Research articles

Research papers from our conferences and journals provide an in-depth look at dance topics. Many are peer reviewed.

Standing strong: pedagogical approaches to affirming identity in dance

Reflecting research undertaken with third year Pakeha, Maori and Pacific Island students, I discuss issues of body, gender and culture in the tertiary dance studio. Discussions, choreographic and written assignments required students to explore their embodied experiences. Rich material drawn from students’ assignments, alongside my class plans and teacher’s reflections, are woven together in the form of an auto-ethnographic narrative. This narrative allows me to feature the students as characters and to discuss their specific experiences of masculinity and femininity, cultural difference and embodiment within their varied dance genres. Through this narrative I suggest that embodied ways of knowing may potentially support students to affirm their identity through dance.

Starting from here: dance in higher education from the inside out

Starting from here explores the realm of interconnected experiences that exist in the study of dance as a site of emergent learning, embedded in the practice of ‘becoming’ and framed by the expanding field of everyday aesthetics. The paper explores a collection of ideas which frame the disciplinary condition, made evident through current practice in the UK. The paper explores some of the ongoing translations of dance as a discipline of study, and articulates potential future disciplinary intersections in the context of ongoing social, economic and political turbulence.

Dance: The tool of Sanskritisation process in Manipur

Lovingly called the Sanaleipak or the land of gold, Manipur can boast of an integrated culture of primitive elements being refined with the influence of the mainstream Indian culture through the Sanskritisation process. Apart from the characteristics of Sanskritisation perceived elsewhere in India, a special instrument of Sanskritisation in Manipur has surfaced, which is her dance tradition. The ancient traditional festival, the Laiharaoba embodies all the aspects of Meitei life. The influence of the Chaitanite Vaishnavism in the 18th century brought about many social changes but its manifestation on the then existing dance practice was probably the highest form of aesthetic expression for the people. This paper aims to identify the changes brought about in the dance practice in the Meitei life and how it has become apparent in their daily social life.

Metamorphosis in dance education

This paper sets out to inform both theory and practice for dance educators as they meet the demands of multiple dance heritages in today’s classrooms.

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