| Description |
This thesis has become an intermingling conversation between two threads. On one hand, I write in-depth reflections concerning my creative work, Salad Days, completed in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a Master of Fine Arts in Modern Dance. At the same, this is a personal manifesto. I simply ask myself why I made the choices I did, bringing me from micro-decisions to macro-concepts. I begin with what actually happened, how I approached the presentation of people working through physical and spatial challenges. I give context to my choices of sound, offering the work a specific mood. I am brought to simplicity in the creator's initiative, and how the artist can work towards the possibility of connection, rather than expecting it. This commitment takes me into a discussion on the culture of covenant. Here, I discern what I mean when I use the term covenant, where this was realized in the dancing, and the implications of such commitment. I make a distinction that, because covenant is unconditional, it calls us to live in the space between question and answer, the tension of having ability to learn, but inability to know all. Finally, I will make connections to my past while taking into account Dr. Maria Montessori's theories on education and Dr. Stuart Brown's expertise in play. I take a brief look into the Hebrew Scriptures to reveal this ancient culture's impressions of humanity. This culmination recognizes the essence of work and the culture of covenant to be foundational elements of our nature, the nature of the child, and that this is the call of Salad Days. |
