Date of Award
2016
Document Type
Thesis
Publisher
Edith Cowan University
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts (Dance) Honours
School
Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA)
First Supervisor
Dr Renee Newman
Abstract
In this investigation, I have utilised a practice-led research methodology to capture ‘intimacy’ in film, specifically, the medium of dance film. The exegetical work is divided into the written research with an accompanied dance film component; however they should be viewed as an integrated thesis. The aim of my research was to develop my choreographic practice through a film that is a sensory and evocative exploration of intimacy. I argue that the film components of dance film (directing, cinematography, editing and the like) uniquely capture an intangability of dance and the complexities of human intimacy in a manner that is different from live performance.
I do not explicitly depict any sexual act in the choreographic work or the dance film, instead I abstract the concept of the 'human sexual response cycle' as an analogical depiction of intimacy for choreographic inspiration and the premise for a dance film. In this sense, the notion of bareness is embraced as a way to unpack the complexity of intimacy. The research investigated my practice as a choreographer in synergy with the dancers and film crew arguing that each stage of the process was an act of dance making in and of itself. Furthermore, this project comprehensively analyses the act and the art of making the dance film, [they] slipped briskly into an intimacy from which they never recovered, and the ways notions of intimacy are able to be captured in choreography and filmic imagery. I have been able to choreograph the final work through the investigation of texts and film in conjunction with studio time where I choreographed partly on myself and afterwards on the dancers and reflections on the filming process make up the whole thesis. I do not see these processes as separate components to the choreographic process but a rather unique marriage which is captured in the finished film.
Recommended Citation
Rinaldi, A. (2016). Choreographing intimacy: The making of ‘[they] slipped briskly into an intimacy from which they never recovered’ – a dance film. Edith Cowan University. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses_hons/1492