UNDERSTANDINGS ABOUT DANCE: AN ANALYSIS OF STUDENT WRITINGS WITH PEDAGOGICAL IMPLICATIONS DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of the Ohio State University By M. Candace Feck, B.A., M.A. ***** The Ohio State University 2002 Dissertation Committee Approved by Professor Terry Barrett, Advisor Professor Sheila Marion __________________________ Advisor Professor Sydney Walker Art Education Department Copyright by M. Candace Feck 2002 ABSTRACT Coursework in dance criticism has been historically absent from the curricula of higher educational programs of dance study. Developing the premise that such coursework represents a beneficial and much-needed component within dance studies programs, and grounded in a constructivist view about the nature of learning and understanding, this study presents a descriptive analysis of nine student papers about a single dance concert in an effort to expose and examine the underlying understandings about dance that these writings make manifest. The study is conducted using a systematic method of content analysis, through which emergent elements of understanding are examined and patterns of understanding identified and categorized. The analysis is divided into two sections: the first focuses on understandings revealed in the work produced by the nine individual writers of the study; the second on understandings revealed in these writers’ responses to the six individual dances that were the subject of their writing efforts. Results of the study include an excavation of the underlying elements of understanding that emerged through the analysis of the writings, the introduction of a conceptual model delineating the spectrum of understandings about dance, the ii presentation of evidence that learning activities in dance criticism have the capacity to promote understandings about dance, and a discussion of implications for the development of course work in dance criticism. iii To Rino, Gabe, Josh and Allegra, — who waited, and believed iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS As is often voiced in pages such as these, I am indebted to more people than it would be permissible to print, for I have been variously inspired, mentored, supported, and just plain tolerated during untold months of work on this project. The mentors who led me, colleagues who fed me, authors who influenced me from within the borders of their own pages, family members and friends who supported me in every way imaginable, and students who taught me back have collectively nudged this document into existence. My gratitude for all these gifts, both large and small, breathes between the lines of this work, within the classrooms where I am privileged to continue teaching and learning, and in my heart. Without a committee — an abstract term that belies the human and largely thankless labors of its individual members toward the lucky recipient of their collected wisdom — documents such as this would never find their way to comprehensible form. I am most grateful to Terry Barrett, who both ignited my passion for this subject and guided my labors to completion. As my advisor, he possessed that rarest of attributes: he believed in me with a depth that allowed me to do so myself. I am deeply thankful to Sydney Walker, who not only introduced me to the surprising landscape of content analysis, but made regular appearances along the route with additional maps, compasses, and — when needed — a sturdy walking stick to guide me in the dark. Sheila Marion v held the difficult post of encountering me most often during this process, and managed to fairly radiate with enthusiasm, knowledge of dance, and unconditional support at every turn. I was also fortunate during the initial phase of work to enjoy the guidance of one of the authors whose scholarship sparked the initial idea for this project, Judith Koroscik. The students whose work served as the literal foundation for my study have remained purposely nameless here, but know who they are. Without their trust and generosity, their splendid writings, and their willingness to accompany me on the adventure that became the first of many efforts toward teaching dance criticism, this project would have neither substance nor reason to exist. I am grateful as well to the many students who came before and after, for trusting me with their thoughts and their words, and for inspiring me on a daily basis. My immediate and extended family deserves the deepest measure of my gratitude. It was to Grandaddy and Papa that I wrote my first piece of criticism, though I was far too young to recognize it, nor to realize what their excitement about it would eventually spawn. My dancing mother, Joan Arden, first opened the windows onto the great vista of this art form, and my father, Thomas Feck, knew that I could write long before I did. More extraordinary than all of these, however, were the steadfast love, patience, and tireless cheerleading of my husband, Guerino Angelini and our three children, Gabe, Josh and Allegra. As the everyday bodies who patrolled the front lines during the vagaries of an unexpectedly protracted and unpredictable battle, they rose to the occasion with more skill and equanimity than I could have imagined. Rino listened, dreamt and theorized with me about much of the content here, while serving as an exacting live-in editor; it was he who stretched out a hand and pulled me back onto the page when I had toppled vi precipitously outside the margins, and he did so with grace, love and even humor. My sister, Lisa, left behind her southwestern paradise for Columbus only to prop me up in countless loving ways with one hand, while deftly feeding my family with the other. Jess and Paul, sister and brother of unblood, tended the fires, as always, through all the seasons, and kept them roaring through a very long winter. The OSU Department of Dance both furnished and fertilized the ground for anything that I have accomplished in and surrounding these pages. Helen and Vickie made possible the initial path, followed by Angelika, Vera, Odette and Lucy. Karen Bell made a pair of momentous journeys to my doorstep, tossing wide the door when I imagined it had been bolted fast. Michael Kelly Bruce first suggested a quarter off to write, and then gallantly lived with the consequences. I have benefited directly from the conversations and encouragement of Karen Eliot, Melanie, Val, Natalie, Ellie and Esther Beth, among others. Kristin Horrigan taught like a lioness while I foraged around, nosing for footpaths through the thicket. Jim Cappelletti produced the amazing concert about which my students wrote; choreographers created and dancers danced; Art and artists were everywhere, in lighting and costumes, in sculpture and music. Without them, there would be nothing to discuss. Many more thanks go to the cast of dozens who played supporting roles of award- winning proportions: Dad and Suellen bestowed a month in an amazing writing womb. I could not have persevered without Chris and Summers and Jesse; Barb and Butch; Ron and Bobbi and Belinda; Jonathan and Andrea; Jenai, Leslie and Ron. Others stepped in at just the right moment with the exact provisions required, especially Jim Buckley, Mike Kaylor, Robbie Shaw, and Liz Waterhouse with timely technical wizardry. Kareen vii Balsam helped me render a far more appealing conceptual model than my impoverished graphic skills could produce, and in fifteen minutes Lillian Gray solved a problem that an entire OIT office could not solve. There were encouraging taps at the door from Karl with all-seeing eyes, from Paul, the bringer of books, and Erika, the carver of pumpkins. Mikey added support from the wings, and Tim, Jamie and Ann lit up my writerly dungeon as if it were a beach. In the end, there was even an episode of high adventure: a flooded office and a corps of eleventh hour angels, led by the amazing efforts of Sheila Marion and Seth Beale. I am privileged to belong within such a community of minds and hearts, and it is with a mixture of gratitude and wonder that your names are all here inscribed. viii VITA October 8, 1950……………………….Born, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA 1972…………………………………...B.A. Social and Behavioral Sciences Webster College, St. Louis, Missouri 1982…………………………………...M.A. Dance The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 1991 – 2000 …………………………..Lecturer, Department of Dance The Ohio State University 2000 – Present………………………..Visiting Assistant Professor Department of Dance, The Ohio State University PUBLICATIONS Research Publications: 1. M. Candace Feck. “In Miller’s World.” CD-ROM by Mockabee, Valarie, and Mila Parrish: Prey: An Innovation in Dance Documentation: Enhanced Process Based Instruction Companion for the Labanotation Score “Prey.” 2001 M Candace Feck. “Writing Down the Senses: Honing Perception through Writing about Dance.” Dancing in the Millennium International Joint Dance Conference Proceedings, July 2000, Washington DC. 2000. 168 – 174. M Candace Feck and Vera Maletic. “The Potential of CD-ROM Technology For Enhancing Art-Making Intelligence And Behavior.” 30th International Congress On Research in Dance Proceedings, Tucson, Arizona: November 1997. 159 – 175. ix Vera Maletic, A. William Smith, M. Candace Feck et al. Victoria Uris: Choreographer and Videographer, CD-ROM OSU-MDP (Ohio State University Multimedia Dance Prototype) 1996 FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: Art Education x TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT....................................................................................................................ii