Embodied Dance knowledge–four perspectives

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">This article contemplates how the cultivation of breath through specific body awareness techniques might be understood to support a dialogical and ethical relatedness between collaborators constructing a performance through an open-ended process. The article introduces a teaching experiment based mainly upon exercises drawn from strands of body psychotherapy that took place within a larger experimental and cross-artistic workshop and performance project. This project aimed at enhancing the collaborative, creative, and critical skills of MA students in dance and theatre pedagogy of the Theatre Academy of the University of the Arts Helsinki. The article discusses the overall artistic project as well as the kind of bodywork the teaching experiment involved, and it makes a phenomenologically oriented reading of the written interview material gathered from the students. The specific theoretical perspective taken on the topic draws from two phenomenologically inspired thinkers, namely, Luce Irigaray’s and Timo Klemola’s views on the influence that cultivation of breathing can have on subjectivity. The article suggests that exploring and cultivating breathing through compassion can support the evolution of ethical collaboration in open-ended performance processes.</abstract>

Priming the Body: Breath as a Foundation for Exploring Ethical Performance Practice

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">In <italic>The Meaning of the Body</italic>, philosopher Mark Johnson makes a case for the significance of movement in terms of the body processes he holds as essential to the generation of meaning and knowledge acquisition in physical interaction with the world–equally essential as language and cognition. The article employs this theory in interpreting the experiences of women learning flamenco dance in Spain. The investigation of the perceptions of women studying flamenco dance, a dance tradition often defined as “gypsy,” indicates that exposure to flamenco dance and culture leads to revision of stereotypes regarding embodiment and difference, but respondents did not relate this revision to bodily engagement, or physical processes particular to dancing flamenco. Although Johnson’s failure to properly account for the role of the unconscious proved to be a serious shortcoming in the theory, and one which had implications for the findings, application of the theory disclosed the parameters of a discourse on the body in flamenco. The theory thus represents a radical gesture in redefining embodiment in its own right in a manner that precludes dualism with the consequent opening of a range of alternative perspectives on the articulation of embodied knowledge.</abstract>

Becoming Gypsy: Tell Me What the Body Knows in Flamenco Dance

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">The focus of this article on the experiences of learning of the participants in the Norwegian-Australian dance project Perfect (im)Perfections–stories untold (shortened to P(im)P). The context for the research project is the Australian choreographer Philip Channells’ four week long residency in Trondheim, Norway, where he produced a dance performance together with 20 very different dancers for MultiPlié dance festival 2014. The dancers varied in age from 23 to 80, they were differently bodied, some worked professionally with dance, others were dancing for almost the first time. The dancers seemed to have strong experiences, including a sense of deep learning, as they took part in the project. That led the author to an investigation of theory about deep learning (Tochon 2010) and about doing and acting plurality as an educational experience (Biesta 2006, 2014). In addition to following the production period as an observer, the author interviewed six of the dancers and the choreographer about their experiences in the project. As the author interprets the interviews through the theoretical lenses created by combining the perspectives of Tochon and Biesta she characterises the pedagogical opportunities and value in P(im)P as a deep educational experience of plurality.</abstract>

The Dance Project (im)Perfections as a Deep Educational Experience of Plurality

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">In 2014 Australian director/choreographer Philip Channells (Dance Integrated Australia) was commissioned by DansiT–Senter for Dansekunst i Sør-Trøndelag to collaborate with 20 members of the Danselaboratoriet and Danseteateret 55+ companies. The end result was a full-length intergenerational, disability-inclusive work that merged poetry, dance, theatre and music. <italic>Perfect (im)Perfections–stories untold</italic> was created with an international cast of artists with diverse backgrounds and life experience. The work premiered at the Multiplié Dansefestival in Trondheim on 3 April 2014. In his article, Channells shares his personal history and dance background before focusing on the collaboration. He discusses the inspiration behind the work, the creative processes and the successes and challenges in working across cultural boundaries.</abstract>

Perfect (im)Perfections–the choreographer’s reflections on the creative process

Book-Review: Methodological Demonstrations in Finnish Dance Research and Decoding of Dancing Research

Book-Review: Research, Art, Empowerment–The Artist as Researcher, Author: Efva Lilja

Review of 12 NOFOD Conference Expanding Notions: Dance, Practice, Research, Method Reykjavík 28–31 of May 2015

“The Entire School Dances! Project Generated New Insights on Embodied Learning”

AHEAD OF PRINT

Volume 14 (2023): Issue 2 (December 2023)

Volume 14 (2023): Issue 1 (June 2023)

Volume 13 (2022): Issue 2 (December 2022)

Volume 13 (2022): Issue 1 (June 2022)

Volume 12 (2021): Issue 2 (December 2021)

Volume 12 (2021): Issue 1 (June 2021)

Volume 11 (2020): Issue 2 (December 2020)

Volume 11 (2020): Issue 1 (June 2020)

Volume 10 (2019): Issue 1-2 (December 2019)

Volume 9 (2018): Issue 2 (December 2018)

Volume 9 (2018): Issue 1 (June 2018)

Volume 8 (2017): Issue 2 (December 2017)

Volume 8 (2017): Issue 1 (June 2017)

Volume 7 (2016): Issue 2 (December 2016)

Volume 7 (2016): Issue 1 (June 2016)

Volume 6 (2015): Issue 2 (December 2015)

Volume 6 (2015): Issue 1 (June 2015)

Volume 5 (2014): Issue 2 (December 2014)

Volume 5 (2014): Issue 1 (June 2014)

Volume 4 (2013): Issue 2 (December 2013)

Volume 4 (2013): Issue 1 (June 2013)

Volume 3 (2012): Issue 2 (December 2012)

Volume 3 (2012): Issue 1 (June 2012)

Volume 2 (2011): Issue 1 (December 2011)

Volume 1 (2010): Issue 1 (December 2010)

Nordic Journal of Dance

 Nordic Journal of Dance – practice, education and research was established in 2010 within a network called DENN: Dance in Education Nordic Network  The goals and values of DENN are:  “Bringing together expertise across borders, sharing ideas about pedagogical strategies and concrete methods, promoting exchange in dance teacher training across the Nordic countries, promoting dialogue, opening doors and collaborating.”  The DENN network aimed at establishing a Nordic Journal of dance practice, research, containing both peer reviewed research articles, and practice related articles from the field of dance in education in general, in a Nordic context. Nordic Journal of Dance is thus a Nordic collaboration between researchers within dance, dance history, pedagogy, artistic research and more, connected to relevant institutions in all the Nordic countries. These researchers are all represented in the editorial board.  The purpose of the journal is to: Develop the quality of dance practice, education and research in the Nordic context. Exchanging experiences and knowledges in the doing, learning and teaching of dance/movement. Strengthening the Nordic perspective on movement, dance and education. Giving researchers a place to present their work and increasing the quality of publications within dance research.  Nordic Journal of Dance represents one of very few opportunities for researchers to publish their work. It is the only journal focusing on dance research in a Nordic context. Our impression is that it has a substantial impact. NOFOD – Nordic Forum for Dance Research is also a collaborator, having two representatives in the editorial board.  Archiving  Sciendo archives the contents of this journal in Portico - digital long-term preservation service of scholarly books, journals and collections.  Plagiarism Policy  The editorial board is participating in a growing community of Similarity Check System's users in order to ensure that the content published is original and trustworthy. Similarity Check is a medium that allows for comprehensive manuscripts screening, aimed to eliminate plagiarism and provide a high standard and quality peer-review process. 