As technology becomes an ever present distraction in the lives of a society attached to iPhones and blackberries, I am increasingly curious about the ways that we can embrace these technologies to enhance both the dance learner and the dance audience experiences. When I entered graduate school at The University of Texas at Austin nearly 20 years after my undergraduate experience, I noticed a huge shift in the ways that students were experiencing education. I watched as my peers accessed Facebook on their laptops instead of taking notes in lectures, or texted under their desks hoping the professor would not notice. It was clear to me that technology had become a distraction and that I, who had never owned a cell phone or laptop, was not connected to this 21st century community of learners. At the same time I recognized that technology presented necessary advances in educational opportunities, as on line research replaced long nights at the library and a visit to Germany was no longer needed to view a Pina Bausch Concert live at Opernhaus Wuppertal.
As a dance educator and having worked within the public school education system, my interests drew me towards cognitive development and educational theories involving embodied cognition and kinesthetic learning. Although I was personally intrigued by student experiences through embodied learning strategies and the effect on the kinesthetic learner of the shift towards more technology driven practices, I wanted to focus my graduate experience on a choreographic process. I began an investigation of the fluid intersection between the physicality of live, embodied choreography and dance movement disembodied from live performers through digital technologies. My choreographer self was interested in experimenting with digital media and intermedia technology while my educator self was interested in the affect of technology on the student experience. My thesis culminated in performed research utilizing the programs DanceForms, Delicode, Isadora, Final Cut Pro, and the Microsoft Kinect while my written thesis focussed on the effects of disembodied, technology driven practices on my own experience as an embodied practitioner.
After completing my MFA, I immediately took a position as the director of a dance program in a Title 1 high school. Teachers at the high school were required to create daily lesson plans that utilized iPads which were given to students through a government funded initiative. I quickly began weaving technology in the curriculum by having students use the iPads to create dance videos exploring cultural identity and social issues. Students who were often times new to dance began moving in class while also learning 21st century skills. Student videos were shared through mediated social media websites with other students, teachers and administrators to advocate for the dance program and connect with a broader community. One class created their own website where students from across the globe could share videos exploring dance in similar ways. Our use of social media and digital editing technology became a way to advocate for dance in public school on a transmedia platform. I have shifted my focus now, as a lecturer in academia, towards writing about the successes that I found using technology in the classroom. Through conference workshops and publication, I share specific ways of using technology in the classroom to engage with students and share the work of underrepresented populations in a global dance community.
As I write about my pedagogy which is influenced by Pedagogy and Theatre of the Oppressed in conjuncture with technology integrated strategies, I also continue to explore the uses of intermedia technology in live and recorded performance. In 2012, I travelled to AZALA and ZAWP in northern Spain where I was invited to complete a two week dance residency. My work explored the concept of virtual versus corporeal travel. While in residence, I created site specific dance films using a GoPro camera that I shared via Dropbox with my music and media collaborator Taylor Kirk, who Skyped in from Texas for the final performance. Together we created an evening length piece that utilized a motion sensor in the Microsoft Kinect to manipulate video in live performance. In 2017 I returned to ZAWP to conduct a one month residency with 5 collaborators that culminated with two evening length performances at Garabia and three outdoor site specific performances at the Guggenheim in Bilbao. For this residency, 3 dancers explored previously made videos from my experiences in 2012 and then joined me in Spain with video projections designer Stephanie Busing and social media artist Emma Parkins. Building on the 2012 residency, we continued to work with live video manipulation but also used social media and live video feeds to share our dance experiences.
Technology creates a space for a wide variety of opportunities for community engagement. My experiences within this space span from creating on-line, how to dance videos at the turn of this century to creating transmedia projects that advocate for dance in public education today. I position myself as an innovator in and advocate for dance education, utilizing technology in unique ways based on my skill set and experience. I have found great successes using technology as a means to engage, connect, and create both in and outside of the classroom. As I continue to research and experiment with ways of utilizing these technologies, I hope to broaden the reach of dance and advocate for dance education in America while keeping pace with a 21st century world culture.
As a dance educator and having worked within the public school education system, my interests drew me towards cognitive development and educational theories involving embodied cognition and kinesthetic learning. Although I was personally intrigued by student experiences through embodied learning strategies and the effect on the kinesthetic learner of the shift towards more technology driven practices, I wanted to focus my graduate experience on a choreographic process. I began an investigation of the fluid intersection between the physicality of live, embodied choreography and dance movement disembodied from live performers through digital technologies. My choreographer self was interested in experimenting with digital media and intermedia technology while my educator self was interested in the affect of technology on the student experience. My thesis culminated in performed research utilizing the programs DanceForms, Delicode, Isadora, Final Cut Pro, and the Microsoft Kinect while my written thesis focussed on the effects of disembodied, technology driven practices on my own experience as an embodied practitioner.
After completing my MFA, I immediately took a position as the director of a dance program in a Title 1 high school. Teachers at the high school were required to create daily lesson plans that utilized iPads which were given to students through a government funded initiative. I quickly began weaving technology in the curriculum by having students use the iPads to create dance videos exploring cultural identity and social issues. Students who were often times new to dance began moving in class while also learning 21st century skills. Student videos were shared through mediated social media websites with other students, teachers and administrators to advocate for the dance program and connect with a broader community. One class created their own website where students from across the globe could share videos exploring dance in similar ways. Our use of social media and digital editing technology became a way to advocate for dance in public school on a transmedia platform. I have shifted my focus now, as a lecturer in academia, towards writing about the successes that I found using technology in the classroom. Through conference workshops and publication, I share specific ways of using technology in the classroom to engage with students and share the work of underrepresented populations in a global dance community.
As I write about my pedagogy which is influenced by Pedagogy and Theatre of the Oppressed in conjuncture with technology integrated strategies, I also continue to explore the uses of intermedia technology in live and recorded performance. In 2012, I travelled to AZALA and ZAWP in northern Spain where I was invited to complete a two week dance residency. My work explored the concept of virtual versus corporeal travel. While in residence, I created site specific dance films using a GoPro camera that I shared via Dropbox with my music and media collaborator Taylor Kirk, who Skyped in from Texas for the final performance. Together we created an evening length piece that utilized a motion sensor in the Microsoft Kinect to manipulate video in live performance. In 2017 I returned to ZAWP to conduct a one month residency with 5 collaborators that culminated with two evening length performances at Garabia and three outdoor site specific performances at the Guggenheim in Bilbao. For this residency, 3 dancers explored previously made videos from my experiences in 2012 and then joined me in Spain with video projections designer Stephanie Busing and social media artist Emma Parkins. Building on the 2012 residency, we continued to work with live video manipulation but also used social media and live video feeds to share our dance experiences.
Technology creates a space for a wide variety of opportunities for community engagement. My experiences within this space span from creating on-line, how to dance videos at the turn of this century to creating transmedia projects that advocate for dance in public education today. I position myself as an innovator in and advocate for dance education, utilizing technology in unique ways based on my skill set and experience. I have found great successes using technology as a means to engage, connect, and create both in and outside of the classroom. As I continue to research and experiment with ways of utilizing these technologies, I hope to broaden the reach of dance and advocate for dance education in America while keeping pace with a 21st century world culture.