| This study was designed as an investigation into the lived experiences of dance artists as they make and perform dances through experimental collaborations. The initial study included an ongoing experiment between Deborah Hay and Grace Mi-He Lee about the transmission of choreography between artists. Using video footage of performances (Fire and Burn) and transcriptions of conversational interviews between and with the artists, the author created a written performance text that combined close movement descriptions and interpretations of the choreographers' thoughts about their experimentation.;Wanting to continue questioning how the experiences of dance choreography and performance are meaningful to dancers and further investigate how to transpose lived experiences of choreography and performance into written stories, the author initiated another experiment with participating artists Grace Mi-He Lee and Tania Isaac. Collaborating on two duets concurrently, one with each contributing artist, and using the same thematic material as a starting point, the concept of the special relationship shared by twins, the author primarily used phenomenological and hermeneutic modes of describing and interpreting collected data, including vivid descriptions of dance movement in choreographic and performance processes and the artists' experiences of making and performing dances. This further study relied on video footage of rehearsals and performances (The Good, the Bad, and the Fluffy: Odd Bird, Dirt Bath, and So...), video and audio conversational interviews of the participating artists (Leslie Elkins, Tania Isaac, and Grace Mi-He Lee), and written journals (Leslie Elkins, Tania Isaac, and Grace Mi-He Lee). The author created written stories of the dances that weave close descriptions with interpretations of the participating artists' experiences along with other authors writing about various topics including dance choreography and performance, improvisation, somatics, collaborative processes, and autobiography. Finally, using these stories of the dances, the author created shorter stories of the dances. Themes of connection and friendship emerged from the stories of these duets, as evidenced in the choreography and the language used by the participants when talking and writing about their experiences during the making and performing of the dances. |
