Practising dance history: reflections on the shared processes of dance historians and dance makers.

Recent trends have identified ways in which practitioners engage in research processes which are commensurate with those of traditional scholarship. Using historiography as an example, it is argued that scholarship is also, conversely, an artistic act in its use of 'expert intuition' and in the creation of its language and narrative fictions

Reshaping dance through time: a critical appraisal of periodisation in relation to pedagogy and research.

Western history is organised into more-or-less distinct “periods” which give shape to our conception of the past. I offer an alternative way of conceptualising dance history which retains the long view but disturbs conventional periodisation. This is based on Corfield’s (2007) premise that time can be organised not only by distinguishing radical disjunctures, but also by “continuity” and “micro” change. If these concepts are applied to dance, many of the difficulties of time frame, hierarchy and value might be eroded. Furthermore, they expand the opportunities for pedagogy and research to address works or people who have been elided by traditional periodisation

Indirect effects of 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine on pneumococcal carriage in children hospitalised with acute respiratory infection despite heterogeneous vaccine coverage: an observational study in Lao People's Democratic Republic.

INTRODUCTION: Empiric data on indirect (herd) effects of pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs) in settings with low or heterogeneous PCV coverage are limited. The indirect effects of PCV, which benefits both vaccinated and non-vaccinated individuals, are mediated by reductions in vaccine-type (VT) carriage (a prerequisite for disease). The aim of this study among hospitalised children in Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) is to determine the effectiveness of a 13-valent PCV (PCV13) against VT pneumococcal nasopharyngeal carriage (direct effects) and the association between village-level PCV13 coverage and VT carriage (indirect effects). METHODS: Pneumococcal nasopharyngeal carriage surveillance commenced in December 2013, shortly after PCV13 introduction (October 2013). We recruited and swabbed children aged 2-59 months admitted to hospital with acute respiratory infection. Pneumococci were detected using lytA quantitative real-time PCR and serotyped using microarray. PCV13 status and village-level PCV13 coverage were determined using written immunisation records. Associations between both PCV13 status and village-level PCV13 coverage and VT carriage were calculated using generalised estimating equations, controlling for potential confounders. RESULTS: We enrolled 1423 participants and determined PCV13 coverage for 368 villages (269 863 children aged under 5 years). By 2017, median village-level vaccine coverage reached 37.5%, however, the IQR indicated wide variation among villages (24.1-56.4). Both receipt of PCV13 and the level of PCV13 coverage were independently associated with a reduced odds of VT carriage: adjusted PCV13 effectiveness was 38.1% (95% CI 4.1% to 60.0%; p=0.032); and for each per cent increase in PCV13 coverage, the estimated odds of VT carriage decreased by 1.1% (95% CI 0.0% to 2.2%; p=0.056). After adjustment, VT carriage decreased from 20.0% to 12.8% as PCV13 coverage increased from zero to 60% among under 5. CONCLUSIONS: Despite marked heterogeneity in PCV13 coverage, we found evidence of indirect effects in Lao PDR. Individual vaccination with PCV13 was effective against VT carriage

A Neo-Structuralist pedagogy for contact improvisation

This lecture demonstration outlines a pedagogy for teaching Contact Improvisation. Designed for educational settings (universities/schools) it teaches improvisation for performance, and self-developed practice. The pedagogy eschews ‘structured’ and ‘task-based’ improvisation for ‘open scores’ and ‘perceptual/spatial’ harmonics. The basic curricula can be taught in a single semester module (12 weeks, 3 hours per week), and is suitable for dance, and 'non'-dance students, without compromising 'quality' or 'depth' of engagement. This session covers the four areas of study students learn: Philosophy and Principles, Practical skill-sets, Applied Contextual & Critical theory, and Performance

Contact improvisation; from practice to pedagogy

This lecture demonstration explores the process of develop a teaching methodology from a performance practice. When teaching improvisation it is important to encourage students to developer their own improvisation practice. By articulating and sharing your own practice students can learn how to solve problems and self develop new skills. However, many teachers offer 'standard' improvisation exercises to students as improvisation itself. This mixed bag of approaches can be difficult for students to make sense of. Using my own performance/teaching praxis as a case study, the session will offer a framework for developing an 'individual' pedagogy