Interrogating the nature, process and politics of female headed dance collaborations: the growth project (Scenkonst Sӧrmland, Sweden & Baxter Theatre Centre, Cape Town, South Africa) 2012-2016

Valentine, Bernice

Interrogating the nature, process and politics of female headed dance collaborations: the growth project (Scenkonst Sӧrmland, Sweden & Baxter Theatre Centre, Cape Town, South Africa) 2012-2016

Master Thesis

2017

Publisher

University of Cape Town

Department

School of Dance

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Abstract

This dissertation seeks to investigate the nature of Contemporary Dance collaborations between some South African dancers in the Western Cape and Swedish musicians and dancers and their directors and producers. My study focusses on the impact of choreographic processes in such collaborations when these are led by women. In particular, I will examine a collaboration herein referred to as the Growth Project that was undertaken between the Baxter Theatre Centre in Cape Town, South Africa and Scenkonst Sörmland Theatre in Sweden between 2012-2016. The study aims to provide insight into such collaborative dance practices in order to highlight gendered practices in Dance in the Western Cape. It will outline all three parts of the Growth Project but focuses on the dance work I hit the ground running (2013), in which I performed. This dissertation considered the historical context, and political legacy of key individuals associated with the Growth Project in order to examine their views of the artistic world, their relationship to one another and what inform choreographic processes when working in Contemporary Dance in the Western Cape. When artist collaborate, there is an interplay between identity, culture and politics and issues of power and gender all add to the complexity of dance collaborations. This dissertation problematises the birth of Contemporary Dance in South Africa and focusses on the region of the Western Cape arguing that in the 2000s, colonial and apartheid history continues to support a gender inequality in South African Dance as well as in society in general. Chapter One positions myself as an emic and etic researcher and provides an overview of the influences that impacted the development of Contemporary Dance in South Africa especially in the Western Cape. With this as background, I discuss my rationale for an interrogation of collaborative dance practices between some South Africans and certain foreigners. I highlight certain gaps such as analysis of contemporary dance works by women in South African Dance Literature. Chapters Two and Three discuss the concept of collaboration and draw some distinctions between the genders, for example, when women collaborate. It focuses on economic and patriarchal modes of power in society and the manner in which these are perpetuated in dance. It acknowledges feminist theories found in Social Sciences and Humanities that are also extended in Dance Studies such as the work of Katrak (2006), Butler (1999) and Daly (2002). I reflect on the response of some South African dancing bodies to collaborative practices in Contemporary Dance and add my comments to the views on this topic already expressed by Loots (2012), Craighead (2007) amongst others. Chapter Four highlights the research methods used during this study and explains how the process of the interview was engaged with to collect data. This sourcing of data included my own reflections as a participant and observer, as well as an analysis of journalistic material (press reviews), and programme notes. I also critically unpack my own reflective journals. My unique etic and emic perspectives, as I am simultaneously the researcher as well as one of the dancers in I hit the ground running (2013), will be discussed. This research also gave rise to a number of findings which have been framed as challenges encountered by dancers, musicians, the choreographer and management teams involved in I hit the ground running (2013). The study reflects on the notion of femaleness in Contemporary Dance itself, and the impact that such femaleness has on dance making/Contemporary Dance choreography. The connections between femaleness as a form of discrimination and other forms of marginalisation such as race and cultural groups is explored. This is contested within South African and Swedish world views in the 21st century. This dissertation suggests that a feminist notion of dance making is a useful tool to understand South African and Swedish Contemporary Dance. It may extend the work of other dance researchers wanting to write about other marginalised groups for example disability dance in South Africa and Sweden.

Reference:

Collections

Masters

Full item page