Are you my boyfriend? exploring a choreographic narrative

This thesis investigates the choreographing of the dance "Are You My Boyfriend?" This work was performed on November 14 through 17 of 2001 at the Hayes/Christensen theatre in the Marriott Center for Dance on the University of Utah campus. This written component investigates my choreographic process in the development of this dance with particular focus on striving to satisfy my perceived imperative: to facilitate the creation of meaning for the audience. In the first chapter I explicate my perception of narrative as a point of tangency in human experience and my belief that a balance between familiarity and surprise is a key to enjoyment. Further, I discuss my opinions about the desirability of a return to narrative in the art form of Modern dance. In the second chapter I elaborate why I believe deliberate establishment of meaning for movement symbols by supplying context;ual clues in and around the choreography is a goal to be pursued. I discuss the role of context; as the primary site in which meaning is encoded for non-literal movement. In the third chapter I describe the aesthetic specifics and the choreographing of "Are You My Boyfriend?" In the fourth chapter I draw conclusions about the process and the dance. Throughout this thesis, I examine my motivation for choreographing this specific work and presenting it as a dance that is a thesis on the subjects of this paper.