Footfalls : A Choreographic Exploration of Sensorial Images from T.S. Eliot’s Poem Four Quartets
Date of Award
5-2018
Document Type
MSU-Only Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Fine Arts (MFA)
College/School
College of the Arts
Department/Program
Theatre and Dance
Thesis Sponsor/Dissertation Chair/Project Chair
Kathleen Kelley
Committee Member
Lorianne Katterhenry
Committee Member
Elizabeth McPherson
Abstract
This thesis project centered on the creation of a performance work that embodied the sensorial images of Burnt Norton, from T.S. Eliot’s work Four Quartets as applied to dance-making. It further explored the evolutionary nature of theoretical systems and used in creating dance from personal narrative. I worked with a group of my student dancers from the Mississippi School of the Arts in a somatic approach to improvisation and developing aesthetic acuity, that then grew into choreography. I also worked with a BFA dance major from a nearby college and developed a solo for her using a similar process as with my high school students. I drew the two choreographic explorations together to create one work, Footfalls, which was performed in March 2018. This written portion of the thesis details my research into T.S. Eliot and creative practice as well as my experience working with taking visceral cues from language to create original movement.
File Format
MP4
Recommended Citation
Stanford, Tammy Warren, "Footfalls : A Choreographic Exploration of Sensorial Images from T.S. Eliot’s Poem Four Quartets" (2018). Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects. 215.
https://digitalcommons.montclair.edu/etd/215
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Comments
The performance video is restricted to the Montclair State University community but the PDF file of the thesis, which is located at the bottom of the screen, is available to anyone interested in reading it.