https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/23083 Wed, 22 Apr 2026 09:11:04 GMT 2026-04-22T09:11:04Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/145574 Title: Stage expressiveness in romantic ballet : investigating how a dancer’s gestural vocabulary can contribute to a more authentic and emotional performance Abstract: This dissertation analyses how introducing each dancer’s personal expressiveness and gestural vocabulary, making room for individuality and diversity in interpretation, influences romantic ballet performance by allowing dancers to showcase authenticity, which can lead to a more emotional performance. The paper also analyses the way nonverbal communication is perceived by the artists on stage, as well as audience, and how can that offer insights about the current pantomime used in ballet performances. Moreover, it is questioning whether dancers could express themselves more freely on stage if the choreographed gestures would be eliminated from ballet. The aim of this research is to discover whether ballet performances could become more meaningful by changing the approach on ballet pantomime and the dancers’ training. This study contains insights on the connection between gestures and the psychology behind them. It analyses the link between the details of nonverbal communication and how the brain perceives it and creates emotional responses to it. Another important aspect presented is the introduction of actor training techniques into the dancers’ training which, alongside to the analysis coming from psychology, would detect if that results into a more emotional response in terms of expression. Therefore, half of the practical research was concentrated on exposing ballet dancers to techniques that help the performer connect to their characters, access emotions easier and help them connect to and actively respond to a partner, inspired by the Rasaboxes exercises and the Orazio Costa Mimic Method. In order to collect data, I created and analysed the results of an online survey about original ballet pantomime in comparison to the reconstructed pantomime created during the practical research inspired by actor training. Furthermore, by reconstructing a scene from the ballet Giselle, as well as choreographing a short piece that followed the structure of a ballet performance, valuable data was registered about how gestural vocabulary affects performance, from both the performers point of view as well as the audience’s. This research is of great significance as it promotes the revision of ballet pantomime, as well as the introduction of acting for dancers as part of dance schools’ curriculum. Moreover, it underlines that important parts of a dancer’s training are neglected that should be more worked upon. Description: M.A.(Melit.) Wed, 01 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/145574 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/132106 Title: The Cecchetti legacy : a critical analysis of the Cecchetti method manuals Abstract: This research brings to light the contents of the manuals which were originally written with the purpose of propagating maestro Enrico Cecchetti’s Method of training. An essential part of this process led to investigate two manuals, A Manual of the Theory and Practice of Classical Theatrical Dancing Classical Ballet, Cecchetti Method (1922) written by Cyril Beaumont, and Classical Dance A Complete Manual Of The Cecchetti Method Volume 1 (1997), Volume 2 (1998) & Volume 3 (2022), written by Grazioso Cecchetti, and edited by Flavia Pappacena. Other books written about the method, the authors of the two manuals, and the circumstances that influenced their personal lives, were also researched to assess how this impacted their work. After evaluating the two manuals, it was important to establish whether they contained the foundations of the system of training E. Cecchetti so strongly believed in, and on which he based his method. The research, amidst the rich vocabulary contained in G. Cecchetti’s manual, hoped to retrieve some more of the maestro's work. E. Cecchetti established a template of a versatile weekly class plan and adapted it to the needs of his dancers, the evidence of further work created by E. Cecchetti and recorded by his son G. Cecchetti in his manual analysed throughout this research, suggests that if E. Cecchetti were still teaching today, he would probably still apply this systematic cycle in his work. This research endeavours to understand whether or not the founding principles necessary for the training of dancers discussed in the two manuals have remained unchanged, or perhaps continue to take on a different form. It also aims to determine if they are truly timeless and whether they are still relevant to training systems today. Description: M.A.(Melit.) Wed, 01 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/132106 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/113322 Title: Questioning the ideal female dancer body : past to present, east to west, folk to contemporary Abstract: This dissertation is about an issue that affects both women dancers and non-dancers: the yearning for the ideal body, a product of the patriarchal system that moulds and exercises power over women. Particularly for the case of the female dancer: is the body and its aesthetics or the artist as a human being more important for this profession and their audience? To investigate this topic further, I use feminist theories and philosophers that unpack notions of power and surveillance. I explore this issue in the context of the United States and Western Europe in comparison to the Eastern and Central European area and its dance life, from the twentieth-century perspective up to the 1980s. Based on my experiences growing up in Hungary, I will examine if the body ideals passed down in both folk dance and contemporary dance genres in Hungary are still relevant or discriminatory today through the examination of two performances. Description: B. Dance St.(Hons)(Melit.) Sun, 01 Jan 2023 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/113322 2023-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/113321 Title: A case study on the minority group of Maltese male dancers Abstract: This case study delves into the experience of Maltese male dancers as a minority group, as an analysis and reflection of the construction and choreography of masculinity within Western theatre dance in the context of the Maltese Islands. A thorough review of statistical research on the percentage of male participation in dance education by the National Statistics Office of Malta contextualises the need for this study. Qualitative research is opted for as the methodology to obtain insight on Maltese male dancers' educational and professional dance experiences. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with four Maltese men who identify themselves as trained, studying or professional dancers. Significant themes within the findings are analysed and discussed alongside academic literature on men in dance. Similarly to findings of international research, Maltese male dancers experience marginalisation and negotiate their masculine identities accordingly, although they are also shown support from various persons and organisations. While the number of Maltese male dancers remains comparatively low to female dancers, it is increasing with time. Description: B. Dance St.(Hons)(Melit.) Sun, 01 Jan 2023 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/113321 2023-01-01T00:00:00Z