Dreaming the Impossible: reimagining Blackness through dance improvisation

这项实践研究博士将研究如何通过即兴舞蹈重新想象黑人。“黑人舞蹈”一词指的是一种独立于其他舞者的独特风格或风格，正如Adair&Burt(2018)所指出的那样，这使得人们很难认识到黑人舞者发展出的广泛的舞法。研究问题：-重新想象黑人如何在当代舞蹈实践和学术中支持对黑人身体的(重新)定义？-舞蹈即兴创作作为获取祖先和文化体现的知识的工具可以提供什么？-什么是黑人女性的经验性知识？-舞蹈即兴创作如何促进该领域内对“黑人”一词的(重新)概念化？该项目涉及不同学科的几个当前问题，包括当代舞蹈、社会科学、性别和性学的关键学者，以及黑人研究，包括Hay(2016)、Gottschild(2018)、Hall(1990)和Andrews(2016)。它还受到女权主义讨论的启发，并将审问这些学术领域，以促进对黑人的广泛表达。在自我人种学、社会互文学探索的基础上，创作方法论由一系列独奏动作表演组成，集中了(我的)黑人女性身体的具体化和生活体验，并由一篇书面论文支持。黑人女性身体的生活体验通常是高度性别化的：对性的管控是一种殖民违规，在那里，表达肉体的身体被认为是不雅和可鄙的(凯里2016)。通过(我的)黑人女性气质，并将身体的位置作为包含多个存在的具体化知识的容器，研究将探索通过运动访问一个人的档案如何使舞蹈成为一种“文化记忆”的展示(Patten 2018)。研究的潜在影响：-当代舞蹈学术中当前术语和黑人身体定义的(重新)语境化；特别(重新)考虑对黑人的先入为主的观点和对“黑人舞蹈”的分类。-(重新)在表演时刻定义黑人身体，以产生自己的另一种历史：通过获取黑人祖先包含的知识，让这些身体在生活的空间和时间中变形。-(重新)通过拒绝实践中对女性身体的殖民观点来概述黑人女性身体的参数，这些女性身体实际上涉及性爱运动词汇；将身体从一个物体转移到积极回收性爱媒介。最近围绕《黑人生活也是命》的全球对话，种族主义和不平等见证了其他身体要求空间和(重新)谈判他们的存在。这项调查是促进变革的社会政治行动的延续，通过当代即兴舞蹈的结构和实践来庆祝黑人身体，并以黑人文化和他们的生活经历为信息的方式应用这些方式(Adair&Burt 2018)。因此(重新)通过拒绝殖民的凝视来定义黑色，并提出新的方法来解读当代舞蹈和其他舞蹈中的黑色身体。1-4岁-参加适当的研究研讨会/会议-发展即兴舞蹈练习研究-案例研究-论文章节的写作-在4年级完成2-4岁-创作和表演独奏练习-每年一次或更多-4岁-准备和交付viva

This practice research PhD will investigate how blackness can be reimagined through dance improvisation. The term 'Black Dance' suggests a singular style or genre of movement that is separate from others, and as Adair & Burt note (2018) this makes it difficult to recognise the broad range of approaches developed by dancers who are black. Research questions:- How can reimagining Blackness support a (re)definition of black bodies in contemporary dance practices and scholarship?- What can dance improvisation as a tool to access ancestral and culturally embodied knowledge offer?- What is Black feminine experiential knowledge?- How can dance improvisation facilitate a (re)conceptualisation of the term 'Blackness' within the field?The project engages with several current issues in different disciplines, drawing upon key scholars in contemporary dance, social sciences, gender and sexuality, and Black studies including Hay (2016), Gottschild (2018), Hall (1990) and Andrews (2016). It is also informed by feminist discussion, and will interrogate these areas of scholarship to facilitate an expansive articulation of blackness. Underpinned by an auto-ethnographic, socio-intertextual exploration, the creative methodology consists of a series of solo movement performances centralising embodied and lived experiences of (my) black female body, supported by a written thesis.The black female body's lived experience is often hyper sexualized: the policing of sexuality is a colonial infraction, where bodies that articulate a corporeal sensuous carnality are deemed as indecent and contemptible (Carey 2016). Navigating (my) black femininity, and taking a positionality of the body as a vessel of embodied knowledges containing a plurality of presences, the research will explore how accessing one's archive through movement allows dance to become a display of 'cultural memory' (Patten 2018).Potential impact of the research:- A (re)contextualisation of current terminology and of definitions of Black bodies in contemporary dance scholarship; specifically (re)considering preconceived viewings of blackness and the categorisation of 'Black Dance'. - (Re)defining the black body in the moment of performance to produce alternative histories of itself: through accessing Black ancestral embodied knowledge, allowing these to transfigure in live space and time.- (Re)outlining parameters of Black female bodies through a refusal of colonial viewings of the female body in practice which engages with sexualised movement vocabulary; moving the body from an object to actively reclaiming erotic agency.Recent global dialogues around 'Black Lives Matter', racism and inequality witnessed othered bodies demanding space and (re)negotiating their presences. This enquiry is a continuation of socio-political actions for change, celebrating black bodies via structures and practices from contemporary dance improvisation and applying these in ways which are informed by black culture and their lived experiences (Adair & Burt 2018). Therefore (re)defining blackness through a refusal of the colonized gaze and proposing new ways to read the black body in contemporary dance and beyond.Years 1 - 4- Attend appropriate research seminars/conferences- Develop dance improvisation Practice Research- Case studies- Writing of thesis chapters - finalising in year 4Years 2-4- Creation & performance of solo practice - One or more per yearYear 4- Preparation and delivery of viva