Dear Readers,
As this is my first blog post chances are most of you reading already know who I am, as I will have personally begged you to withhold all judgement (mainly in relation to my long sentences and excessive use of commas!) and give my research blog a read! For those of you who may have just stumbled upon this site, my name is Thomas Page, my pronouns are He/They, and I’m an independent dance artist based in Oxford, UK. I’m currently studying at The Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance as part of the MA Dance Research for Professional Practitioners cohort 2021-23.
In an attempt to help me navigate my own research process, this blog will act as an extended platform for me to share my current research questions, ideas, concerns, and hopefully some useful insights for others in the world of dance scholarship.
For those of you that aren’t the biggest fan of blogs, feel free to follow @choreographing_utopia on Instagram for more of a whistle stop tour of my research journey!
So what is my current research question?
This is version 2.3 and I’ll pop any updates in future posts.
“What does a utopian world of dance look like, and how do we achieve this? Using a hypothetical Oxford as a model to explore; investment into the creative process, the removal of hierarchy, the necessity for ambition, and the importance of a plurivocal approach. Whilst creating a transferable structure, and/or mode of progression.”
Now I know at first glance this looks like a mammoth question, to be honest even after scrutinising it still stands as a pretty large research area. However I believe that when thinking about the future of dance and the survival of dance artists, I think there could be a great benefit jumping in at the deep end. After all, we’ve spent enough time treading water, with radical change we might actually be able to swim.
I’m not sure how this blog will take shape, but a constant feature I would like to include is finishing each post by introducing an artist (or company) that I’m currently interested in. These artists absolutely do not need my validation, but when I think about my utopian dance world they and their work play a key role in its success.
First up is an incredible contemporary art duo that I have the pleasure to call my friends as well as collaborators: Ghost and John. Their work brings together different disciplines, tackles the important subject areas, and creates possibilities for a better future for all.
Find out more about their work at https://www.ghostandjohn.art
I’m going to give myself a flexible goal of writing one post a month, so I think that’s all from me…for now!
Thanks for reading,
Thomas
Image by Monika of Oxford Atelier