Theatre, Dance & Performance Studies Theses and Dissertations
Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2760
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Item Through the Distance(2009) Ibarguen, Vannia Paola; Bradley, Karen K; Dance; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)What is the impact of distance on people's lives? Vannia Ibarguen examines how the established relationships among people change with distance and how humanity has created virtual extensions to continue in communication. Vannia portrays life as a set of departures, journeys and arrivals while exploring concepts like migration, separation and the use of technology. The show includes remote multi location performances developed in collaboration with dancers from California, South America and Europe.Item Tie Shopping With My Father(2008) Iacono, Kathrine; Rosen, Meriam; Dance; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Tie Shopping with My Father is a five section dance thesis created to explore the sport of wrestling and how its influences on my life have affected my movement as a dancer. Researched for three years, the culmination of the project happened on September 25 and 26, 2008 and included five sections that explored loss, mannerisms of warm-up, relationships, biographical connection to the sport, and its spiritual implications. The results included a broadened sense of responsibility to provide honest, risk-taking art and a heightened knowledge of the sport of wrestling for the arts public.Item Where Colors Blend Into Sounds(2009) Kassabova, Tzveta; Rosen, Meriam; Dance; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Tzveta Kassabova creates an interactive environment for the audience, with dancers acting as guides through experiences of taste, touch and other sensations. The work plays with perceptions and shifting realities as it incorporates different approaches to scale and proximity. Corridors, entryways, and rooms are strung together, leading the audience into a maze of unexpected situations that are designed to evoke sensory memories and associations.Item Women's Work & Other Stories(2009) Foster, Angella Paulette; Rosen, Meriam; Dance; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Born and raised in the Kentucky, Angella Foster explores her kinship with the strong women who shaped the land and the character of her home state with their bare hands. Inspired by her grandma's stories of growing up the daughter of sharecroppers, Women's Work captures the rhythm of daily labor and explores the emotional landscape of an imagined community of women in rural Kentucky. The piece also features an original sound score composed and performed live by School of Music students.Item Nina Simone, Dance Theater, and The Shapes of Women(2009) Looney, Heather Lynn; Bradley, Karen; Dance; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Nina Simone, Dance Theater and the Shapes of Women contains the background, process, involvement and discoveries made during the creation and production of the dance work Morning of My Life. The issues of self value and the process of personal change dealt with in Morning of My Life are brought to light and openly detailed through movement description. This dance work developed from the unique experiences of the choreographer discovering an understanding of femininity through the music of Nina Simone. From an artistic stand point, the creation of this work examined how thoroughly dance communicates to general audiences connecting to art forms in a world of multimedia and sensory overload.Item No Real Place(2008-04-24) Guerrero, Marissa Danelia; Rosen, Meriam; Dance; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Abstract Title of Document: NO REAL PLACE Marissa D. Guerrero, MFA, 2008 Directed by: Professor Meriam Rosen, Department of Dance My thesis project explored a recurring dream and was based on the physical and metaphysical presentation of windows. The word "window" comes from the ancient term "wind eye", descriptive of the means that would allow a person to see the oncoming storm or the morning sunrise. Windows have revealed and peeled away different meanings. They separate living space from the elements of the outside world or different rooms within a building. Through my personal experience of a recurring dream, the window revealed a vision of a world within the dream. It could become a time frame or a desire for a different life. I explored these ideas through movement, personal stories, journaling, and use of props. All of these components resulted in a full evening length dance concert for seven dancers. The set design included three windows and sheer "window" curtains, which were designed by Stefan Gibson. No Real Place presented emotional themes in a dream world.Item Place(d)(2008-06-05) Chrisman, Ryan Nicole; Wiltz, Alcine; Dance; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)For a little girl who never went outside, who hated the outdoors, and who would not even consider getting dirty, I am astonished that my Masters Thesis was an evening length outdoor site-specific dance work where performers danced in a courtyard of mulch, hung from trees, and ran through audiences. This thesis chronicles my collaborative journey of making Place(d), an investigation of the relationship between that which exists in a place and that which is placed in a space. I will explore my collaborations with nine dancers, one sound composer, two musicians, a videographer, myself as a costume designer, and other service related personnel. I will also look at how placing sound and movement in the space constructed time, altered perception, and taught me about the beauty of an ensemble. Above all, place, both the literal and abstract idea, functions as the indicator for creation and analysis.Item Trapped(2007-05-06) Anderson, Wayland B; Bradley, Karen; Dance; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The full-length contemporary ballet Trapped used Igor Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring" to examine contemporary issues surrounding the life and brutal death of transgender teen Gwen Araujo. The new work premiered at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center Feb. 22nd and 23rd at 8:00 p.m. I was inspired by the airing of the Lifetime channel made-for-TV movie "A Girl Like Me: The Gwen Araujo Story." The movie was based on a true story. It told the story of a teen who was violently attacked and killed by three men. They killed her after learning that she was biologically male. After seeing the movie, I wanted to take the opportunity to hear and think about her story, and to share it with a new audience. The dance is supported by Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring. Trapped altered the well-known synopsis and merged it with Gwen's story. In both versions, a woman dies violently in the end and that is the common factor between the works. The cast of Trapped include 11 dancers from the University of Maryland. Each night the ensemble hosted a talk back with the National Community Engagement Campaign on the issues raised by the piece.Item Making Dance That Matters: Dancer, Choreographer, Community Organizer, Public Intellectual Liz Lerman(2004-04-27) Traiger, Lisa; Bradley, Karen; DanceWashington, D.C.-based choreographer and dancer Liz Lerman, a MacArthur Award recipient, has been making dances of consequence for 30 years. Her choreography, her writing and her public speaking tackle "big ideas" for the dance field and society at large. Lerman articulates those ideas as questions: "Who gets to dance? Where is the dance happening? What is it about? Why does it matter?" This thesis investigates how Lerman has used her expertise as a choreographer, dancer and spokesperson to propel herself and her ideas beyond the tightly knit field into the larger community as a public intellectual. A brief history and overview defines public intellectual, followed by an examination of Lerman's early life and influences. Finally, three thematic areas in Lerman's work -- personal narrative, Jewish content and community-based art -- are explored through the lens of three choreographic works: "New York City Winter" (1974), "The Good Jew?" (1991) and "Still Crossing" (1986).