A Framework For Framing is an evolutionary outcome of the innovative continuum and creative energy of Hip Hop culture and street dance. Framing is a unique Tracing technique developed and codified by Vo Vera, a Bboy and experimental street dancer. Framing uses the hands as tools to interact with lines and points in space. An 11-rule framework identifies, defines, and distinguishes the vocabulary, technique, and theory from other techniques and movement practices. An intrinsic aspect of the technique is the act of constantly and subjectively changing the grid every time the hands Frame, which Vo Vera defines as Gridlining. Similar to the frameworks of Threading and Connects, Framing movement vocabulary may serve to add onto the Bounce, Rock, and Groove, and to add as layer over one’s own movement, such as over Top Rocks and Footwork. This thesis documents the process of Framing technique’s development, kinesthetically, somatically, pedagogically, theoretically, and methodologically. It explores the lineages, communities and practices that influenced and expanded the development of the technique, including Vogue, Hip Hop, Breaking, Trace Waving, Threading, and Connects. It also documents the roles that Laban Movement Analysis (LMA) and Forsythe Technique had in expanding the conceptualization process of development. As a qualitative research study, Framing was used in various instructional and performative settings as the staple vocabulary. The developments of the research were analyzed through the traditional street dance lens, and through the lens of LMA. Developments included over 100 Framing moves––or movement patterns that were generated in alignment with the rules, to provide an indubitable proof of concept that not everything in dance has been done, and that the expressionist, transformational spirit of Hip Hop continues to thrive. Keywords: Breaking, Break Dance, Connects, Dance Technique, Dance Theory, Experimental Dance, Forsythe Technique, Framing, Freestyle Dance, Hip Hop, Improvisation, Laban Movement Analysis, Language Movement Synthesis, Movement Analysis, Somatics, Street Dance, Threading, Trace Vogue, Waving.

Perceptions and interpretations of life experiences and actions vary across individuals. When these differences are linked to colors, they become more apparent and discernable. Colors have the ability to convey a range of emotions, evoke diverse feelings, and conjure up different images for different people. For dancers, these colors and emotions can impact the execution of a movement, resulting in variations in quality and texture, despite performing the same choreography. Notably, the same color can hold opposite meanings in different cultural contexts. Consequently, the objective of this project is to employ dance performance as a means to communicate these disparate cultural perspectives.

For my MFA project, I aimed to explore the differences between Chinese and Western dance cultures and investigate strategies for integrating them. This thesis reflects on the process of creating my original dance work, "Water, Disappearing in Water," and how it informed my understanding of choreography and creation. Through a combination of theoretical knowledge and practical experimentation, I have gained new insights and techniques for choreography. My work, which draws on Tai Chi, calligraphy, somatics, and modern dance, exemplifies the potential of cross-cultural collaborations to inspire new forms of artistic expression. Under the umbrella of integrating Eastern and Western cultures, my goal was to extract elements of Chinese traditional culture to make modern dance more open and inclusive, while also exploring new possibilities for incorporating traditional culture. The first chapter investigates the construction of the narrative text of dance works by examining the pre-choreography and creation stages. It also examines the transition from narrative text to feasible dance work structure, which poses a significant challenge in the practice process. The second chapter delves into the possibility of integrating Eastern and Western cultures in dance from a theoretical and practical perspective. Using the first and second parts of the work as examples, I analyze the "force" of modern dance, the "shape" of Tai Chi movements, and the relationship between emotion and the lines of Chinese calligraphy. The third chapter centers on exploring the significance of imagery expression in somatic choreography. The fourth and final chapter of this thesis sets a new goal of combining dance and multimedia technology to challenge the limitations of traditional dance performance. Overall, this thesis showcases how my original dance work combines theory and practice to explore new possibilities in future dance works.

This MFA project in dance involved a dance concert that fused together different socio-cultural dance forms. Goals of the project included engaging the audience members in ways that are meaningful and express cultural identity, looking at similar and contrasting values or norms between different dance styles, and seeing how that might be expressed in a Western concert theatrical space or be adapted to that space. The research explored the themes of fusion, emotional states, and engagement through collaborative processes of choreography. A series of dance sections were developed based on different cultural movement styles that were ultimately woven together into a live performance.

Re:Vive is a written reflection, exploring the creation of a series of dance films, 迷/ MI, 痕 / HEN, and 寻 /XUN. It presents a journey of digesting the discomforts and unfamiliarity caused by the pandemic in 2020. The ideas behind these works are centered on storytelling, embodied reflection, and the application and development of creative choreography tools. By using experimental video art, dance movement, media design, hybrid event production, and the mixing of elements, I, as a movement artist, am experimenting with embodied ways to creatively inquire about my discomfort and create a new whole in order to record and communicate these ideas.

The purpose of this project was to foster non-inhibited movement exploration such as the movement of untrained dancers in a setting of a music festival (specifically in this case the Grateful Dead community), into the more ritual performance-based ideals and perspectives that tend to occur in a dance studio setting. The external visual perceptions of what an ideal dancer ‘should look like’ lends itself to unrealistic expectations and unattainable goals as an artist. Body image and the lack of individualized self-expression is a problem in studio settings and the goal of this research was to use the perspective of untrained and trained dancers to dig deep into movement qualities that are not contrived or performed from ritual or preconceived notions of movement that tend to occur in trained dancers. Through exploratory improvisational somatic experiences helping the dancer access a more embodied and authentic self, the choreography was shaped through delving into the dancers lived experiences. This study culminated in a performance dance project that was filmed at Arcosanti, an experimental Artist community in Northern Arizona that integrates the design of architecture with a respect to the ecology. The goal is to limit the environmental footprint that is left by the community.

This research study aimed to develop, implement, and evaluate the effectiveness of a dance wellness educational curriculum administered in a university-level dance classroom. Using a mixed methods design involving a pre-test/post-test performance assessment and document analysis for qualitative data, this study asked two questions: 1) How does participation in a semester-long course on Group Fitness Instruction and dancer wellness increase participants’ comprehension of exercise science and fitness instruction concepts? 2) How does participation in a semester-long course on Group Fitness Instruction and dancer wellness impact participants’ personal approaches to teaching, training, and wellness? Results showed that the post-test scores were significantly higher than pre-test scores, and qualitative data collected from participants indicated deep levels of meaning-making and application of course content to personal approaches to training and teaching. This suggests that incorporating a dance wellness curriculum in a university-level dance program builds exercise science, wellness, and instructional literacy, while encouraging students to apply gained knowledge in both personal and professional capacities.

The Bharata-Natyam student in the United States (US) is challenged by how to effectively translate their dance into contemporary lived experiences. Research reveals that this dilemma is sometimes addressed by transplanting learnt choreographies into a new theme, sometimes adding verbal text to connect learnt choreography to contemporary issues, or sometimes simply giving up the dance form. Years of training in prevalent Bharata-Natyam education methods make students proficient in re-producing choreography but leave them without the tools to create. This is due to emphasis on guarding traditions and leaving interpretation for later stages that never arrive or get interrupted, because students leave their spaces of Indian-ness for college or a job. This work considers how Bharata-Natyam teachers in the US might support students in finding agency in their dance practice, using it to explore their lived experiences outside dance class, and engaging meaningfully with it beyond the Indian diaspora. The desire for agency is not a discarding of tradition; rather, it is a desire to dance better. This work reinforces the ancient Indian tradition of inquiry to seek knowledge by implementing the principles of Bharata-Nrityam, somatics and engaged pedagogy through the use of creative tools. This took place in three stages: (i) lessons in the Bharata-Nrityam studio, (ii) making Kriti with non-Bharata-Natyam dancers, and (iii) designing a collaborative action dance project between senior Bharata-Natyam students and community partners who are survivors of sexual/domestic violence.
The results, in each case, demonstrated that the use of creative tools based in the principles above enriched the teaching-learning process through deeper investigation and greater investment for both student and teacher. Students in the early stages of learning thrived, while senior students expressed that having these tools earlier would have been valuable to their practice. These results suggest that when Bharata-Natyam education in the US is refocused through the lenses of Bharata-Nrityam, somatics and engaged pedagogy, teachers can access tools to empower their students in their practice of Bharata-Natyam not only within the context of the Indian diaspora but also beyond.

Like many other Southeast Asian American (“SEAA”) families who fled from war and genocide around the 1970s and through the 1990s, my family avoided discussing their trauma or addressing any resulting mental health issues. As I came to internalize patterns that stemmed from my parents’ untreated wounds, without any way of ever truly understanding those wounds, I inevitably developed symptoms of my own trauma, including depression and anxiety. Although the topic of intergenerational trauma (“IGT”) has been discussed in a growing body of research within the specific context of Asian American families that have resettled in western countries, the focus has been on the trauma itself: its development and manifestations in the first (parent) generation and its transmission and impact on the second (offspring) generation. Little has been researched or written about healing and recovery from IGT on an individual level. Due to this gap in the literature, and my background as a dancer and artist, I turned to autoethnography and arts-based research methods to explore pathways to understanding and healing from family trauma. Using a combination of movement-based inquiry and narrative inquiry, I examined both of the following questions: (1) What can performed autoethnography that draws on narrative research as well as inquiry led by movement improvisation and choreographic processes, produce in terms of deeper knowledge about one’s traumas and about new ways of expressing oneself or being in the world? (2) How can such a movement- and somatic-centered autoethnographic research methodology also serve as a recovery modality? Although my family strongly believed the arts, and dance in particular, to serve no purpose other than to get in the way of job security and financial stability, the following research contains implications regarding whether and how families similar to mine could benefit from these practices.

The purpose of this qualitative study was to design and assess a dance pedagogy curriculum intended to cultivate private sector dance educators’ somatic perception. Research questions were framed to understand the nature of knowledge encouraged by the curriculum and each educator's experience of knowledge formation and application to each participant's pedagogical context. The study was conducted in four overlapping stages: 1) Philosophical inquiry, 2) Curricular design, 3) Limited case-study, and 4) Data analysis. The stages employed mix methodologies that included: action research, autobiographical reflection, ethnographic and phenomenological approaches. The limited case-study explored two private-sector dance educators’ experiences of the curriculum. Data collected during the limited case-study conducted with the dance educators revealed thematic clusters about the nature, cultivation, expression, and experience of somatic perception. The themes suggest that the nature of somatic perception reflects an individual educators’ lived experiences that shape values, movement patterns, and phrasing. The expression of somatic perception aligns with the individual educator’s narrative and was evident in patterns and phrasing of movement and learning. The cultivation of somatic perception is an ongoing process that requires active engagement to acquire, assimilate, and integrate the knowledge of content, context, self, and student. Finally, somatic perception manifested itself in each educator’s unique expression of confidence, empathy, creativity, and spontaneity resulting in skillful enactment of knowledge within an immediate pedagogical context.