https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/47741 2026-07-01T15:51:45Z 2026-07-01T15:51:45Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/51544 2020-04-27T09:56:17Z 2019-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Improving the quality of life for both the person with Parkinson’s and the caregiver : the contribution of movement as an artistic and expressive medium Abstract: The last decade has seen a significant increase in research into the therapeutic effect dance has on people with Parkinson’s disease. On the basis of evidence provided by healthcare practitioners, dance scholars, neurologists, and psychotherapists, it is now recognised that creative and expressive movement has a beneficial effect on both people with Parkinson’s disease and their caregivers. The aim of this Practice as Research project was to establish and explore the specific ways in which artistic and expressive movement can improve the quality of life for people with Parkinson’s disease and their caregivers. The intervention took place over a period of twelve weeks and involved twice-weekly one-and-a-half-hour artistic and expressive movement classes focusing on both categories of participants. Due to the progression of the disease, caring for a Parkinson’s sufferer typically becomes increasingly straining in emotional and physical terms. Moreover, the diagnosis of the disease does not only change the life of the sufferer, but it also changes the dynamics in the whole family, especially considering the fact that a spouse or family member often becomes the informal caregiver. The existing literature on the subject clearly shows that there is generally not enough support for this role. A methodology was thus formulated and employed to allow the person with Parkinson’s disease and their caregiver to take part in dance movement classes together. It quickly emerged that in addition to the physical benefits this had for the person with Parkinson’s disease, there was also a positive psychological impact on the participating caregivers. The intervention gave both categories of participants the opportunity to access a safe space in which they could move and express themselves, and this in turn tended to significantly strengthen the connection between the two. Description: M.A.DANCE STUD.

2019-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/48464 2020-04-27T09:52:35Z 2019-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: The cost of perfectionism : an analysis of the use of stimulant drugs among professional dancers Abstract: This dissertation explores the use of performance-enhancing drugs among professional dancers, emphasizes their perfectionist attitudes, and evaluates the potential relation between these two elements. The research seeks to define perfectionism in relation to dance practice from a psychological perspective. It looks closely at the features of perfectionistic tendencies and discusses in further details their consequences in the dance context. It also evaluates the indicative factors for professional dancers’ drug consumption and investigates performance-enhancing drugs that commonly appear to be used among professional dancers. The study shows that elite dancers are often perfectionists, and how the consequences of these tendencies affect their career in a negative way. The study emphasizes that the pursuit of perfection, especially among professional dancers carries the potential of provoking the use of different types of performance-enhancing drugs. The research concludes that there is a paucity of research about the appearance of drug abuse in the dance domain, therefore it cannot be proved completely that professional dancers consume drugs in order to enhance their performance. However, in this case the collected data shows evidence that support this statement. Description: B.DANCE STUD.(HONS)

2019-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/47901 2020-04-27T09:49:54Z 2019-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Reading Crystal Pite’s 'Dark Matters' as a text : is the author dead? Abstract: This dissertation discusses the role of the spectator in contemporary dance performance interpretation. In order to address this topic, intertextuality is used as a theoretical framework following Janet Adshead’s intertextual approach to dance analysis (1999). Accordingly, in this research, dance is considered as ‘text’, with the spectator being the ‘reader’ of the dance-text. In order to apply intertextual principles from literary theory to dance interpretation, Crystal Pite’s Dark Matters (2009) is understood and analysed as a dance-text. The textual models for dance analysis proposed by Marco de Marinis (1993), Pauline Hodgens (1988), and Janet Adshead (1988) are combined to provide an intertextual reading of the piece. The study of the piece is followed by a meta-analysis of the process of interpretation to discuss the role of the choreographer-author and the spectator-reader in the construction of meaning in Dark Matters. The study concludes that although the birth of the spectator-reader has been understood to happen at the expense of the death of the choreographer-author as announced by Roland Barthes (1967), in this study they seem to be both alive still. Both choreographer-author and spectator reader share an active role in the construction of meaning and in the act of interpreting a dance-text. The dissertation proposes that they engage in this process of meaning construction by freely selecting references from an infinite net of possible intertexts as much as activating the levels of textual analysis that their interpretation requires. Description: B.DANCE STUD.(HONS)

2019-01-01T00:00:00Z