Victoria Isaac, Breannah Palubiski, Halle Sivertson, Sara Silvis & Ida Lucchesi | UWM Virtual Undergraduate Research Symposium 2020

1. Exploring Dance Improvisation's
Functionality in the Realms of
Education and Performance
VICTORIA ISAAC, IDA LUCCHESI, BREANNAH PALUBISKI,
SARA SILVIS & HALLE SIVERTSON

2. Overview
Purpose: To examine the impact of systematic and pedagogical improvisational practices on the ability for
dance improvisation to be learned and performed by secondary and post-secondary dance students (grades
9-12, freshman-senior undergraduates).
Hypothesis and Proposal: When integral theory, lines of development, and Laban movement analysis are
highlighted and incorporated within dance improvisation, the ability and accessibility of dance improvisation
to be learned and performed is positively affected. Secondary and post-secondary dance students can benefit
from a more comprehensive dance improvisation curriculum in three ways: An increase in awareness of
spatial movement and pathways, a more heightened sense of mind-body awareness (anatomically and
kinesthetically), and a more informed approach at analyzing and evaluating movement relationships and
mechanisms.

3. What is Dance Improvisation?
Dance Improvisation (also abbreviated as improv) is a genre of dance in which movement is
created that has not been previously rehearsed or choreographed.
Improv can involve one or more individuals, can occur with or without text or vocalization, and
can take place in any space in which the mover feels comfortable.
An improv can also incorporate a score, which is the set of rules defining an improv. The score
can consist of agreements between participants of what is required to happen, constraints
limiting what is allowed to happen, and outlined possibilities- a consensus of ideas that are
allowed to occur within the score, but are not required.

4. Methodology
Source Material:
◦ Literature
◦ DeSpain, Kent (2014). Landscape of the now, a topography of movement improvisation. Pages 45-52, 158-166.
◦ Esbjorn-Hargens, John (2009). Integral theory: an all inclusive framework for the 21st century. Resource Paper No. 1, Integral
Institute. Pages 1-20.
◦ Nachmanovitch, Steven (1991). Free play: improvisation in life and art. TarcherPerigee. Pages 17-24, 42-50, 78-87, 133-139.
◦ Integral Theory
◦ A framework that suggests there are multiple elements acting upon individuals and their decisions. Emotional, physical, spiritual
and psychological realms are able to work together to provide a comprehensive approach for an individual or group of people to
function and complete tasks.
◦ Music
◦ Researchers negotiated and experimented with the presence or absence of music, the duration of the music (30 seconds to 30
minutes), and the style (Jazz, Classical, Pop, Contemporary) of music, incorporating or exluding one or more of these elements
within the improvisational score created.

5. Methodology, cont’d- Laban Movement
Analysis
Source Material:
◦ Laban Movement Analysis (LMA)
◦ Founded by Rudolf Laban (1879-1958)
◦ A method of creating, notating , and performing movement through anatomical, kinesthetic and psychological lenses
◦ LMA is centered around five general principles
◦ Movement is a process of change
◦ The change is patterned and orderly
◦ Human movement is intentional
◦ The basic elements of human motion may be articulated and studied
◦ Movement must be approached at multiple levels if it is to be properly understood
◦ Laban researched and specified four specific movement qualities: Time, Weight, Space and Flow

6. Methodology, cont’d- Laban’s 4
Movement Qualities
Time
◦ Sudden versus Sustained
◦ Does the mover produce fast and quick movement? Or is it slow and prolonged?
Weight
◦ Strong versus Light
◦ Is the mover’s body and movement heavy and grounded? Or is it light and airy?
Space
◦ Direct versus Indirect
◦ Does the mover’s body maneuver through space with a clear end goal? Or does the mover travel through
space with no anticipated end goal?
Flow
◦ Bound versus Free
◦ Does the mover place limitations on how far their energy can expand from their kinesphere? Or is the energy expanded upon without
limitations?

8. Lines of Development
Relationships
Space
Compositional Tools
Movement Invention
Movement Quality
Awareness
Narrative
Musicality

9. Relationships
Relationships are the ways in which a dancer relates to what is happening around them. More
specifically, it's the connection that forms between dancers which involves negotiation. The
way in which dancers respond to and interact with one another creates
relationship. Negotiation affects the clarity of the relationship to external viewers.
A prompt of how to develop relationships in an improvisation with others...
◦ Movers will use call and response to build a relationship with one or more dancers
◦ They will acknowledge and respond to another dancer's movements and emotional quality
◦ Ex. If the person you're dancing with reaches their hand out, what do you do with their action and how? (gently accept their
gesture, tug their hand, rest your face in their palm, etc.?)
◦ What is your understanding of their gesture? This creates relationship.

10. Space
Using space in an improv means defining and bringing awareness to how dancers' use the space
provided to them. Where they are in the room, where they are in relation to other movers. Space
influences relationships.
◦ Kinesphere: the body and the space around it, extending to the outer reach of all the limbs. This idea is
used to encourage movers to take up different amounts of space.
◦ Gaze, where one looks and what they focus on, affects use of space.
Examples of prompts showcasing use of space in practice
◦ Movers are instructed to pair up and maintain physical contact with their partner for the entire dance. This
restricts the space they can use, and it brings awareness to how they move in space in relation to another
individual.
◦ Movers are instructed to move beyond their own kinesphere, making them experience the space past their
own bodies, forcing them to take up more space.

11. Compositional Tools
Compositional tools are things often used as a means of creating or arranging choreography or in an
improvisational setting. They make a score more of a unified composition and are useful when
utilizing improv in a dance performance.
Examples:
◦ Juxtaposition (placing elements together to emphasize the contrast between them)
◦ Accumulation (new movements added to existing movements in a successive manner)
◦ 3Rs (Repeat, Repetition, Reoccurence of movements)
An example of how to teach it:
◦ Movers are instructed to improvise for 1 minute, paying attention to the movements they are doing, then
move for another minute, trying to recall the movements they just did and recreate them to the best of
their ability
◦ (group) Movers are instructed to improvise for 3 minutes with the rule that at all times, at least one dancer
must be moving at a different level than the other dancers, to focus attention to the contrast between high,
mid, and low levels.

12. Movement Invention
Movement Invention
◦ A process of creating and developing movement and ideas influencing or incorporated within it
◦ Can begin from an anatomical and kinesthetic perspective, by focusing on the methods and functional
ways the body moves and reacts to itself and through space and analytical body patterns
◦ Can also be shaped by the mover’s kinesphere, choice of focus and intended goals
Examples of prompts showcasing movement invention in practice
◦ The mover is instructed to travel from one side of the studio to the other, initiating all movement with
their right knee
◦ The mover is instructed to move for thirty seconds, with their eyes focusing on a point within the
horizontal plane

13. Movement Quality
A movement quality is a distinguishing attribute of the movement. Different movement qualities
can include but are not limited to: airy, sad, strong, tense, victorious, soupy, weighted, etc.
Examples of prompts showcasing movement quality in practice
◦ Movers are instructed to imagine they are moving through jello. This imagined pressure could create a
more strained or forceful movement quality.
◦ Movers are instructed to think of an event in their life that was impactful, and to hold that memory in their
head while moving. The emotion of the memory can impact their movement in several different ways.
◦ Movers are asked to incorporate stillness into their practice.

14. Awareness
Awareness is to acknowledge and have an understanding that something is happening or
exists around you.
◦ Responding and or looking for opportunities to experience what is around you
Examples of prompts showcasing awareness in practice
◦ The mover is instructed to create formations with who or what is around them
◦ The mover is instructed to name what they see and respond to it in their own interpretation

15. Narrative
Narratives are ways of understanding a situation or series of events that reflect and promote a
specific point of view in an improv.
◦ Finding a theme
◦ Creating a Beginning, Middle, and End
Examples of prompts showcasing a narrative in practice
◦ The mover is told to create a beginning, middle, and end to a solo improvisation. Try and remember it
to their best ability and repeat the same improvisation from the narrative they created. Can you
repeat the story you created?

16. Musicality
Musicality is how the dancers relate to the music, sound, or lack thereof in an improvisation.
◦ Can react to or ignore music
◦ Utilizing rhythm and dynamics
◦ Movement can contrast or complement the music (in terms of genre, mood, tempo, etc.)
Examples of prompts showcasing musicality in practice:
◦ Movers are instructed to improvise to a piece of music, matching its qualities the best they can; then,
using the same piece of music, do the exact opposite, contrasting the qualities of the music with their
movement.

17. September 27th, 2019
Below is a clip of group improvisation from the first day of research:
September 27th, 2019.

18. October 14th, 2019

19. April 1st-15th, 2020

20. Findings
Research for this project began September 27th, 2019, with researchers having a basic background
and idea of what dance improvisation is. After five months of analyzing and incorporating theoretical
literature, music, Laban movement analysis, and lines of development as methods of score and
exercise development, there was found to be a positive impact on the creation of improvisational
movement through performance. Researchers reported grasping a finer understanding of the
theoretical applications to improvisation, worked on solo, duet, trio and group material, received
feedback from other researchers along with advisor Daniel Burkholder, and created scores and
exercises culminating research. We propose these findings are important for secondary and post-
secondary dance students for the benefits of: an increase in awareness of spatial movement and
pathways, a more heightened sense of mind-body awareness (anatomically and kinesthetically), and
a more informed approach at analyzing and evaluating movement relationships and mechanisms.