” iterations could lead to “potentially richer description[s]” (40). Thus, my summative assignment built upon the dancer’s interpretation of the presented quote: “The infinite vibratory levels, the dimensions of interconnectedness are without end. There is nothing independent. All beings and things are residents in your awareness” (“Alex Grey Quotes”). The mind mapping helped my approach to this summation of choreographic iterations.
As the dancers moved into warmer light, they were instructed to approach another body via contact, weight bearing, and through any vibrations that they felt coming from another mover. They took their time (as some of the videos needed to be cut for time purposes), but their progression was quite natural. I felt that they moved authentically as they engaged with one another, utilizing the full scope of the studio. If only I had thought to have them vocalize a word or two from the quote, just to see how that body-mind awareness was embodied in their brains, I may have garnered even more interesting conclusions. That will be saved for another exploration.
In order to bring an ending to this iteration, the dancers seemed to allow the darkness and heaviness to seep back in from their start. I felt the shadows return as they flipped each other like a pancake within the horizontal line. During the partner work, the dancers were connected through a brightness and a definite sense of support. Soon they were pulling on one another, almost craving that independence. The takeaway for myself as the viewer at the iteration’s conclusion is that those solo performers will reappear via their shadows and once again combine into one—a loop on repeat.
This came across as a social experiment to me and although the dancer’s affordances from a technical scope allow for bigger jumps and turning combos, those movements would not have contributed here as they did not embody them. They had creative agency and chose to support one another or to enjoy their authentic movement rather than performing tricks or flashy phrases. I believe these results confirm that “art practices might be knowledge-producing” (Nelson 24). In fact, I would love to remove the word might from that quote. It is through these research inquiries that we gain accrued knowledge.
Honestly, I started this week thinking I would utilize someone else’s words and my favorite band of light pouring in through my studio’s entrance. I thought we would enjoy some contact improvisation, but I left with results about darkness and light, about warm and cool colors. William H. McNeill pointed out that since dance’s recorded inception, it presents itself in “vaguely euphoric tone[s]” and “mak[es] all concerned feel good about themselves and those around them” (37). This idea that dance keeps us on a metronome, working together in time from historic times up to the present, embeds us into a similar situation as our ancestors. Even with all of the social awkwardness heightened by a society intent on staring at our phones, I think there is still hope to find an unending thread connecting all of us through shared environments.
Works Cited
“Alex Grey Quotes.” Brainy Quotes. www.brainyquote.com/quotes/alex_grey_177346. Accessed
30 June 2023.
McNeill, William H. Keeping Together in Time: Dance and Drill in Human History. Harvard
University Press, 1995.
Nelson, Robin. Practice as Research in the Arts: Principles, Protocols, Pedagogies, Resistances.
Palgrave Macmillan, 2013.
Van Menan, Max. “Practicing Phenomenological Writing.” Phenomenology + Pedagogy, vol. 2,
no. 1, The University of Alberta, 1984, pp. 36-70.
FORMATIVE WRITINGS & VIDEOS that impacted the Summative Findings
Embodied Cognition: Dimensions of Connected Movement
Task Based Exercise 2: Video link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xu_GvHA6NYs
Phenomenology deals with one interpretation, and as presented by Max van Manen, “No single interpretation of human experience will ever exhaust the possibility of yet another complementary … description” (40). This line made such an impact and coincided nicely with a quote I had chosen for my choreographic iteration: “The infinite vibratory levels, the dimensions of interconnectedness are without end. There is nothing independent. All beings and things are residents in your awareness” (“Alex Grey Quotes”). The phenomenon I presented through the dancer’s embodied movement deals with this notion of “are we ever really alone”? What is the chain, the invisible thread that weaves us together? The dancers are meant to start as a shadow on a horizontal line. The description was to remain in the light only working as a two-dimensional being.
Phenomenology tells us to practice from a place of “thoughtfulness” and to use our “lived experiences” in order to “grasp … what it means to be in the world” as an individual (van Manen 38). I had a few dancers present for this exercise and it helped me follow the procedures laid out to conduct my study. I observed how each of the dancers existed in the provided situation. They created a poem, and I wasn’t in search of a conclusion, as each individual’s embodiment created the result. In this case, the dance “itself is the result” (van Manen 39).
I see the logos of this piece starting with the shadowed entrance of the individual. While I don’t want to make light of this, I couldn’t help but hum the tune of “Me and My Shadow” being belted out by Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. Could the next iteration become a jazz dance with a cane and top hat or a modern dance presenting one dancer shadowed throughout in black, the other spotlighted? These situations would surely change the performers’ perspectives, but the iteration would continue to explore interconnectedness and whether anyone is ever really alone. What similar themes would present themselves even though the environment had shifted?
Perhaps a shadow is simply a metaphor for a more in-depth discussion on loneliness or the human condition. I would be interested in exploring this phenomenon further in the future.
Task Based Exercise 3: Video link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUOA1sdI-l8
The intended goal with the choreographic iteration for Task 3 was to create a unification between the dancers’ bodies and their cognitive process. As the Venn diagram included above signifies, I was concerned with the thinking body. A study analyzed by Stanford Education claimed that “traditional computational cognitive science has failed to appreciate the body’s significance in cognitive processing” (“Embodied Cognition”). I repeat this statement and set forth its importance; when I worked with the dancers, I saw the thinking click behind their eyes. Sometimes when a choreographer deals with new movers, those individuals are shy not only with one another, but also with the creator in front of them. While the video does not show a marked change in dynamics, I felt the shift in their thinking selves—behind the eyes appeared a light of understanding.
I claim that all 4 E’s were utilized in the choreographic phrase.
Embodied
The partnership and connection placed 2 beings together and encouraged the dancers’ agency simply in their choices in dealing with each other’s negative and positive space. They were cognizant of their own body as well as the second body breathing and moving alongside them. Creative Agency existed in that these two were dancing as partners for the first time, only meeting a few days prior.
Embedded
The embedded theme grows from the partnership and explores both the surrounding social and physical environment. These are two dancers from differing upbringings and sociocultural circumstances. The female stands taller and the male must adjust, rising onto relevé to accommodate her longer frame. The couple’s body, working as one, is embedded in the environment or choreographic phrase provided.
Extended
When working on this movement phrase, the pair was directed to use their limbs to encourage a full extension using the length of their bodies as a whole. They needed to communicate and become dependent upon one another. How does their space, negative and positive, impact the other?
Enacted
When tackling this exercise, I was mainly concerned with the body as a cognitive tool. Would the dancers adjust their dynamics, their attack, when the speed and feel of the music changed? I feel it was more through our conversation that the dancers grasped onto this idea of the thinking body.
When I’m teaching I often ask the dancers about the narrative present in their heads. Do you hear “blah, blah, blah” during a barre exercise, or do you hear close devant, derrière, second second, etc.? How do we connect our thinking to our movement?
My final thoughts on this iteration focus on a book I am currently enjoying. William H. McNeill, through his research on community dancing dating as far back as before Christ, stated, “Groups rely on song and dance to provoke trance, which is universally interpreted as an encounter with the spiritual world” (45). When a dancer loses consciousness during a trance-like state, is there a cognitive connection to the nervous system? This leads into neurobiology and honestly just takes me down a rabbit hole of more ensuing research.
Works Cited
“Alex Grey Quotes.” Brainy Quotes. www.brainyquote.com/quotes/alex_grey_177346. Accessed
30 June 2023.
“Embodied Cognition.” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 25 June 2021. www.plata.stanford.
edu. Accessed 29 June 2023.
Horton Fraleigh, Sondra. Dance and the Lived Body. University of Pittsburgh Press, 1987.
McNeill, William H. Keeping Together in Time: Dance and Drill in Human History. Harvard
University Press, 1995.
Van Menan, Max. “Practicing Phenomenological Writing.” Phenomenology + Pedagogy, vol. 2,
no. 1, The University of Alberta, 1984, pp. 36-70.
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Week 2 Extended Cognition: Ecological Interactions
Summative Assessment: Video link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooYXpNF-LrY
Video & Audio link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klN4VrXDG-w
Mind-mapping: External Impacts that Affect the Performers and the Presented Body of Work
Describe It
The iteration explores a juxtaposition between light and dark. There are movers, working independently and as a pair. A shirt is used as a blindfold and lighting enhances the performer’s shadows. The colors are warm ambers and blacks.
Compare It.
There is light, but also dark, three-dimensionality, but also 2D, a soloist and a duet. The iteration is dark but more light. It started out flat last week but has gained substance and meaning for the creator this week.
Associate It.
Light and dark are considered contrasting elements, opposites. The common threads, particularly when using extended cognition, bring two warring sides into a trust, a waltz in this case where the duet in particular rises and falls as one.
Analyze It.
When considering the epistemological model for practice in research, the insiders (the performers) have embodied the choreographed phrase into their own interpretation. The duet locks eyes and waltzes as one although not touching. The outsider (the audience) watches the shadows (the creator) merge with the light (the performer) and knowledge is gained through empathy or perhaps memories generated in the audience’s mind. The creator has a quicker understanding from the first week’s iteration, allowing expansion and growth.
Apply It.
Embodied cognition brings everyone—performer, creator, and viewer—into a shared exploration. The creator approaches the movement phrase differently. Whereas prior a presented situation showed the soloist’s darkness contrasted against the communal dancer’s lightness, light and dark merged here and rather than confusing those involved, costumes and lighting backed up last week’s findings.
Argue It.
The study of lightness and darkness should not be thought of as a done deal, a simple answer already determined by two opposites. Movers lacking sight at times leaned on the other dancer or even the shadow for support. Soloists were never alone. Lightness and darkness more than coexist, they interweave.
Nelson’s Epistemological Model
I love the word “disseminability” that Nelson refers to and the fact that “complementary writings of artists might afford access to the complex process of making to non-specialists” (37). This idea of sowing a seed that viewer, mover, and creator can all understand in a broad sense lends hope to each artist’s finding a voice and sharing it. There is much discussion on tacit knowledge as well as “codified, structured” knowledge (Nelson 38). While I utilized the model itself, it was the word disseminability that solidified my knowing. I come to the studio with memories, knowledge, and events that have shaped me but I also research to add credibility to my work.
In the duet exploration, I utilized a shirt hanging like a scarf at the start. The shirt extended itself to add layers to dancers with unobstructed sight. The two movers engaged in enacted cognition as they seemed to attune and adjust to the changing environment. They were both fully invested in the moment, particularly when a single dancer lost the sense of sight. Both partners who had executed the same movement then adjusted to a small cannon, until finally the dancer with full sight supported the other and lengthened their bodies into one. Even as the shirt came down and they saw one another, the connection was tangible. The darkness could not stop the light and as William H. McNeill stated, “Those who danced together cooperated more wholeheartedly and therefore lived better and survived longer” (48). That being said, I believe the duo could have waltzed together for hours, just mirroring. It was quite beautiful to behold.
The knowing results were further enhanced through the soloist’s investigations. The lack of music broadened the space by allowing echoes and breaths to be heard. Thus, the performer focused solely on breath, heartbeat, and enhanced the space taken up by the shadow. The shadow itself loomed larger and the two moving together allowed the opportunity “for bodies to become sculptural” (Preston-Dunlop 121).
Being both creator and performer encouraged a unique perspective. Even though the external conditions presented a warm amber tone (embedding the dancer), I expected to feel lonely. Instead, I reached for my partner and even wanted to be embraced at the conclusion by my own shadow. Perhaps it was the warmth I felt emanating from those ambient tones. The final takeaway is that the triadic–viewer, mover, and creator—all literally extended their own knowing through tacit (know how) and newly learned (know that) information resulting from shared explorations.
Student Self-Assessment
Extended cognition in addition to enacted cognition, and of course embedding the dancers in a situation, really aided my understanding of my aesthetic—taking two elements, side by side, and comparing and contrasting them in order to produce knowledge. Costuming and lighting produced qualitative results, solidifying my original quote presented last week that “all beings and things are residents in your awareness” (“Alex Grey Quotes”).
Through my choreographic explorations, the shadow resided with me, the light and dark meshing, cohabitating, and each enhancing the other. As the shadow was created by the studio lighting, this light created an extension and understanding of my aesthetic. My own involvement offered the dancer’s perspective as well as the creator’s and I was honestly shocked to realize that what the creator first thought was the goal here was shattered. The shadow was not just a child’s toy but instead like a remembered friend. Rather than being scared of the dark, I embraced it.
In addition, the duet and the costume piece used to create lack of sight, broadened my juxtaposition of not only light versus dark but also solo versus partner. Taking away the light heightened the trust between the dancers as they articulated the choreographic phrase not as soloists but as partners. The music in waltz time exaggerated the rise and fall and when standing near the dancers, there were vibrations created of 1-2-3.
I knew that my Clifton Strengths of both Input and Learner would be present in this iteration. I am always striving for more knowledge, constantly collecting information. I think the Intellectual also applies here as there was cause for introspection on my part when working with the shadow.
I think the fact that I myself took part in this iteration is a large achievement as I find that the 4 E’s also apply to myself when being utilized as a performer. There is so much information to be gained no matter which part of the triadic one embodies. Artists never stop learning and as such are often hungry for information. This is surely the Achiever in me as per Don Clifton.
Works Cited
“Alex Grey Quotes.” Brainy Quotes. www.brainyquote.com/quotes/alex_grey_177346. Accessed
30 June 2023.
McNeill, William H. Keeping Together in Time: Dance and Drill in Human History. Harvard
University Press, 1995.
Nelson, Robin. Practice as Research in the Arts: Principles, Protocols, Pedagogies, Resistances.
Palgrave Macmillan, 2013.
Preston-Dunlop, Valerie. Looking at Dances, Noverre Press, 1998.
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Week 3: Orienting Oneself in Embodied Cognition
Summative Week 3 Assessment: Video link https://youtu.be/xzwZWc3CGFY
Webster defined the word embody: “to make concrete and perceptible” and “to give a body to (a spirit).” We may question how the terms concrete and spirit can define the same word; concrete is hard and unyielding while spirit is ethereal and fleeting. When implementing Practice as Research in the arts, the creator will draw upon tacit knowledge and then move toward the research, combining the concrete and the spiritual. The spirit is integral in creating a fully embodied individual.
To begin, I "know-how" I see lightness and darkness as two parts of the same whole--how as the sun rises, darkness fades and vice versa. I know that sometimes the dark can keep you company as you reach out to your shadow and childlike, return to your most innocent times of play. I also "know-how" to recognize negative space. I “know-how” to keep moving around that space, refusing to step inside.
This week, it was through my “know-that” that I had an epiphany. It was a time of “pausing, standing back, and thinking about what [I] was doing” (Nelson 44). I worked remotely with two dancers using props to embed them as well as to extend their movement not only through the chairs but also through one another. The movers dealt with enacted cognition as the chairs participated and created variable conditions to which the dancers adapted. I allowed for stillness and moments of two separate entities (each dancer sitting alone), highlighting the negative space. The partnership focused on the theme of trust as the movers separated to their corners at the conclusion. Why? The answer lies in the soloist’s iteration.
Similar to the first week’s submission, the dancer moves down a single path, changing personal orientation accompanied by spoken word, detailing sounds and colors. The setting offers warmth and light. This juxtaposes the shadowing of week one. As the dancer crouches down and looks up, a bird flies overhead, a reflection of freedom. Thus, the missing piece in the previous iteration is the creator. The duet trusts one another but the creator separates the extension, leaving a void.
The soloist explores the negative space, the gaping hole, left by the duet. The intention is to embed herself in the calm water but contradict with more abrupt, syncopated movements, working against the sense of hearing and the emotional response to the surroundings. Immediately, it became clear that I needed to enact and fully embody the healing power of water.
When experiencing Authentic Movement practices, I am generally the witness, never placing myself into the role of mover. The conclusion: I have been witness for too long, afraid to succumb to the vulnerability that is dance. As I witnessed the flight of the bird above, I experienced freedom, extended from the bird. By embedding myself and fully embodying the moment, I allowed enactment and confirmed that I should continue collaboration within the dance community, reasserting myself into the interconnectedness. As William H. Hill confirmed, “An important feature of emotional bonding through rhythmic, muscular movements is that it affects those who take part in it more or less independently of how they may have been connected (or divided) by prior experience” (52).
As Nelson suggested, I needed to “shake it up a little” and move from the “proximal” to the “distal” (46). I needed to look toward community. By disengaging, I leave a void at its center. Without shadows, there can be no light. The contrasting elements—darkness and lightness, alone and connected, two and three dimensional— the two must coalesce. In order to create communion, we must band together, engaging on a mental, physical, and spiritual level. “The dimensions of interconnectedness [truly need to be] without end” (“Alex Grey Quotes”). As the kinesphere reaches in all directions, we must create trust whether touching or not.
Works Cited
“Alex Grey Quotes.” Brainy Quotes. www.brainyquote.com/quotes/alex_grey_177346. Accessed 30 June 2023.
McNeill, William H. Keeping Together in Time: Dance and Drill in Human History. Harvard University Press, 1995.
Nelson, Robin. Practice as Research in the Arts: Principles, Protocols, Pedagogies, Resistances. Palgrave Macmillan, 2013.
Webster, Merriam. “Embody.” Webster’s Dictionary. www.merriam- webster.com/dictionary/embody. Accessed 15 June 2023.
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Week 4: Presenting & Unpacking Embodied Cognition
Summative Week 4 Assessment: Video link www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YqLPiPy16o
Summative Week 4: Video Link w/ Description https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMhCELz_wNw
Cubing
Describe It
It explores the game of tag, a “Gallery of Hugs,” and shifting environments through the introduction of an outside element into an established world.
Compare It.
It is the same in that there is light and dark, working together and alone, but there is an undeniable connection now, seemingly brought about through preliminary exercises exposing the mover’s vulnerability to the other.
Associate It.
Extended cognition creates an interweaving thread between first the duet and then trio. Even when not touching, the dancers embody another’s movement and enact based upon that. The viewer’s perception becomes all inclusive.
Analyze It.
The performers and the movers made the iteration and it becomes useful to all, including the audience. These same people embody their created world and adapt to it when external forces change. The work will be different each time but we use it to create a communal experience.
Apply It.
We use the techniques of this past residency in the iteration—to play the games of tag and to experience vulnerability through touch in the “gallery of hugs.” These techniques are applied to the dancers and the results are enacted iterations that extend each participant’s movement and whole being.
Argue It.
There is always more to unpack where relationships are concerned. How do we find community quicker and break down those barriers? We continue to do the work, to explore, and to be present. We continue to laugh, smile, and connect, to “share goals [and] create a transformative, interwoven path” (“Alex Grey Quotes”).
Phenomenological Writing/Self-Assessment
The past week’s explorations with Juri Nael presented and created a transformative experience. Rather than breaking me, he brought me back to life through games of childlike play. He engaged all five senses. I heard ocean waves crashing while playing with choreography in the ocean. I saw deep into the eyes of another being and I allowed that person to see me unabashedly with no barriers. I touched, both grasping and gently brushing my fingertips over another mover. I tasted salt water—my own tears and sweat as well as the ocean’s. I smelled the dance world as I used to know it and how I have come to know it, merging past times with the now. The scent is difficult to put into words, but if I had to, I would say “like coming home.” I literally embedded myself in this world and embodied those around me as they enacted and thus, embodied me. What am I left with? I want to “experience myself as seen, touched, understood, misunderstood, loved, or despised” (Horton Fraleigh 58).
I "know-how" alienation has altered my perception of the world around me. Juri’s “Gallery of Hugs” exercise removed my shell and left me vulnerable—exposing the soft inside and proving my “desire to move in fulfillment of communal value that motivates dance” (Horton Fraleigh 58). I face a new juxtaposition now—one that allows my viewer to witness my capitulation to the vulnerability that is dance. After performing for 20 minutes, Juri commented, “What does it feel like?” One word came to mind: Mine. It felt like mine. Juri later told me, “There will be some unpacking to do now.” He was right. I have begun unpacking by working with three dancers and returning to childlike play, thus returning to community and when I first fell in love with movement. Simply put, the juxtaposition became a love/hate relationship.
I looked further into Alex Grey’s quotes: “A relationship succeeds when obstacles are met with communication and resolution. A relationship flourishes when we take the beloved as our teacher. Shared goals create a transformative, interwoven path” (“Alex Grey Quotes”). When I met my three dancers this week, I greeted them each with a hug outside the building and we started work inside, discussing the tactile joy of the “Gallery of Hugs” as well as the ever feared “staring into another’s eyes.” We shared weight and learned to fully give ourselves over to another.
Per feedback I received from Juri, we worked on elements of tension, effort, stillness versus quick tempos, and control. We played tag, received hugs and reacted to them, and we gave ourselves over to another dancer, allowing manipulation. I could hear Juri Nael saying, “What kind of world is this?” And then, I utilized his technique of throwing a foreign being into the established environment, which you see around one minute and twenty seconds of the video. Slides and fluidity became spinning, not touching but responding to the energy of another being, similar to how a wave crashes into the sand and energy is shared and then in this case, extended beyond the dancer’s kinesphere.
My favorite moment happens at 2:13 when the music adds in a banjo and one dancer starts skipping in childlike glee. She smiles and the others follow suit. The result expanded upon William H. McNeill’s findings “that when youthful initiates danced together, they aroused feelings of commonality” (53). Even though many of the movements were repetitive, it is through that continuity and “simply by virtue of the neurological and emotional responses to rhythmical movement” that the joy of communion enacted itself effortlessly into the trio. Even though I purposefully refrained from lighting the dancers downstage and placed them in a shadowy front light, they fully inhabited the space by the end, allowing the light to permeate everywhere. As the audience, I felt the dancers break the fourth wall, finding freedom as they spoke to me and included me. Childlike play was reborn as the dancers enacted games of their past.
As I reflect upon my Clifton Strengths, I go back to my fifth theme: Relator. Honestly, this one confused me at first as I began to think that I was failing in many social relationships. I understand now why this came up as number five. I crave close relationships, not superficial passings. I want to achieve goals through hard work and this past residency absolutely had moments of obstacles. I found that by finally allowing myself to trust others again, I was able to smile and find a sense of freedom, of the old me who never really left but was buried. I will continue to “unpack” those results as Juri has advised. Finally, I feel excited about the next chapter!
Works Cited
Alex Grey Quotes.” Brainy Quotes. www.brainyquote.com/quotes/alex_grey_965021. Accessed 25 July 2023.
McNeill, William H. Keeping Together in Time: Dance and Drill in Human History. Harvard University Press, 1995.
Nael, Juri. Personal interview. 18 July 2023.
Olsen, Andrea. The Place of Dance. Wesleyan University Press, 2014.
See Looking Ahead for Expansion upon these 5 weeks of study.