title: Environmental and site dance in Aotearoa New Zealand: Tracing the legacy of Alison East

authors: Barbour, Karen

subjects: Dance

abstract: Tracing lineages of dance practice and research has provided much insight into the growth of dance internationally. The focus of this paper is to extend the identification of lineages in environmental and site dance research in Aotearoa New Zealand, and particularly to consider the ways in which dance artist Alison East and her students have acted to embody relationships with land. This consideration of relationships with environment, site and land through dance weaves interdisciplinary understandings of deep ecology and environmentalism with somatic pedagogies and phenomenological research in ‘the-more-than-human’ world. In tracing a lineage from Alison East, I share my own embodied experiences of this socio-cultural context through an autoethnographic methodological approach. This methodology integrates empirical evidence collected as a member of the dance community, with embodied lived experience and research literature. In tracing lineages in environmental and site dance practice, I consider the work of Origins Dance Theatre and evolving practices that develop relationships with land. In this tracing I aim to contribute to documentation and discussion of dance history in Aotearoa, to honour Alison East’s legacy and to share insights into living in dance in relationship with this land.

text: Environmental and site dance in Aotearoa New Zealand: Tracing the legacy of Alison East Tracing lineages of dance practice and research has provided much insight into the growth of dance internationally. The focus of this paper is to extend the identification of lineages in environmental and site dance research in Aotearoa New Zealand, and particularly to consider the ways in which dance artist Alison East and her students have acted to embody relationships with land. This consideration of relationships with environment, site and land through dance weaves interdisciplinary understandings of deep ecology and environmentalism with somatic pedagogies and phenomenological research in ‘the-more-than-human’ world. In tracing a lineage from Alison East, I share my own embodied experiences of this socio-cultural context through an autoethnographic methodological approach. This methodology integrates empirical evidence collected as a member of the dance community, with embodied lived experience and research literature. In tracing lineages in environmental and site dance practice, I consider the work of Origins Dance Theatre and evolving practices that develop relationships with land. In this tracing I aim to contribute to documentation and discussion of dance history in Aotearoa, to honour Alison East’s legacy and to share insights into living in dance in relationship with this land.

year: 2020

title: A composer-teacher in context: Music for the performing arts faculty in a New Zealand secondary school

authors: Jennings, Janet

subjects: composer-teacher

abstract: This thesis examines the processes and outcomes of a composer-teacher's practice in the context of a New Zealand secondary school.  The research was undertaken by the composer-teacher/researcher as a case study that integrates an investigation of the context with four action research music composition projects developed as a creative response to that context.

Chapters One to Three comprise the background theory.  Chapter One provides an introduction and overview of the research; Chapter Two explains and justifies the research methods.  Chapter Three peels away and examines five layers of the secondary school context identified as significant in shaping the perceptions of the participants: approaching the context in a multi-layered way enabled coherent synthesis and appraisal of the relevant literature.  

Chapters Four to Seven comprise the four action research music composition projects.  Each action research project focuses on a music score composed by the composer-teacher/researcher for a specific group of students at Macleans College, Auckland.  The composition, production, and performance processes are investigated from the perspectives of all the participants.  Each music project comprises a four part progression - plan (composition process), data (music score), data analysis (recordings of performances, surveys, and interviews with all participants) and reflection (feedback, and feedforward into the next project). 

Each phase of the research generated significant outcomes, such as the four original music scores.  Chapter Eight summarizes the themes, issues, and patterns that emerged, and makes recommendations for further research.  

A model of co-constructive practice emerges from this research: teacher and students co-construct artistic worlds through performance.  The model is not new (it is common practice, adopted by generations of musician-teachers) but is rarely acknowledged and currently un-researched.  This research demonstrates the validity of the practice from both musical, and teaching and learning perspectives, and examines the strengths and limitations of the model.  At its best, the creative processes co-constructed by a teacher with her students are shown to provide a crucible within which intense and creative learning experiences occur.  Students of all levels of ability are shown to gain confidence in this context, and subsequently develop skills with apparent ease.  The co-constructive model is limited in that it cannot meet the musical needs of all students: co-construction should be considered as one model of practice, appropriate for use in association with many others.

This research provides 'virtual access' to a particular world of performance practice, revealing the secondary school context as a realm of authentic and valid musical practice.

text: A composer-teacher in context: Music for the performing arts faculty in a New Zealand secondary school This thesis examines the processes and outcomes of a composer-teacher's practice in the context of a New Zealand secondary school.  The research was undertaken by the composer-teacher/researcher as a case study that integrates an investigation of the context with four action research music composition projects developed as a creative response to that context.

Chapters One to Three comprise the background theory.  Chapter One provides an introduction and overview of the research; Chapter Two explains and justifies the research methods.  Chapter Three peels away and examines five layers of the secondary school context identified as significant in shaping the perceptions of the participants: approaching the context in a multi-layered way enabled coherent synthesis and appraisal of the relevant literature.  

Chapters Four to Seven comprise the four action research music composition projects.  Each action research project focuses on a music score composed by the composer-teacher/researcher for a specific group of students at Macleans College, Auckland.  The composition, production, and performance processes are investigated from the perspectives of all the participants.  Each music project comprises a four part progression - plan (composition process), data (music score), data analysis (recordings of performances, surveys, and interviews with all participants) and reflection (feedback, and feedforward into the next project). 

Each phase of the research generated significant outcomes, such as the four original music scores.  Chapter Eight summarizes the themes, issues, and patterns that emerged, and makes recommendations for further research.  

A model of co-constructive practice emerges from this research: teacher and students co-construct artistic worlds through performance.  The model is not new (it is common practice, adopted by generations of musician-teachers) but is rarely acknowledged and currently un-researched.  This research demonstrates the validity of the practice from both musical, and teaching and learning perspectives, and examines the strengths and limitations of the model.  At its best, the creative processes co-constructed by a teacher with her students are shown to provide a crucible within which intense and creative learning experiences occur.  Students of all levels of ability are shown to gain confidence in this context, and subsequently develop skills with apparent ease.  The co-constructive model is limited in that it cannot meet the musical needs of all students: co-construction should be considered as one model of practice, appropriate for use in association with many others.

This research provides 'virtual access' to a particular world of performance practice, revealing the secondary school context as a realm of authentic and valid musical practice.

year: 2008

title: Rangatahi and complex entanglements of sexuality, sexuality education and secondary school: A material-discursive exploration

authors: Chalmers, Jade

subjects: Rangatahi,sexuality,sexuality education,New materialisms,feminist poststructuralist,matter,discourse,ethico-onto-epistemology,secondary school,colonisation,diffraction,posthuman,postqualitative,entanglements,becoming,indigenous theorising

abstract: This research is an exploration with rangatahi (young Māori), of complex materially-discursive webs of sexuality education, sexuality, and secondary school education in Aotearoa. These research areas have commonly produced unfavourable outcomes, which include disparity statistics and other findings that position Māori as ‘cultural’ or ‘in need’ (Cooper, 2012; Green, 2011; Le Grice, 2014). To produce something different, in this work I engaged with concepts from the theoretical fields of Māori Indigenous Theories, Feminist Poststructuralisms, and New Feminist Materialisms to develop a framework for exploration.  Nine rangatahi participated in small hui (meetings) and individual interviews, focused on the areas of sexuality education, other sexuality topics, and experiences of secondary schooling. Transcripts from these meetings became part of the ‘data’. The approach to the analysis, termed Moving Through Entanglements, was informed by the whakaaro method (Mika & Southey, 2018) and diffractive approaches (Barad, 2007; Davies, 2014a, 2014b). The analysis explored a number of entanglements, using transcripts, theories, concepts, matter, experiences, colonisation, sensations, utterances and beyond (Davies, 2014c; Jackson & Mazzei, 2011). I did not attempt to produce ‘evidence’ or propose findings or truths about the ‘situation’ for rangatahi; instead I considered these well-worn research areas in different ways, honing in on ‘hot spots’ in entanglements (Taylor, 2013).
At the heart of this research are the lives of rangatahi. This research listened to and privileged their experiences in the materially-discursive webs of sexuality education, sexuality and secondary education, with the aim of contributing to further positive transformation in these areas (Allen, 2015b). The analysis suggested that confronting ‘gaps’ in what rangatahi learn in sexuality education and what they experience beyond the classroom remained. The contrast between the mundane topics or the “same old shit” (in the words of one participant) taught in sexuality education, which rangatahi recalled, and the complexities of two important and complex hot spots (Tayor, 2013) – ‘tap and gap’ and ‘relationship goals’ – demonstrated this gap. A need remains for sexuality education to be more connected with young people’s lives (Allen, 2001, 2005a, 2005b; Young, 2002). Other issues that became important included hickeys, hair and skin, the school stage, big bodies and health, boys’ breasts, and clothing. A material-discursive exploration of these topics was central to the analysis; this research has demonstrated their under-acknowledged importance in the daily existence of rangatahi, which should continue to be explored. Colonisation remained a lingering presence (Le Grice, 2018), and instances rangatahi shared highlighted not only this, but also their critical awareness of its functioning.
An innovative approach is the posthuman methodology experimented with in this research. As outlined above, this research was guided by a theoretical framework built with ideas borrowed from three philosophical fields. I applied a method of analysis that attempted to move beyond normative modes of qualitative analysis, unsettling dominant anthropocentric ways of doing research.  Taking this position, among other things, meant that the entanglements I worked through were materially-discursive. Thus, this research posits that non-human or more-than-human participants are active in the daily becomings of rangatahi, and their influence in shaping daily experiences for rangatahi and should not be overlooked in future research (Bennett, 2010). The ethical crises of the present mean that an ethical imperative to do things differently in every facet of our existence is needed now more than ever (St. Pierre, Mazzei & Jackson, 2016). Perhaps a change in the way research is conducted is one key approach to a fruitful and sustainable future for humans and non-humans alike.

text: Rangatahi and complex entanglements of sexuality, sexuality education and secondary school: A material-discursive exploration This research is an exploration with rangatahi (young Māori), of complex materially-discursive webs of sexuality education, sexuality, and secondary school education in Aotearoa. These research areas have commonly produced unfavourable outcomes, which include disparity statistics and other findings that position Māori as ‘cultural’ or ‘in need’ (Cooper, 2012; Green, 2011; Le Grice, 2014). To produce something different, in this work I engaged with concepts from the theoretical fields of Māori Indigenous Theories, Feminist Poststructuralisms, and New Feminist Materialisms to develop a framework for exploration.  Nine rangatahi participated in small hui (meetings) and individual interviews, focused on the areas of sexuality education, other sexuality topics, and experiences of secondary schooling. Transcripts from these meetings became part of the ‘data’. The approach to the analysis, termed Moving Through Entanglements, was informed by the whakaaro method (Mika & Southey, 2018) and diffractive approaches (Barad, 2007; Davies, 2014a, 2014b). The analysis explored a number of entanglements, using transcripts, theories, concepts, matter, experiences, colonisation, sensations, utterances and beyond (Davies, 2014c; Jackson & Mazzei, 2011). I did not attempt to produce ‘evidence’ or propose findings or truths about the ‘situation’ for rangatahi; instead I considered these well-worn research areas in different ways, honing in on ‘hot spots’ in entanglements (Taylor, 2013).
At the heart of this research are the lives of rangatahi. This research listened to and privileged their experiences in the materially-discursive webs of sexuality education, sexuality and secondary education, with the aim of contributing to further positive transformation in these areas (Allen, 2015b). The analysis suggested that confronting ‘gaps’ in what rangatahi learn in sexuality education and what they experience beyond the classroom remained. The contrast between the mundane topics or the “same old shit” (in the words of one participant) taught in sexuality education, which rangatahi recalled, and the complexities of two important and complex hot spots (Tayor, 2013) – ‘tap and gap’ and ‘relationship goals’ – demonstrated this gap. A need remains for sexuality education to be more connected with young people’s lives (Allen, 2001, 2005a, 2005b; Young, 2002). Other issues that became important included hickeys, hair and skin, the school stage, big bodies and health, boys’ breasts, and clothing. A material-discursive exploration of these topics was central to the analysis; this research has demonstrated their under-acknowledged importance in the daily existence of rangatahi, which should continue to be explored. Colonisation remained a lingering presence (Le Grice, 2018), and instances rangatahi shared highlighted not only this, but also their critical awareness of its functioning.
An innovative approach is the posthuman methodology experimented with in this research. As outlined above, this research was guided by a theoretical framework built with ideas borrowed from three philosophical fields. I applied a method of analysis that attempted to move beyond normative modes of qualitative analysis, unsettling dominant anthropocentric ways of doing research.  Taking this position, among other things, meant that the entanglements I worked through were materially-discursive. Thus, this research posits that non-human or more-than-human participants are active in the daily becomings of rangatahi, and their influence in shaping daily experiences for rangatahi and should not be overlooked in future research (Bennett, 2010). The ethical crises of the present mean that an ethical imperative to do things differently in every facet of our existence is needed now more than ever (St. Pierre, Mazzei & Jackson, 2016). Perhaps a change in the way research is conducted is one key approach to a fruitful and sustainable future for humans and non-humans alike.

year: 2019