This essay traces the author's embodied practices toward the creation of an evening-length, spontaneously composed solo. Specifically, the author focuses on her work to release superficial and deep abdominal musculature to discover a new movement vocabulary, and greater access to the mobility of the pelvis/belly, ribs, and spine. The author…

This paper explores what is perceived and believed to be an ideal ballet body by young ballet dancers. Such bodily belief becomes, in Pierre Bourdieu's terms, a core part of a ballet dancer's habitus. A four year longitudinal, ethnographic, empirical study of the experiences of 12 young ballet dancers, six boys and six girls, aged…

Frame Matching is a codified theory of partner-dance connection. It establishes a framework for breaking down and teaching Swing and Blues dance connection. It is the act of creating, maintaining, or changing tension between partners with posture and tone, in order to lead and follow energy and direction. Frame Matching is explained in terms of…

This qualitative study explored the use of metaphor within a somatic context as a means to bridge the divide between technique and expression in two undergraduate advanced intermediate ballet classes. Data included surveys, classroom observations, student journal responses and student work, as well as surveys and journal responses, one year after…

This paper explores how young ballet dancers' bodies are constructed and narrated through their desire to become performing ballet dancers. The schooling of the balletic body engages the young dancer in embodying the discipline of ballet and in developing a particular belief in a performing body. The embodied set of acquired dispositions that are…

Dance, ballet and modern in particular, is culturally defined as a feminine activity in the United States. The purpose of the present study was to examine the experiences of professional male modern and ballet dancers in the United States. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 current professional ballet and modern dancers. We examined…

This article is a qualitative study, which adopts the approach of social construction in order to comprehend the role played by the body in the formation of social behaviour. Using the concept of embodiment, professional ballet dancers have been chosen in order to investigate the particular attitude they form towards their bodies. The use of their…

This paper explores the social construction of the "ideal" body of the female ballet dancer in North America. Specifically, the author constructs a Foucauldian genealogy tracing a body shape that came to dominate the principal female dancers of the New York City Ballet, and how this body shape continues to be normalized through references in a…

Talent identification and development processes are important components of many dance programmes, yet talent is notoriously difficult to define and its identification may rely on intuitive judgements. Taking a systematic approach to the study of dance talent could enable researchers and educators to better determine what talent actually "is," the…

Combining traditional forms of research to fit unique populations contributes to understanding broad phenomena within the discipline of dance. This paper describes a methodological approach for understanding separate, but interrelated, case studies which illuminated a particular approach to teaching and learning about the body. In each case study…

This article introduces a phenomenological understanding of embodiment and discusses it in relation to a somatic approach to teaching dance. The nature of bodily knowledge is scrutinized especially through Maurice Merleau-Ponty's conceptions of perception, subjectivity, and intersubjectivity. The article offers insight into the relationship…

Dance education experiences of boys and male youth are investigated in terms of dominant constructions of contemporary Western masculinity and the potential limitations these hegemonic discourses may place on male participation. Recent research on boys and male youth in dance, although limited, suggests prevailing social stigma, heteronormative…

This paper acknowledges the importance of a dancer's centre but likewise highlights the problematic nature of the communication of this concept from dance teacher to student. After a brief introduction of orthodox approaches in finding centre, this paper suggests a method of locating centre through the ancient somatic technique.

This paper examines two very different approaches to dance training, ballet technique and the somatic discipline of Topf technique ("TT"). It explores and evaluates the application of TT to ballet training. Initially, what is meant by the term "mind/body connection" is discussed, and then the paper examines, in a theoretical and a practical sense,…

Examined how the Feldenkrais Method of somatic education informed a series of contemporary technique classes in a professional setting in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Collaborative research findings highlighted three themes: transfer of learning, movement awareness facilitation, and construction of the dancing bodies. This study works toward a shift…