ORAL HISTORIES: A TRADITIONAL CHOREOGRAPHIC APPROACH TO AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL THEMES NANCY GREYEYES A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF FINE ARTS GRADUATE PROGRAM IN DANCE YORK UNIVERSITY TORONTO, ONTARIO APRIL 2012 © NANCY GREYEYES 2012 Library and Archives Bibliotheque et Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-90007-9 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-90007-9 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non­ L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par I'lnternet, preter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans le loan, distrbute and sell theses monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non­ support microforme, papier, electronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. 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Canada Oral Histories: A Traditional Choreographic Approach to Autobiographical Themes By: Nancy Greyeyes A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies of York University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF FINE ARTS ©2012 Permission has been granted to the LIBRARY OF YORK UNIVERSITY to lend or sell copies of this thesis, to the NATIONAL LIBRARY OF CANADA to microfilm this thesis and to lend or sell copies of the film, and to UNIVERSITY MICROFILMS to publish an abstract of this thesis. The author reserves other publication rights, and neither the thesis nor extensive extracts from it may be printed or otherwise reproduced without the author's written permission. Abstract: This extended essay explores MFA thesis research by Nancy Greyeyes, titled "Oral Histories: A Traditional Choreographic Approach to Autobiographical Themes." It discusses the underpinnings of the author's choreography, and how personal experience infuses and mitigates her creative process. Further to the choreographic research, the essay investigates the extent to which dance can be a vehicle to express intimate, multi- layered realities of personal history. Explaining how her choreography adheres more closely to structures of traditionalism than to post-modern dance, the choreographer defines how music and narrative become the means by which an audience connects with her work. Use of autobiographical themes by three women artists (Kahlo, Sexton, Pada) is discussed; the choreographer also examines postdramatic theatre traits in a self-produced work. The creative processes of her three thesis choreographies are described in depth: a solo, Carriage; a self-produced work Miss(ing) Julie; and Valley of Coal, a sextet, for the proscenium stage. iv This thesis is dedicated to my daughters Eva and Lilia. v Acknowledgements I would like to thank my supervisor, Carol Anderson, for the numerous meetings and discussions we had together on this extended essay and her generous support throughout the entire thesis process. Many thanks to the MFA faculty, especially Darcey Callison, Holly Small, William Mackwood, and my supervisor Carol for continually challenging me to find deeper meaning in the work. Thank you also to my designers Peter McKinnon, William Mackwood, and James McKernan for offering their rich talent to my work. I am especially thankful to the dancers who greatly contributed to my research. The cast of Miss(ing) Julie: Alyssa Stevens, dance artist with Ballet Jorgen Canada, and the York Dance Ensemble students, Yvon Allard, Justine Comfort, Tracy Day, Jill Eisener, Anastasia Feigin, Cristina Greiner, Alison Keery, Nikolaos Markakis, and Megan Windeler brought endless energy and a fierce commitment to the work that proved not only to be creatively rewarding but immensely fun. I could not have hoped for better dancers than the artists that comprised my cast of Valley of Coal. Michael Caldwell, Louis Laberge-Cote, Luke Garwood, Ana Groppler, Michael Sean Marye, and Daniel McArthur contributed their immense skill, unique talents, and maturity to our process, which inspired and motivated me to create the work that I had always envisioned. Most of all, I would like to thank my husband and dramaturg, Michael Greyeyes, for the countless hours he spent listening to me speak and formulate ideas for this thesis. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract iv Dedication v Acknowledgements vi Table of Contents vii Chapter One: Introduction 1 Chapter Two: Methodology 3 "Traditional" versus "Post-modern" 3 Music Visualization 8 Narrative 12 Artists and Personal Experience 14 Postdramatic Theatre Traits 20 Chapter Three: Creative Process 24 Carriage 24 Miss(ing) Julie 31 Valley of Coal 37 Chapter Four: Research Outcomes 47 Chapter Five: Conclusion 50 Bibliography 51 Appendices 53 Appendix A: Images 53 Appendix B: Program Notes 61 Appendix C: Performance Text 68 Chapter One: Introduction Entering the MFA in Contemporary Choreography and Dance Dramaturgy at York University, the desire to choreograph autobiographical work drove my research. As a choreographer who develops work in a traditional manner, I was curious: to what extent can dance act as a vehicle to express the intimate and multi-layered realities of one's own history? My initial ideas developed as three thesis projects, an "I Am" solo, a self- produced work, and choreography created for the proscenium stage, that were rich with stories to explore through dance. Reliance on music and narrative, the backbone of my creative process, led me to discoveries about oral histories that I wished to convey through the abstract language of dance. I realized my approach to choreography, while not viewed as current or fashionable, comes naturally to me as a result of my training and professional dance career; I am a classicist working within a post-modern paradigm. A choreographic methodology that emerged from and was informed by classical ballet was organic to me because it has been the working model for my entire professional career. Although auto-ethnography is often sourced in the creative process of post-modern dance, my research was unique in that I was applying autobiographical material, using a modern choreographic method, framed by the language of classicism. To be specific, I choreographed to music on my own body and transferred those very precise movements and counts to the dancers. The music was central to the choreography and was equally as important to the dance as was the movement itself. Post-modern choreography usually privileges a more open methodology, based in improvisation and chance procedures. Questions related to this research resonated through all three processes. 1 Was there a place for autobiographical themes in a traditional approach to choreography? How did personal experience change this traditional way of working, and what did it reveal? How did this auto-ethnographic approach infuse and mitigate the process? Further questions that drove my research asked - what were the limitations to working in this manner, and what did I glean about my own process and the merits of classicism through the development of these autobiographical dances? How might my understanding of the term "traditional" change and evolve through my work? This thesis essay begins with a discussion of "traditional" versus "post-modern" approaches to choreography. I examine my use of music visualization and narrative as tools to connect an audience to my work. To broaden the context of my research, I consider painter Frida Kahlo, poet Anne Sexton, and choreographer Lata Pada, who use autobiographical themes as a means to create in their mediums, and discuss similarities my work has with these women artists. In addition, three postdramatic theatre traits, "irruption of the real", "musicalization", and "simultaneity", used in the creation of my self- produced work, are examined. Also included are accounts of creative processes for each of the three choreographic works created for my studio-based research. The first work, entitled Carriage, is a deeply personal solo danced by myself. The second, Miss(ing) Julie, explores alternative uses of space with student dancers. This work emerged from my recollections of working as a dancer at the Alberta Ballet in the late nineteen eighties. My