| Description |
The questions posed in this research involve the physical socialization of the female body and how inhibitive socialization can be challenged. The female body in traditionally patriarchal societies has been socialized to take up less space than a male body, be focused on how the body appears instead of acts, and be inhibited from utilizing full physical capabilities when moving. I examine how the socialized body can be challenged through female friendships and creative spaces. For this research, I focused on dance as a creative and physical form that challenges the body. The dance space itself is a social space and dancers' bodies are constantly scrutinized by the audience, instructors, and the dancer herself. In shifting the focus for "successful" choreography from the gaze of the audience to the experience of the performer, the dance space becomes one of bodily autonomy and integrity, focused on action. In creating choreographic work for this research, I question what it means to utilize a feminist process when creating choreography. While the need to create a product may have created an imperfect feminist process, the creation of the product relied on knowledge from the performers' bodies and not from a hierarchical structure. In allowing the dancers to produce material from their bodily experiences, they were able to remove themselves from the implication that their bodies are not as worthy as their minds and recognize that their bodies hold just as much worth as their mental processes. The implication for this research is two-fold. First, social structures are constantly being questioned, just by allowing the female body to take up space and access complete physicality. In recognizing the importance of female relationships, we are socially validating the female bodily experience through those relationships. Second, the implications for the dance field are to continue to question feminist training in dance. What is the role of the choreographer? What is the role of the expert? How can creating dance be inclusive of all walks of life? Additionally, how do we, as choreographers, refrain from placing our bodily expectations, and potentially stereotypes, onto the bodies of our dancers? |
