Abstract
The abundance of opportunities for acquiring knowledge in a dance technique class and the holistic use of somatic practices alongside formal technical training focuses dancers’ attention onto the first person experience of the “dance class”. Ironically, this has also given rise to opportunities for dancers to choose not to go to class and to pursue the “adventure into [their] own being” (Bernard, 2006, p. 43) by devising strategies of personal practice. As a consequence, teachers have to find better reasons for dancers to come to class. Dancers have questions about the framing and shaping of movement that takes place in the shared space of class and teachers increasingly evoke the myths, legends and personal stories that shaped their own experience using a rich, varied and often poetic language to share these stories. This article explores what occurs in this embodied storytelling and how the dance technique class as a shared activity preserves its function in an increasingly individualised world.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 17-36 |
| Number of pages | 19 |
| Journal | Choros International Dance Journal |
| Volume | Spring 2015 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| Publication status | Published - 30 Apr 2015 |