“Finding the Game”: Centering Play, Instability, and Unlearning in Teaching and Choreographic Practices for All Ages

What is play? What does it mean to play in dance class? What does it mean to play in creating choreographic work? I aim to explore the differences between beginning dance pedagogy for children and that for adults. I am working from the premise that it is beneficial to teach adults in the same way we teach young children: centering discovery, play, joy, and community in the learning process and aiming for growth rather than mastery. How do our childhood ideas about dance shape our adulthood experience of dance? What movement experiences have we forgotten as adults? Can we relearn these experiences from children? During this process, I will examine contemporary dance educators and choreographers who are incorporating play into their work. I will develop ways to center play in my work by bringing games into my rehearsal process for my choreographic thesis, which attempts to capture the social dynamics and unpredictable emotions of children.