Dance and spirituality are connected in many ways. Dance acts as a spiritual connection through worship in sacred contexts, portraying spiritual and religious content. Movement and dance act as a catalyst to explore the inner witness, allowing the dancer to develop a more conscious awareness of the embodied experience. They also connect all of the components of the body, including the spiritual component, making the body a spiritual vessel with which to manifest the mover's inner intent. This thesis investigates these three connections in depth: dance as spiritual and religious portrayal, the inner witness, and the mover as a spiritual vessel. It then discusses how these connections informed two creative dance projects, which included three movement workshops that explored spiritual beliefs through dance and culminated in a movement choir developed with spiritual themes, and dance choreography exploring the relationship between an outer witness, or observer, and the inner witness.
Type
text;
citation_publisher
University of Utah;
citation_keywords
Dance, Religious aspects; Spirituality;
citation_dissertation_institution
University of Utah;
citation_dissertation_name
MFA;
citation_language
eng;
Relation-Is Version Of
Digital reproduction of “Spiritual embodiment of dance” J. Willard Marriott Library Special Collections, GV8.5 2008 .R66
