https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/100705 Sun, 19 Apr 2026 17:56:40 GMT 2026-04-19T17:56:40Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/102081 Title: The choreographic process as an ecological environment : study of embedded and extended cognition Abstract: This research’s aim was to study the relationship between the mind and the environment in a choreographic process to gain a deeper understanding of their relationship. This was coupled with the desire to shift the paradigm, where dance/choreography is not always given enough of a platform in studies of cognition/mind and environment, particularly from the theory of 4E cognition. The main research question, where does the [mind] choreographic process end and the world begin?, was a retranslation of a question posed by philosopher Alva Noë: From this perspective the research was position as being ecological, that the individual and the world are in relation to one another. In this consideration the research question was broken down further into four separate questions through the application of vertigo zoom. The four questions were as follows: • Where does the choreographic process end, and does the world begin? (Shifted to situate ecologically) • What is the ecological relation between a choreographic process and the world? (Shifted to situate within 4E cognition of embedded and extended cognition) • How does an agent perceive in an ecological choreographic environment when engaged in embedded and extended cognition? (Shifted to situate with perception-action and affordances in embedded and extended) • How to approach a choreographic process as an ecological environment, through a study of embedded and extended cognition? (Investigated across four artistic processes) The research positioned itself where physical, social, and cultural aspects of the environment inform the process and tools and technologies contribute to cognition. An individual accesses this information from the position of James Gibson’s theory of affordances, or that there are opportunities in the environment that afford action. The study was conducted through a three-pronged methodological framework of theoretical paper, choreographic practice, and the model for dynamic systems theory The practice was carried out as a project that consisted of four different environments: a self-practice, a workshop with University of Malta Bachelor students, an embedding of the research into an interdisciplinary multi-media installation And Then There Was Quiet, and a study on how the camera shapes perception and offers another way to study affordances. The synthesis and analysis of the project was embedded alongside the model for dynamic systems theory, which accounts for a triangulation of individual, task, and environment that yields a behaviour or performance that is contingent upon the particular individual involved, various elements in the particular environment, and accounts for multiple timescales. The research introduced the element of (re)orientation or as how this defined it as: the ability to see what you are not seeing, with the acknowledgement if you are perceiving from where you are(currently) or where you came from(past). (Re)orientation shared similarities with another emerging element that when a process is in relation or ecological, it means that there is fluctuation and constant shifting due to the constraints and opportunities that exist during a particular time and space with a specific agent(s) and environment. The research also contributed to the discussion of the relation to objects and technology by positioning this relation as one of cohabitation. In cohabitation objects and technologies are not only tools for cognition but can exist as entities themselves and aide in communication in a choreographic process. The researched, as a whole, offered a co-terminological approach to merging a choreographic process with theories of the mind and environment. Description: M.A.(Melit.) Sat, 01 Jan 2022 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/102081 2022-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/100953 Title: The experience of the participants of a durational dance research Abstract: This dissertation addresses questions regarding the experience both performer and audience may gain from participating in a durational performance. The embodied knowledge that the dissertation introduces was collected during a two-week-long studio research in early 2022. The project was supported by the Nulladik Lépés Programme (Step Zero – translation from Hungarian) of Sín Arts Centre in Budapest, Hungary. My research partner was Molnár Dávid Márk in the studio whose role consisted of witnessing my durational improvisations and giving insight into his experience as the witness. We observed both the performer’s and the audience’s experience in relation to the particular context of durational performance, however, our collected data is rather subjective and mainly only speaks for our experience. Hence, I did not aim to conclude the studio research to generalised ideas about durational works, instead, this dissertation documents the process of our studio practice and introduces our main research findings. The whole study draws on the ideas of French philosopher Henri Bergson regarding time and duration. This theoretical framework stood as the starting point of the practical research, which as it evolved it began to take the shape of an embodied research. The discussion also looks into our particular method of gaining embodied knowledge. As the studio research included two participants – me as the performer and Márk as the audience member – we researched duration in a one-to-one performance format. The methodology of the research hence merges ideas connected to one-to-one performances, embodied research, and performance art. The central aim of the dissertation is to unfold the subjective perspectives of both Márk and I about the unique experience of durational dance. An insight that we could only access through the extension of time. We merge the perspective of the performer and the audience in order to point at the commonalities in the unique experience that the format of durational dance performance can provide. The dissertation arrives at the research findings by observing specific aspects of the studio research that are, although not closely related to duration, still greatly affected our experience of time during the studio sessions. These are the way the presence of the witness affects the journey of the mover, the natural ups and downs in interest and focus for both performer and audience, the intimacy that the one-to-one format creates, and our particular approach to productivity in performing arts compared to what society dictates. Description: B. Dance St.(Hons)(Melit.) Sat, 01 Jan 2022 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/100953 2022-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/100940 Title: Movement scores : creative language as a means of inspiring dance improvisation Abstract: This dissertation project investigates how the creative use of written and verbal language can impact and inspire the dance improvisation of experienced performers. The project sheds light on the expressive features of both dance and language, and investigates how these forms of communication can become intertwined through the use of written movement scores. By working with movement scores that utilise different modes of language, the research investigates how verbally conveyed information becomes an altered form of expression in movement. Amongst other interests, the research also examines how the performers’ intellectual understanding of a certain text and their motivation to move are correlated in the context of dance improvisation. Description: B. Dance St.(Hons)(Melit.) Sat, 01 Jan 2022 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/100940 2022-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/100939 Title: Discussion on the topics of audience, education and national funding system that influence the development of contemporary dance in Italy Abstract: This dissertation examines the development of contemporary dance within Italy. For the purpose of this study, with “contemporary dance” is intended all those dance works and practices that explore a non-traditional movement vocabulary through experimentation, with the aim to widen movement boundaries between different dance styles (Kwan, 2017). It defers from modern dance as this one presents a more defined movement vocabulary, through dance techniques like Graham, Humphrey, Horton, Cunningham etc. (Kwan, 2017). The aim of this research is to present and discuss the issues regarding the involvement of the audience in contemporary dance practices and performances, the contemporary dance education and the Italian funding system for the performing arts, that might be slowing down the development of this art form within the country. It is important to clarify that contemporary dance struggles in stabilising itself within the performing arts system as a recognised art form not only in Italy, but in many countries around Europe. Nevertheless, this study wants to focus primarily on the Italian situation, as it was not found any other study that addressed the topic discussing the above-mentioned matters. Moreover, the word “slow “is used throughout the study in regards to the development of contemporary dance in Italy but there is no official study assuring that contemporary dance is truly seeing a slow development within the country. The choice of the word “slow” comes solely from a personal perception on the pace of development of contemporary dance in Italy. Based on this perception, this study will try to investigate if contemporary dance in Italy is truly developing at a slow pace by employing a qualitative method. Description: B. Dance St.(Hons)(Melit.) Sat, 01 Jan 2022 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/100939 2022-01-01T00:00:00Z