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Reformulating Physical Disability in Dance Name: Eimir Mcgrath

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Reformulating Physical Disability in Dance Name: Eimir Mcgrath Title: Beyond integration: reformulating physical disability in dance Name: Eimir McGrath This is a digitised version of a dissertation submitted to the University of Bedfordshire. It is available to view only. This item is subject to copyright. BEYOND INTEGRATION: REFORMULATING PHYSICAL DISABILITY IN DANCE by EIMIR MCGRATH A thesis submitted to the University of Bedfordshire in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy July 2013 BEYOND INTEGRATION: REFORMULATING PHYSICAL DISABILITY IN DANCE BY EIMIR MCGRATH ABSTRACT Dance performance that is inclusive of dancers with differing corporealities has the potential to generate positive societal change with regard to perceptions of physical difference. Dance is a valuable site for exploring the placement of the physically disabled body in contemporary society, and for disrupting existing perceptions of disability as transgressive. This can come about through the embodied presence of both dancer and viewer, entering into a relationship grounded in intersubjectivity, without having to rely on symbolic signification. This thesis examines the placement of disabled bodies in dance performance from the intersecting perspectives of Critical Disability Studies, Performance Studies and Interpersonal Neurobiology in order to formulate a framework for theorizing perceptions of disability, the act of viewing dance and the impact of choreographic intent on viewers’ perceptions of physical difference. In the first section, the sociopolitical placing of disabled bodies in western society is interrogated and a historiological study of both disability identity and the emergence of integrated dance is critically analysed. The second section provides detailed analyses of three dance performances that are inclusive of dancers with physical disabilities: GIMP (2009), Heidi Latsky, Diagnosis of a Faun (2009) Tamar Rogoff, and water burns sun (2009) Petra Kuppers. Each represents a specific understanding of disability, creating an evolutionary framework for conceptualizing different perceptions of disabled bodies as either monstrous freak, heroic victim or corporeally diverse. The third section creates connections between new knowledge in interpersonal neurobiology and viewers' perceptions of disability that are activated through viewing dance performance, thus providing an understanding of the mechanisms of discrimination and marginalization of people who embody difference, as well as uncovering mechanisms that have the potential to be reparative. The application of neuroscientific knowledge to Performance Studies can be modulated and expanded by considering the interpersonal communicative dimension of dance performance that is inclusive of differing corporealities. A theoretical approach that encompasses the neuroscientific conceptualization of intersubjectivity in creating empathic attunement between viewer and dancer, can offer a means of understanding the innate potential of dance performance to bring about societal change. DECLARATION I declare that this is my own unaided work. It is being submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Bedfordshire. It has not been submitted before for any degree or examination in any other University. Name of candidate: Eimir McGrath Signature: Date: July 1st 2013 With thanks to: my supervisor Dr. Giannandrea Poesio for his generous and inspiring guidance, The Arts Council of Ireland for both the financial support and the confidence shown in this research, my family for their enduring encouragement, patience and love. LIST OF CONTENTS Chapter One: Introduction: Any Body Can Dance: Reformulating physical disability 1.1 Introduction 1 1.2 Dance and disability: points of departure 7 1.3 The legitimate dancing body - shifting the boundaries 11 1.4 Integrated dance: the birth of professional status 16 1.5 Axis and CandoCo: the early years 17 1.6 Professional status and choreographic intent 21 1.7 The 'victim art' problem 24 1.8 Integration/Disintegration 29 1.9 The way forward 30 Chapter Two: Contextualizing Disability and Dance 2.1 Methodological Considerations 35 2.2 Defining the terms 38 2.3 The Medical/Social divide 39 . 2.4 Defining disability 41 2.5 Defining dance 46 2.6 Dancing disability: the liminal space of performance 47 2.7 The creation of the sylph 56 2.8 Protecting 'high art' from the disabled body: the creation of 'victim art' 59 2.9 Intersubjectivity and dance performance 60 2.10 The performances 63 Chapter Three: GIMP: Confronting the Freak 3.1 Introduction 69 3.2 GIMP: I like the way you move: bodies and performance as freak show 70 3.3 Evolution of the monster 72 3.4 Carnival and grotesque realism in transgressive performance 78 3.5 From transgressive to transformative: the power of the liminal 84 3.6 Applying liminality to relationship 86 3.7 GIMP: the performance 87 3.8 We've been watching you: subverting the gaze 91 Chapter Four: Diagnosis of a Faun: the medicalization of disability 4.1 Introduction 103 4.2 Historical background 106 4.3 The performance 115 4.4 Rehabilitating the faun 119 4.5 Dancing the faun 123 4.6 Theorizing relationship: the medicalization of looking 127 Chapter Five: water burns sun: corporeal diversity and embodied practice 5.1 Introduction 135 5.2 Embodied presence and Screendance 140 5.3 water burns sun: the performance 143 5.4 Theorizing the interactive gaze 151 5.5 Creating bridges: from philosophy to neuroscience 156 Chapter Six: The dance of intersubjectivity: the social connectedness of the human brain. 6.1 Introduction 163 6.2 The 'Decade of the Brain' and the emergence of neuroscience 165 6.3 Discovering the self 174 6.4 The structure of the brain 177 6.5 Neurons 179 6.6 Mapping the brain 180 6.7 The social brain: the first relationship 185 6.8 The social brain: group interaction 188 6.9 Mirror neurons 194 6.10 Mirror neurons and changing minds 197 Chapter 7: Conclusion: beyond integration 7.1 Introduction 205 7.2 Following the path of interpersonal neurobiology 207 7.3 Drawing strands together 210 7.4 Following the evolutionary trail 212 7.5 Beyond integration 218 7.6 Final thoughts 220 References 223 Appendices Appendix A 237 Appendix B 243 Appendix C 249 Appendix D 255 Chapter One Introduction. Any Body Can Dance: Reformulating physical disability 1.1 Introduction It is an accepted view that dance provides a window into the very heart of any culture, highlighting the beliefs and perceptions that shape the everyday lives of people. Yet, dance provides also a means of critically evaluating and exploring the possibilities for change within that same culture. A dance performance can thus be understood both as an expression of societal values and as a vehicle for initiating change (Dale et al., 2007:107). These apparently contradictory roles of reinforcement and subversion make dance an intriguing site for exploring the placement of the physically disabled body in contemporary society, and for considering how existing perceptions of physical disability as transgressive can be disrupted through dance performance. In order to formulate how this disruption can take place, it is necessary to create a new understanding of how disability is ‘seen’ when located within the wider cultural framework as well as in the context of dance performance. This thesis draws primarily upon theories, discourses and tenets that are both central and cognate to the field of dance studies. Its narrative, however, is interwoven with references to disability studies and neuroscience – namely disciplines that inform and relate to the proposed hypothesis that dance performance can be used to change societal perceptions of disability. Such interdiciplinary references, moreover, will help contextualize the argument developed in support of this hypothesis. Living with physical disability in contemporary western society inherently means living within a system that discriminates against, and excludes to varying degrees all those whose bodies do not fit within the accepted notion of normative functioning (Wendell, 1996, 1 Garland Thomson, 1997, Snyder and Mitchell, 2006, Linton, 2007i). This is the lived reality of disability. What should be experienced as a shared interdependence and an acceptance of vulnerability between members of a community, becomes a disempowering experience with disability being perceived as the burdensome responsibility of a paternalistic mindset. This thesis explores the use of dance as one possible means of changing that mindset. The author’s own experience as a professional psychotherapist involved in providing emotional support to clients with physical disabilities, has provided invaluable in- depth as well as intimate knowledge of the difficulties encountered daily by these clients. Being also a ballet teacher and a Laban Community Dance practitioner, the author was able to complement and further the psychotherapist knowledge with a hands-on approach to the value of dance as a means of integrating marginalized groups. Using dance as a medium to enhance relationships and foster acceptance had proved very successful within both educational and therapeutic settings and reinforced the belief that dance performance could be a possible agent of change. As such, this belief played a key role in the formulation of the ensuing arguments. As it will be demonstrated, that particular use of the dance medium provides both a means of exploring the fundamental issues surrounding physical disability regarding embodied presence, while offering a means of addressing those issues,
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