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Dance
Across the Board IV
Feb 3-4, 2012 CONFERENCE SCHEDULE Friday, February 3, 2012 6:30-7:00 Registration Tisch School of the Arts/NYU Dance Department 111 Second Ave, 2nd Floor Normandy Studio New York, NY 10003 7:00-7:10 Welcome 7:15-8:30 Special Key Note Performance by New York Artists Kimberly Bartosik of Daela Dance and Brian Brooks of Moving Company 8:30-9:30 Reception Saturday, February 4, 2012 9:30-10:00 Registration and light Breakfast provided by Dance Across the Board Tisch School of the Arts/NYU Dance Department 111 Second Ave, 2nd Floor Normandy Studio New York, NY 10003 10:00-10:15 Welcome Address: Erin Bomboy and Lindsay Lindberg Dance Across the Board Co-Chairs 10:15-11:30 Panel 1: Pedagogical Environments: the Exploration, Application, and Relevance of Identity Different paths, same destination: Comparison between indigenous Ugandan communal-based dance pedagogy and formal/Western dance education pedagogy Mabingo Alfdaniels, exchange graduate student at New York University Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development Even after the advent of formal (Western) education in Uganda, dance education still remains at the periphery of the mainstream education system with formal training in dance only available at only one university. However, this has not deterred communities from carrying on with indigenous and informal ways of passing on dance skills and knowledge from one generation to another. These indigenous dance pedagogies shape communal identities that define these different ethnic communities. In this paper I examine how the indigenous dance pedagogies in Uganda compare and contrast with formal/mainstream/ Western dance education pedagogies in course of delivering and disseminating dance knowledge and skills. Alfdaniels Mabingo is a dance educator, researcher and community dance specialist from Uganda. He holds a BA degree in Dance and an MA in Performing Arts (Dance) from Makerere University. He is currently a Fulbright Exchange Student pursuing graduate training in Dance Education at NYU, where he also teaches African Dance and Intercultural Dance courses. Mabingo has worked on community dance projects with underprivileged communities in East Africa. He is the founding director of Dance Moves Africa, an organisation that uses dance as a tool for community development. Mabingo has also taught dance at Makerere University, since 2007. A Project in Pedagogy: Process vs. Product Amanda McCullum, The College at Brockport, SUNY The assessment of dance standards is necessary within the realm of public education but how do you fairly assess this criteria? The creative process models an exploratory approach to learning in which an instructor can apply the pedagogy of process versus product. This presentation will outline a project that was modeled after Rowan University’s Making Trouble. In this project, artistic choices are limited causing students to “think outside of the box”. While this presentation will focus on a collegiate level beginner course, this lesson plan can be easily adapted to fit the needs of any K-12 dance classroom. Amanda McCullum is a North Carolina native. Her undergraduate study was completed at Meredith College where she received a BA in Dance and her K-12 North Carolina Teaching Certification. She pioneered a dance program at Hunt High School in North Carolina from 2007-2010 before pursuing her MFA at the College at Brockport, SUNY. There she serves as a Graduate Teaching Assistant and the President of the Brockport Chapter of the National Dance Education Organization. Her professional credits include performances for Talani Torres in the North Carolina Dance Festival. She also performedwith James Hansen Dance during summer of 2011. Community-Based Dance Education & Critical Pedagogy: ‘Collaborative agents in the construction of empowered identities’ Janira Bremner, Boyer College of Music and Dance, Temple University This paper examines the relevance of applying principles of critical pedagogy to Community-Based Dance Education (CBDE) programs situated in economically disadvantaged urban settings. The analysis focuses on the general benefits of dance education, the overarching values of critical pedagogy and their application in dance education. Additionally, this paper explores the applicability of critical pedagogy to curriculum and course development in CBDE initiatives and will highlight the combined roles of dance education and critical pedagogy in identity formulations among participants. Through this work, I aim to contribute to the field’s investigations into the synergies between dance education and identity formation. Janira Bremneris aMaster of Education in Dance (Ed.M) candidate at Temple University and former member of the National Dance Theatre Company (NDTC) of Jamaica. In Philadelphia Janira studies and performs with the Kariamu and Company Traditions dance ensemble. Currently Janira’s academic investigations are focused on explorations into the lived-experience of Community-Based Dance Educators. Her interest in the role of dance education in social transformation discourse has prompted her ongoing research into the potential benefits of Community-Based Dance Education. African-American Identity in Intercultural Dance Education Rainy Demerson, New York University Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development Aiming to develop a curriculum that addresses the identities of diverse classrooms in general, and African-American students in particular, I considered the literature on the developmental needs of adolescents, statistics on African-American students, and strategies for creating an engaging classroom experience. I’d like to share a curriculum which encourages creative interaction between dances and perspectives of the African diaspora, with those of students’ home cultures and experiences. It suggests the practical application of emancipatory education for adolescent dance students. It offers links between the need to address students’ previous identity-forming experiences and the desire to broaden their horizons with a global perspective. Rainy Demerson is a life-long dancer and world traveller. She holds a B.A. in World Arts and Cultures/Dance from UCLA, and an M.A. in Dance Education from NYU. Rainy worked as a teaching artist and English teacher before building a dance program at MS 267 in Brooklyn. Her research and curricula are focused on intercultural dance education. As a choreographer, she has presented her work in California and Senegal. In New York, she produced Alone Together: A Celebration of Independent Artists, and Unearth, an evening-length production with her company Sacred Space Dance. Moderator: TBD 11:45-1:00 Panel 2: Other-Formed: The Shaping of Identity through Outside Influences Family Identity's Effect on the Creative Process Callie Hatchett, New York University Tisch School of the Arts, Dance Division For many people, the significance of identity lies within their family. Family, or lack of, can act as a source of either or both, identity bestowal or identity loss. What happens when you are faced with the possible loss of a family member? Perhaps, you question your identity in the light of an uncertain future. In my piece, And Then, three dancers explore anticipation, and expectations of an unknown future, while relying upon each other. I would like to present this work as an example of how identity, and questioning identity, infiltrates every aspect of our lives, especially who we are as artists, and our creative process. Callie Hatchett received her early training in classical ballet from Meryane Martin Murphy, director of Andalusia Ballet. She earned a BA in dance from The University of Alabama and performed with Southern Danceworks. Through grant funded projects designed to expose underserved communities to the arts, Callie has taught dance in various public elementary schools throughout Alabama. She served as the Assistant Artistic Director of Andalusia Ballet, teaching ballet, modern, and Pilates, and choreographing works for stage performance, as well as community events. In 2010, Callie relocated to New York City, to pursue her graduate degree in Dance from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. Observer Effect Rebecca Weber, Temple University "Observer Effect", is a contemporary dance work that explores layering quantum and classical physics, neurophysiology, and social psychology/interpersonal relations. What does it mean to see and be seen? How do we construct our identity through how we see ourselves, or how we are seen by others? How does the mere act of being observed change our behaviors and our very selves? How do these affects ripple on a micro- and macro-level, from our cells to social relationships? In “Observer Effect” as in our daily lives, we are both the watchers and the watched. Rebecca Weberis a TA and MFA Candidate in Dance at Temple University. She holds a Master’s degree with Distinction in Dance & Somatic Well-Being: Connections to the Living Body from the University of Central Lancashire, where she also enjoyed teaching on the BA (Hons) Dance Performance & Teaching course. Her choreography has been presented in New York, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Delaware, and the UK, and her research has been published in the Journal of Dance and Somatic Practices. Rebecca is an associate editor for the journal Dance, Movement and Spiritualities and assistant editor of Dance, Somatics and Spiritualities: Contemporary Sacred Narratives. A Heartbeat Away, A World Apart Xuejuan Feng, University of Maryland-College Park This presentation is a section of an MFA concert exploring different and similar ideals of feminine aesthetic between Chinese and American culture. Like a first language, one’s sense of ideal feminine aesthetic is embedded in one’s conscious and subconscious mind as one grows up, influenced by culture and environment. In the presented dance segment, Xuejuan explores the revered characteristics of strength, candor, and outspokenness in modern American woman against the backdrop of her own experiences with Chinese female archetypes such as fragility, reserve, and reticence. Using sound and speech, she reconstructs her own initial feelings of confusion and displacement when caught between these two very different aesthetics. Xuejuan Feng is a teaching fellow pursuing an MFA in dance at the University of Maryland. She got her BA in Chinese Folk Dance from the Beijing Dance Academy in 2003. Her choreographic works have shown on the Millennium Stage at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C.; at the 9th Annual World Dance Showcase of Washington D.C.; at the Maryland Dance Ensemble Annual Concert; the 17th and 18th Annual International Festival Showcase of Roanoke; and the Chinese Spring Festival Arts and Performance Showcase of China Central Television. Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire: Intersecting Historical and Lived Identities Through Movement Denise J. Murphy, University of North Carolina at Greensboro For MFA thesis research, I have explored the history of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire of 1911, and have examined the retelling of this historical event through dance. Particularly drawn to the victims, I have worked to uncover their lives in conversations with the dancers, considering them in relation to our own. We find ourselves repeatedly asking who we are in relation to the victims. They have been credited with prompting significant change and yet who were they? Dance serves as a quintessential platform to discover the identities of these women because it forces us to reconcile our lived identities with these historical ones. Denise J. Murphy, from NYC, earned a BS in Dance Education from New York University in 2003. She has performed with a variety of choreographers and companies in NYC and worked for 6 years in Arts Administration at The Ailey School. In addition, she has taught numerous master classes and has set works of choreography on students enrolled in the Ailey School’s Summer Intensive program. She is currently pursuing an MFA in Choreography at UNCG. Denise’s current area of research includes reconstructing history and the intersection of history and contemporary events through movement and choreography. Moderator: TBD 1:00-2:00 Light Lunch provided by DAB 2:00-3:30 Panel 3: Culture and Race: Their Inescapable Imprint in the Formation of Identity From Penthouse to "Pinays Rise": Choreographing Streetdance and Hip-hop Feminisms in the Philippines Lorenzo Perillo, University of California, Los Angeles What are the roles of gender difference in shaping the social and political implications of Hip-hop and streetdance? How do Filipino nationalism and feminista (Filipino feminism) inform Hip-hop conventions? Informed by ethnography conducted with Manila-based Filipina/o dancers, this paper responds by surveying approaches to conceptualizing this local Hip-hop community, grounded in the voices and gendered experiences of the dancers themselves. This presentation aims to complement recent scholarship in the fields of Philippine dance and Hip-hop Feminism by promoting an investigation of gendered identities through urban popular dance. Lorenzo “Lozo” Perillo is a doctoral candidate in Culture and Performance with a concentration in Asian American Studies at the Department of World Arts and Cultures at UCLA. Informed by his Pilipino community work and experience as a hip-hop dancer/choreographer for the last decade, Lozo’s dissertation research focuses on the comparative analysis of Filipinos in hip-hop dance in Los Angeles, Honolulu, and Manila. He has presented his research at conferences of the Congress for Research on Dance and Association for Asian American Studies and his writing appears in Extensions: The Online Journal of Embodiment and Technology and Theatre Journal. White Do I Signify? Emily Oleson, University of Maryland, College Park How can dance scholars responsibly situate ourselves as we delve into the historical repertoires and archives of American vernacular dances? As I white woman, what does it mean for me to participate in what I consider dances of "resistance” that have deep African American roots, such as Appalachian flatfooting or Charleston or Hip-Hop, which were originally born in communities fighting for survival in the face of oppression? What are the means by which multiple voices can be presented and framed in studying, perpetuating, and advocating American vernacular dances that have such enormous potential for community building and social reconciliation. Emily Oleson is a third year M.F.A. candidate in Dance at the University of Maryland, College Park; her research vision is to synthesize and reconcile concepts of American dance history that seem divergent, but that can actually serve as connections between diverse communities. She is the co-director of Good Foot Dance Company (www.goodfootdance.org), and has had the honor of collaborating with award-winning dancers and choreographers Gesel Mason, Aysha Upchurch, Ann Kilkelly, and Eileen Carson-Schatz, among other teachers, dancers, musicians and masters who have generously shared time and information. More information on her research can be found at www.vaudevival.wordpress.com. Duel With an Orchid: Re-evaluating Identity in a Post-Other World Emma Draves, University of Wisconsin This presentation includes the performance of an excerpt from my recent work, Duel With An Orchid, and looks at post-colonial and race theory to challenge whether it is possible, or even responsible, to eliminate these 'borders' we have so recently been 'crossing'. I re-evaluate the concept of culture as not tied to a particular place but to the particular experience of an individual, posing that we each have our own culture: a web of both inherited and experienced values. And, I question: where are the 'borders' for these individualized cultures? Do they need 'crossing'? Who or What, then, defines our Other? Emma Draves is a contemporary artist and choreographer traversing an embodied experience of Bharatanatyam and modern dance, currently focused on creating 'bilingual' work informed by modern dance and Bharatanatyam movement vocabularies and performance theories. Recent grant support has come from the Chicago Dancemakers Forum, Links Hall, and the Chicago Cultural Center. Since settling in Chicago, Emma has worked on projects with Lookingglass Theatre, Victory Gardens Theater, Yo-Yo Ma/The Silk Road Project, and Ensemble Espanol; and has performed with several companies including Natya Dance Theatre.Emma is currently on faculty at Columbia College. Gaga: Embodying Israeli Self-Identity Elisa Davis, New York University Tisch School of the Arts, Performance Studies Division This paper investigates Gaga, the movement language developed by Ohad Naharin, artistic director and choreographer of Israel’s Batsheva Dance Company. I will look at Gaga as a uniquely Israeli cultural phenomenon and at the Gaga body as a site for the embodiment of Israeli self-identity as it is informed by national politics and the culture of daily life. What does the movement philosophy and the movement language of Gaga say about what it means to be an Israeli body for Naharin? How is Gaga a uniquely individual method for Naharin as well as a universally accessible form of self-exploration? Since graduating from Barnard College in 2007 as an American Studies and Dance double major, Elisa has been choreographing and dancing professionally in New York City. She is a founding member of the Tze Chun Dance Co. and is currently working with MotleyDance. She has worked with other artists including Ori Flomin, David Parker, Aszure Barton and Subtle Details Dance Theater. She has shown her own work in 2009 at the CSV center and is currently working on a dance film. She lives in Brooklyn and is pursuing a Masters degree in Performance Studies at New York University. A Glezele Vayn Nicole Bugge, New York University Tisch School of the Arts, Dance Division The musical qualities of The Klezmatics stimulated the creation of an original inspirational dance depicting the story of Jewish life. Traditional folk movement was integrated with classical ballet and conveyed through nine dancers. The relationship between performers was chosen to exhibit life in its myriad of ways. A Glezele Vayn connects identity and culture while personifying heritage through art, via time-honored Jewish music. Incorporating established folk elements, the choreography employed patterns to demonstrate a strong sense of community. Showcasing the multicultural background of the choreographer, the piece was the beginning of a journey to identify with her Jewish life. Nicole Buggé trained at American Repertory Ballet’s Princeton Ballet School. She earned her BFA in Dance and Choreography at Virginia Commonwealth University graduating Cum Laude. Nicole performed with the Richmond Ballet andinternationally at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland and the Accademia dell’Arte in Arezzo, Italy. At TischNicole performed in original works by Deborah Jowitt and guest choreographer Sydney Skybetter. An emerging Jewish Artist Fellow at the Bronfman Center. Nicole was recently commissioned to choreograph at Lincoln Center for a Kenan Fellow. Nicole is honored to complete her MFA in Dance at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. Moderator: TBD 3:45-5:00 Panel 4: Transience and Volatility: The Manifestation of Identity in Dance and Body-based Performance Impermanent Identity Score Jaime Duggan, University of Colorado at Boulder The Impermanent Identity Score refers to an improvisational structure Jaime has developed for live and interactive, embodied engagementbwith notions of identity. In this brief presentation Jaime will share the process she has used to equip small groups of participants for the practice of such a score, utilizing gesture and spoken word. You will be guided through a writing exercise and witness a short demonstration of a partner exercise. You are encouraged to consider issues of agency, voice, safety, and privileged identities in regards to this platform for the performance of Self. Jaime Duggan feels honored and privileged to dance, study, and advocate embodied arts. Having earned her BA in Dance & Movement Studies at Naropa University, she is currently pursuing her MFA in Dance at the University of Colorado-Boulder, where she is also a part-time instructor. She is a long-time member of Kissidugu West African Dance & Percussion Theatre, in perpetual awe of the potency of rhythm-dance technology to reinstall a healthful flow of energy. Jaime has created work that exposes and examines whiteness, and is engaged in the development of her Impermanent Identity Score. The Infinite Play of Eros in Contact Improvisation Shannon Moses, New York University Tisch School of the Arts, Performance Studies Division What does it mean to come into contact, to really be touched by someone? In the context of contact improvisation individual dancers have extremely different relationships touch-especially to what is personally at stake. Through the lens of play and intimacy, this paper investigates how identities are assembled, claimed, and transformed in the potentialized space of the contact duet. How can one unexpectedly move toward an unstable point- relocating through disorientation, intimate reconnection, or through awakened or directed attention? This paper explores these trans-subjective shifts of state and frame drawing from personal interviews and participant observation. Utam Moses is a dancer, choreographer and performance artist. She deeply invests herself in exploring the articulations, intricacies and potentialities of embodiment. Her creative process has been greatly influenced by her practice of contact improvisation, yoga, and Amerta movement. She grew up in the Midwest and her wanderlust has directed her search for the adventures of the everyday- through language, movement, theory, and ways of seeing as well as interacting sensously with the world. She is currently pursuing her Master in Performance Studies at New York University, with a focus on site-specific interventionist art and dance as social movement. Dancing backwards: Autoethnography through home movies Stephanie Miracle, University of Maryland My current choreographic research looks at my evolution as a dancer and artist through personal home movies. Growing up my father obsessively filmed aspects of our family life. My sisters and I quickly fell in love with the camera. This is project an autoethnographic investigation into my own memories performing for my family and the hundreds of hours of video footage from those experiences. How did I move at age six... eight... nine... ten... twenty... thirty...? Do I show similar movement characteristics now? Why did I dance then? Why do I dance now? Is there evidence from these videos that I have always had the same artistic instincts? How has my family and the support of my family influenced my identity as a performer? This presentation will include video footage and experimental movement material generated from these old videos. Stephanie Miracle began making living room dances at the young age of 5. Her dances invite audiences to see and feel the "everyday" details of life with greater curiosity. She has created dances and video works that inhabit various spaces including rooftops, open fields, empty apartments, bus stops, staircases, and traditional theaters. In 2009 her film chloes, co-created with Lea Fulton and Greg King, was selected for the Lincoln Center Dance on Camera Festival in New York and has toured internationally since. In 2011 she received Healthy Living Initiative Dance Commission from the Dance Exchange and the Met Life Foundation to create, Recollecting Disappearing, a mutli-generational, site-specific work. As a performer Stephanie has had the pleasure of working with Deganit Shemy, Laura Peterson, Shannon Gillen, David Dorfman, Susan Marshall, Liz Lerman Dance Exchange, PEARSONWIDRIG, among others. She holds a BA in Dance from Belhaven College and is a candidate for her MFA in Dance at the University of Maryland. Till the End Lauren Beale and Brooke Gessay, University of Colorado at Boulder “Till The End” is a performance work that engages text, choreography and structured improvisation to thoughtfully explore and deconstruct how the identity of our true selves is masked and/or revealed during performance. Beginning with a familiar performative approach in which the 4th wall remains intact and the performers’ honest experience remains concealed behind crafted identities, “Till The End” then falls in on itself and breaks open, waking the performers from the habitual act they’ve been performing. Engaging real-time, improvised experience and interaction, individual and shared identity begin to emerge as rich, connective and vital, and as personal selves are shared, something universal is revealed. Lauren is a performance artist, choreographer, contemplative teacher, yoga instructor and active mama. Brooke is a dancing-performing-teaching artist, yogini, and lover of zen. Both refined and messy, each artist is joyfully committed to the rigorous investigation of the body as a vehicle to reveal, question, investigate and traverse the mysterious nature of our human condition. As collaborative partners, Lauren and Brooke have created duets that have been performed at the Sans Souci Festival of Dance Cinema, The We’re House, and NeXus, and are creating an evening length performance work titled “There Can Only Be One,” to be performed at the ATLAS Black Box Theater in Boulder, CO in March 2012. Moderator: Pamela Pietro, Assistant Professor of Dance, NYU 5:00-6:00 Wrap Up |
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