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Master Thesis Document Schwartz Copyright by Ray Eliot Schwartz 2006 Exploring the Space Between: The Effect of Somatic Education on Agency and Ownership Within a Collaborative Dance-Making Process by Ray Eliot Schwartz, B.F.A., C.B.M.C.P. Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of The Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Fine Arts University of Texas at Austin May 2006 Exploring the Space Between: The Effect of Somatic Education on Agency and Ownership Within a Collaborative Dance-Making Process Approved by Supervising Committee: _____________________________ Kent DeSpain _____________________________ Jill Dolan _____________________________ David Justin ______________________________ Kristen Neff Acknowledgements I would like to thank my many dance colleagues and teachers. In particular: the faculty and students of the North Carolina School of the Arts 1984-1987, the faculty and students of Virginia Commonwealth University’s Department of Dance and Choreography 1987-1992, the faculty and students of The University of Texas at Austin 2003-2006, Martha Myers, Nancy Stark Smith, Mike Vargas, Donna Faye Burchfield, Laura Faure, Phillip Grosser, Rob Petres, Sardono Kusumo, Ramli Ibrahim, Liz Lerman, Lucas Hoving, Steve Paxton, Chris Aiken, Andrew Harwood, K.J. Holmes, Kathleen Hermesdorff, Sandy and Denny Sorenson, Deborah Thorpe, Sarah Gamblin, the members of Steve’s House Dance Collective, the Zen Monkey Project, them, and Sheep Army/Elsewhere Dance Theater. Their collective wisdom, as it has embedded itself in my body and being, has given me a lifetime of richness from which to claim my role as an artist. I would also like to thank the many teachers who have introduced and guided me into the world of somatic movement education: The faculty and students of the School for Body-Mind Centering 1995-2000, the teachers and students of the Movement Educators North Carolina Feldenkrais Professional Training 2003-present, Maryska Bigos, Glenna Batson, Daria Okugawa, Andrea Olsen, Helen Walkley, Annie Elliot, Martha Eddy, Sondra Fraleigh, Judith Sullivan, and Susan Ida Smith, Elizabeth Behnke, and Don Hanlon Johnson. Their intelligence, vision, and creative approach to movement and embodiment have formed the foundation of a perspective that continues to guide me forward in my professional and personal life. Each and every lesson they have so generously offered has made the difference between a life lived on automatic pilot and a life lived with the true awareness of grace. I owe a particular debt of gratitude to Rachel Murray and Roen Salinas, my colleagues in the inaugural class of the M.F.A. in Dance at the University of Texas at Austin. Delving into the unknown possibilities of a brand new graduate program together, and carrying each other all the way through has been one of the great joys of my life. I will always be grateful for the time we spent together. Also, Karen Patriarca, a true friend and mentor during my time in graduate school. Thank you, Karen, for everything. I wish to thank Lea Marshall for her editorial assistance and her friendship over the years. I also wish to give special thanks to my thesis committee: Kent DeSpain, Jill Dolan, David Justin, and Kristen Neff for their guidance and patience as I wrestled these ideas into form. My collaborators in “the narrows” were essential to this process. It truly does take a village: Alison Hart, Michel Scott, Lindsey Taylor, Nicole Whiteside, Matthew Young, Mike Vernusky, Sarah Mosher, Shannon Burnett, Lisa Laratta, Katy Hallee, Julia Duffy, Lindsay Eulenfeld, Erin Lane, Bevin Mraw, and Pamela Shahan. Thank you for helping make a dream a reality. To any and all I may have neglected to mention either by association or by name, please forgive me and know that you are in my heart. Thank you for touching my life and giving me a reason to be. Finally, I owe special thanks to my parents–Joel and Myrna Schwartz, for their unwavering support of my chosen profession and their unconditional love. It is my most sincere hope that the words on these pages do justice to the life you have given me and may reflect in some small way the values that you have instilled within me. Ray Eliot Schwartz May, 2006 v Exploring the Space Between: The Effect of Somatic Education on Agency and Ownership Within a Collaborative Dance-Making Process By Ray Eliot Schwartz, M.F.A. University of Texas at Austin, 2006 Supervisor: Kent DeSpain Somatic education values dialogue, respect for individual histories, and a sense of balance between body, mind, and spirit. Somatic education considers experience essential to learning, and it holds the student/client and the teacher/practitioner accountable to one another when co-constructing a learning process. When somatic education and dance making intersect, opportunities arise for reflecting on how a value system based in collaboration, dialogue, and shared ownership affects creative practice. By adopting a somatically-influenced model in my dance- making, I set the stage for exploring anarchic ideals within socio-constructivist art making practices. The research presented in this thesis articulates a somatically- influenced model within a dance-making process and its effects on agency, ownership, and collaborative potentials with one group of dancers. vi Table of Contents Acknowledgements………………………………………………..…...iv Abstract………………………………………………………………...vi Table of Contents………………………………………………..…….vii Introduction…….…………………………………..…………………...1 Background…………………………………………………………......7 Literature Review.……………………………………….………..…...14 How a Person’s History as a Student Informs His/Her Goals as a Teacher………………………………..……………………………….25 External Models, Somatically-Influenced Models, and the Effect on Agency, Ownership, and Collaboration in the Studio……………………………………………………………….....31 Soma: Beyond the Body……………………………………………...49 Conclusion………………………………………………………….....59 Works Cited/Bibliography………………………………………….....65 Appendix A: Works consulted for the creation of “the narrows”........67 Vita………………………………………………………...…….........68 vii Introduction As a creative artist I enjoy working inside a process where there is more than one voice. I wish to work in an environment where the creation of original works of dance and dance-theater are built through dialogue, experimentation, and collaboration. In order to foster this environment of collaboration, I find it important to cultivate a sense of ownership and agency within the people with whom I work. I have found that making use of a somatically-influenced model in my approach to creative process aids this. This paper has three goals: 1) To articulate the collaborative environment within which I wish to work. 2) To examine how I go about constructing such an environment. 3) To address the questions that arise from such an endeavor, i.e.: Who frames the work? How does a vision proceed? How do I create the work I wish to make without constantly having to reinforce my own authority? How do my assumptions about my own process hold up when placed in the context of the experience of my collaborators? What does this inquiry suggest as a next step for research? Dance is most often made from within a social context. By that, I mean that dances are made by people who work with other people. How groups of people come together, negotiate their interactions, and through relationship, construct their reality has an impact on the creative process. Of particular relevance to this thesis is the notion that various political models arise from these interactions. For example: 1 1) Dictatorships, in which one person sets the rules and holds the authority while others fall in line or suffer consequence. 2) Oligarchies, in which a small number of people share power and authority. 3) Democracies, where citizens vote in electoral contests to decide who among competing candidates will exercise authority in enacting the laws and regulations that will govern society. 4) Anarchism. Peter Kropotkin (1842-1921) defined anarchism in the following way: The name given to a principle or theory of life and conduct under which society is conceived without government - harmony in such a society being obtained, not by submission to law, or by obedience to any authority, but by free agreements concluded between various groups, territorial and professional, freely constituted for the sake of production and consumption, as also for the satisfaction of the infinite variety of the needs and aspirations of a civilized being. (918) Alexander Berkman articulated the nature of anarchism in terms of what it is not when he wrote: I must tell you, first of all, what anarchism is not. It is not bombs, disorder, or chaos. It is not robbery or murder. It is not a war of each against all. It is not a return to barbarianism or to the wild state of man. Anarchism is the very opposite of all that. (Chapter 1, Introduction) As a dance artist who choreographs original works of movement art, I seek to map how these political processes influence the creative process. While trained in traditional models of dance education and choreographic process that reflect elements of 2 dictatorships and oligarchies, my current interests tend towards democracy and anarchism. I am drawn to explore the notion of anarchism as a sort of evolved democracy in which individuals within a social group take responsibility for their own lives, make choices, and in the best of circumstances contribute collectively towards the greatest common good. In considering these goals I turn
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