Confidant: Choreographing Dramatic Physical Movements in Cross-Cultural Contemporary Dance

Abstract

In this thesis, I discuss the choreography of dramatic physical movements in socialist-era Chinese dance drama and selected elements from the choreographic approaches of Abby Zbikowski and Pina Bausch, which I incorporated into my work Confidant. Using dramaturgical thinking as a creative method, I explored how movement, structure, and presence shape the expression of despair and support between two performers. Through creative research and reflective analysis, I show how cross-cultural movement vocabularies can generate embodied meaning and relational possibilities of performance. The project contributes a practice-based understanding of how dramatic physical movements operate within cross-cultural contemporary dance choreography.No embargoAcademic Major: Danc