Abstract
Dance is a place of belonging—to ourselves, to our homes, lands, peoples, cultures, music and so much more. Dance is in relation—embodying stories of communities and dreaming of shared future. Dance is an action—having the ability to enact change. In this thesis paper, I explore how our dancing bodies can create unique relationalities to each other and build sites of transformation. To situate dance as rooted in community, I propose four sites: the personal body, dance learning space, dance-making, and performance. Through these sites, I examine how dance creates belonging in our personal bodies, it adapts and shifts in response, and it opens pathways toward recognizing and honoring diverse bodies in shared dancing spaces. Dance spaces built on collective care and shared goals generate interconnected webs of relationality amongst diverse embodiments. I reference dance scholars, researchers, artists, and makers to share how dance is a collective action, that creates change and builds connectivity.
Advisor
Daniel Stark
Committee Member
Julie Kerr-Berry
Committee Member
Timothy Berry
Committee Member
Heather Hamilton
Committee Member
Yukina Sato
Date of Degree
2024
Language
english
Document Type
Thesis
Degree
Master of Fine Arts (MFA)
Program of Study
Dance
Department
Performing Arts
College
Arts and Humanities
Recommended Citation
Rajbhandari, Parisha. (2024). Dance as a Collective Action: Creating Relationships, Communities, and Change [Master’s thesis, Minnesota State University, Mankato]. Cornerstone: A Collection of Scholarly and Creative Works for Minnesota State University, Mankato. https://cornerstone.lib.mnsu.edu/etds/1479/
Creative Commons License
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