Dumas, Russell (2014) Necessary incursions : rethinking the unstable body in dance. PhD thesis, Victoria University.

Abstract

Necessary Incursions explores the practice of dancing and the agency of the dancer in a choreographic elaboration of the unstable body. It seeks to contextualize, integrate and expand on three related arenas (technique, practice and theatrical presentation) and to throw light on the conditions that have led to the demise of choreographic practices in western concert dance during the past thirty years. As a theoretical enquiry articulated from the position of ‘an expert practitioner’ (Melrose 2005), Necessary Incursions will include reflections on my own artistic work written as a series of polemical texts. These texts seek to problematise domains of modern and postmodern dance practice through the re-contextualisation and analysis of personal narratives. Necessary Incursions will be realised in two parts: dance for the time being, which comprises a theatrical rendition to be presented in Dance Massive (March 2013) and Southern Exposure, which will consist of polemical texts that help situate the work and which have formed an integral part of the methodology. Southern Exposure will also articulate the underlying premises of the ongoing performance work dance for the time being and offer a number of contextual elaborations.

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