Date of Award
2022
Document Type
Thesis - ECU Access Only
Publisher
Edith Cowan University
Degree Name
Bachelor of Performing Arts Honours
School
Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA)
First Supervisor
Peta Blevins
Abstract
This project nurtured the development of a choreographic practice through a mindfulness intervention. Research has shown mindfulness to be effective in sporting and dancing contexts, reducing performance related stress, depression and anxiety as well as increasing general wellbeing (Baltzell & Akhtar, 2014; Blevins et al., 2021; Marich & Howell, 2015). Mindfulness-based training has also been demonstrated to impact features of attention, memory and problem-solving (Creswell, 2017), improvements to individual’s compassion (Brown & Ryan, 2003; Creswell, 2017; Marich & Howell, 2015), and creative cognition (Henriksen et al., 2020; May et al., 2020; Warner, 2021). This project’s eight-week intervention incorporated meditation, mental imagery, and visual arts as the modes of mindfulness chosen to investigate impacts on productivity, relatedness (one’s ability to connect to others) and creativity. The intervention occurred during the rehearsal period for the 2022 LINK Dancers Who Choreograph season at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA). Employing practice-based research (PBR) and qualitative and quantitative data collection, findings from mindfulness and creativity questionnaires, self-reflexive journal entries and a participant focus group demonstrated promising improvements to both relatedness and creativity. Themes relating to mindfulness and collaboration (an unforeseen factor) were identified through thematic analysis as having contributed to these key findings. The findings support previous research indicating benefits of mindfulness and collaboration to the choreographic process, with wider implications for the advocation of ‘sustainability’ in dance-making environments.
Access Note
Some images are not available in this version of the thesis due to copyright considerations.
Recommended Citation
Triplett, C. (2022). Mindfulness in building a collaborative and sustainable choreographic practice. Edith Cowan University. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses_hons/1591