I am a dance and movement practitioner specialising in dance facilitation and embodied learning. Based between the midlands and north west of the UK, I have over fifteen years’ experience working in contemporary dance and education, both nationally and internationally. I am an active researcher, facilitator, maker and performer of dance. I am currently undertaking a PhD in the area of dance education at Manchester Metropolitan University. During my residency at Studio 307, I will use the space as a writing and movement retreat to develop my PhD thesis. My research explores the dominant pedagogical discourses of dance technique practice in the West. Using an ethnographic-action research methodology, I am examining to what extent a reflective and dialogical approach to teaching dance technique can be used as a method for disrupting the prevailing ‘doxa’ (Bourdieu, 1977) of the learning environment, enabling teacher and learners to mobilise agency. Drawing on psychophysical approaches to performer training, my research explores how reflection can deepen the process of embodying dance techniques, investigating the relationship between mind and body. Informed by this idea, during the residency I will not only be developing the written content of my thesis, but investigating the relationship between my own movement and reflective practice. On Friday 6th March, I will offer some reflections on the week during an informal sharing – time to be confirmed.
