https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/23084 2026-04-05T02:57:41Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/23731 Title: From Rudolf Laban to Rudolf Arnheim : searching for the language of movement Abstract: The purpose of this dissertation is to make a comparison between several of the theorists and researchers of the past century in both dance and visual arts but focusing on space. First, this research starts by explaining the theories of Rudolf von Laban (1879 – 1958), a master of movement, who theorized movement and explored its functions. Then there follows an explanation of the investigations of Rudolf Arnheim (1904 – 2007), a theorist and researcher in Gestalt theories and visual perception. This comparison is quite difficult because both researchers investigate different aspects related to the concept of space but even in that, both have some investigations within this field that are common to both of them. Later, all of the previously discussed information is compared with Valerie Preston-Dunlop, a researcher that reinvestigated Laban’s theories and gave them a different point of view rather more in a contemporary way that is adapted to what we understand about Laban’s theories. Finally, this research will end with the analysis of One Flat Thing, Reproduced (2002), a piece of William Forsythe (1949). The points in common of the four researches will make the analysis: Laban, Arnheim, Preston-Dunlop, and Forsythe. Description: B.DANCE STUD.(HONS) 2017-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/23535 Title: Intent, compatibility and function of the arts and higher education : encounter based thought in performing arts higher education Abstract: This dissertation analyses the intent, compatibility and function of the arts in the higher education system in the EU. The research focuses on Gilles Deleuze’s theory of ‘encounter-based’ thought as applied to the integration of arts in higher education. To encounter the unknown in thought as in creation (Deleuze 2014: 139) is, I propose, essential to dance and the performing arts. The historical underpinnings of the higher education system will be explored within the context of the arts and the socio economic implications of governmental intervention in the EU regarding the Bologna and Lisbon Processes. Thereafter, selected theories of thought and learning for creative expression will be discussed, specifically the theories of Jerome Bruner and juxtaposition, Combinatory Play theory, Bisociative theory and Graham Wallas’ stages of creativity. All will be evaluated with regards to their application and integration within the performing arts, using problem solving as a starting point for assimilating the arts into higher education. Two examples will be used to illustrate the applicability of encounter-based thought and the theories proposed: in the visual arts Ansel Adams and in dance choreography Wayne McGregor. Description: B.DANCE STUD.(HONS) 2017-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/23493 Title: ‘Why do you make dances?’: museums and other sites for interdisciplinary dance practice Abstract: This dissertation seeks to answer the question ‘Why do you make dances?’ in museums and other sites. The study seeks to illuminate how interdisciplinary and sitebased work can constitute dialogical artistic practice. I argue that performances in museums and gallery spaces seek to give audiences particular experiences that can alter their understandings of art and the use and purpose of these sites. Bringing dance out of the black box of a theatre and putting into an environment where visual arts dominate shift its interpretation. Through case studies of work by Trisha Brown, Boris Charmatz, and of my own performance work, I discuss how making dances in non-theatre spaces can initiate dialogues about the purpose and potentiality of dance, by giving not only visual experiences, but corporeal ones that linger within the bodies of audience members. To contextualise this work, I present a brief history of interdisciplinary sitebased art in the twentieth century in the US and Europe, and discuss the potential of such art works for enabling ‘reterritorialization’ of a site proposed by Deleuze and Guattari. I illuminate how such choreographies discussed in this dissertation both ‘deterritorialize’ sites and art forms, challenge concepts about their conventional use and re-inscribe them with various meanings by inviting the audience to engage with participatory performances. I conclude by suggesting that these artists’ purpose in making dance is often motivated by an interest in generating conversations about corporeal experience and art-making, that reaches beyond disciplinary fields. Description: B.DANCE STUD.(HONS) 2017-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/23483 Title: Industrialisation, urbanisation, and the technique of belly dance in the West Abstract: This study looks at various scholars’ and artists’ works in the oriental dance field, who wrote about orientalism and westernisation of the dance. The Egyptian folk form of Raqs Baladi is the style in focus compared to its theatrical sister-dance Raqs Sharqi. The aim of this dissertation is to draw out the importance of the authentic Baladi feeling, opposing theatricality. The history in Egypt and its development through colonialism since the eighteenth century is presented as contextual background. A theoretical section covering the rapid progression of the harem fantasy through industrialisation and urbanisation in today’s west follows, giving artists’ arguments about the essentiality of the Baladi feeling. The final ethnographical chapter draws out personal continuous experience with various samples related to the theoretical section. Through presentation of my first-hand theoretical and practical experience, this research shows that urbanisation, rather than technique, has affected the importance of Baladi feeling. Description: B.DANCE STUD.(HONS) 2017-01-01T00:00:00Z