View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Helsingin yliopiston digitaalinen arkisto Altered Experience in Dance/Dancing Investigation into the Nature of Altered Experience in Dancing and Pedagogical Support Linda Gold 38 acta scenica Altered Experience in Dance/Dancing Investigation into the Nature of Altered Experience in Dancing and Pedagogical Support Linda Gold Altered Experience in Dance/Dancing - Investigation into the Nature of Altered Experience in Dancing and Pedagogical Support Doctoral dissertation Publisher Theatre Academy, Performing Arts Research Centre © Theatre Academy and Linda Gold Graphic design Hahmo Design Oy www.hahmo.fi Layout Edita Prima Oy Cover drawing Linda Gold Printed by Edita Prima Oy, Helsinki 2013 Paper Carta Integra 300 g / m2 & Cocoon offset 120 g / m2 Font family Filosofia. © Zuzana Licko. Acta Scenica 38 ISBN (paperback) 978-952-6670-19-5 ISBN (pdf): 978-952-6670-20-1 ISSN (paperback) 1238-5913 ISSN (pdf) 2242-6485 Table of Contents Acknowledgments 7 Abstract 9 Chapter 1: Researcher Stance, Prior Background, and Research Questions 11 Chapter 2: Literature Review 20 Chapter 3: Methodology and Dance Course Description 61 Chapter 4: Findings and Interpretations 106 Chapter 5: Conclusions and Recommendations 171 Bibliography 190 Appendices Appendix I 202 Appendix II 217 Dedication To my parents, who taught me by example to seek and value the truth, and to the remarkable teachers who have guided me on this path. Acknowledgments Many individuals and institutions were important to the realization of this disserta- tion. I gratefully acknowledge them all, and name those most notable to the project. I thank external examiner Associate Professor Susan Koff for her grasp of nu- anced concepts. Her guidance helped re-orient my writing and encouraged the de- velopment of new thoughts and directions. I thank external examiner Dr. Karen Bar- bour for her meticulous attention to detail and structure. Her suggestions helped me to reformulate this dissertation and make it more cohesive and expressive of the research. I thank advisor Professor Leena Rouhiainen for her sensitive insight and extensive knowledge, which she generously shared, and advisor Professor Emeritus Soili Hämäläinen for her unflagging support of my research process and her ability to find innovative solutions to whatever hurdles I encountered. Thanks also goes to Professor Esa Kirkkopelto for his vision and commitment to collegial research and for shepherding my work through administrative transi- tions, and to Annika Fredriksson, Research Coordinator, for her skillful manage- ment, and kindness in keeping me appraised of all logistical details and protocols. I want to thank the Theatre Academy, University of the Arts Helsinki, for the opportunity to undertake this research and explore a topic that I continue to find fascinating, and for providing the means to produce this research in its published form. I also want to acknowledge the faculty, librarians, and staff who I have had the benefit of working with. Their helpful knowledge and friendly assistance was always available. Thanks goes to Santa Monica College for the freedom in the classroom to develop and implement the teaching approach used in this investigation, and for the sabbat- icals that provided opportunities to expand my knowledge and initiate the writing of this dissertation. Further, I want to thank the students in the classroom investi- gation for their open and energetic participation. They were a pleasure to work with and I found their feedback stimulating and thought provoking. Great appreciation goes to Lynwood Lord for his careful copyediting of the written text, to John Samargis for his assistance in scanning graphic data and making it print ready, and to Tarja Lindroos for her expertise in the layout of this document. I want to thank my family and friends whose good counsel, good humor, and pa- tience throughout the many phases of this doctoral candidacy reinvigorated my ef- forts and kept me on track. And finally, I want to acknowledge the artists, scholars, teachers, and practitioners who encouraged my research and believed me a worthy exponent of the topic. Abstract This dissertation presents an exposition of the nature and qualities of altered ex- perience found in dance and dancing, and how the dimension of experience can be fostered in the pedagogical context of the modern dance class. Using a phenome- nological approach, this dissertation explores and interprets written responses and interview material gathered from students in a one-semester college course that applied an experiential teaching approach grounded in modern-postmodern dance and somatic practices. To clarify the nature of altered experience in dancing and interpret the empirical material, this research relies on notions from psychology and educational theory; phenomenology of dance, movement, and perception; and yogic philosophy—all of which contribute to a conception of the body as multi-di- mensional, energetic, and able to reveal aspects of an individual’s full potential. Dance professionals and researchers in other fields have described the merits of altered experience, but this dimension of experience is rarely included in dance training, and seldom investigated in dance research. This omission is relevant to students pursuing educational and career goals in dance, and to curricula intended to develop dance artists. This dissertation discusses how the phenomenon of altered experience can be in- vestigated in the classroom using a hermeneutic phenomenological research meth- odology. It demonstrates how subjective experience may be collected and analyzed using a reflective, dialogic, interpretive process, and how structural characteristics of experience emerge from a process of: collecting student narratives about their class experience; writing short summaries on significant points and creating key word groupings and categories based on line-by-line readings of the narratives; and comparing the categories with research findings from other fields, concepts of yogic subtle energy, and other students’ comments. These different perspec- tives reveal patterns of the nature and qualities of altered experience, illuminating issues of teaching/learning styles, class environment, discourse, and personal de- velopment. As this doctoral research draws from materials produced by dance ma- jors at Santa Monica College, Los Angeles, California, it provides a local perspec- tive on these issues. The many nuanced experiential qualities of altered experience described in this research indicate themes related to changes in perceptions of self and surroundings, which were often experienced as transformative or a realization of self-potential. The quality of students’ altered experiences ranged from tranquility to exhilaration, with many students expressing a desire to experience the state(s) again. Conversely, qualities of experience resulting from situations of anxiety, fear, or frustration were described as negative and unenjoyable. Although negative experience can motivate growth, in this research they more often diverted attention and created tensions. As presented in this dissertation, altered experience is essentially positive in na- ture, especially when related to the yogic conception of subtle/universal energy and phenomenological notion of unobstructed awareness of Being. In this dissertation, conditions that foster altered experience in the classroom include being in a safe atmosphere, which is largely dependent on teacher-student relations and group dynamics; being fully engaged in dancing with a receptive atti- tude; and participating in a body preparation that assists inner awareness, ease of motion, and energy flow (i.e., elements of somatic practices). Adverse conditions such as poor communication or frustrated expectations distract from engagement and receptivity and are not conducive to altered experience. Student discourse on altered experience in this dissertation is conversational and descriptive, using metaphoric language and drawings to express experience. Writ- ten and oral discourse is an effective tool to clarify and understand experience not usually discussed in class, and discourse with others builds bonds, supports learn- ing, and gives students a voice. Having a common language to point toward altered experience in class affirms and/or introduces this dimension of experience to stu- dents, and gives it a recognized place in their dance lives. Chapter 1: Researcher Stance, Prior Background, and Research Questions My interest in dance developed from exceptional moments I experienced when dancing, or on occasion, observing others dance. During these moments percep- tion of time and space seemed altered, awareness seemed expanded. I found such moments exhilarating and wanted to experience them again. They revealed new aspects of my potential, and I believed they were important to dance artistry and the theater experience. Although I found such moments in dancing, no one spoke of them during my dance training. Teachers may have been aware, but there was no time or structure in class for discussion, or a common language for these personal perceptions. Not discounting the variety of sensation or details interesting to different people in a class or rehearsal, the moments that intrigued me seemed special and important. They were distinctly different than my usual dance perceptions, yet I did not offer descriptions of these private moments,