Re-Choreographing Cortical & Cartographic Maps

Daniel Henry

Description

A transdisciplinary approach to practice-as-research, complete with its own elaborate theory of practice and a set of four multi-year-performance research projects through which the theory plays out. Its methodology is at times ethnographic as Henry Daniel deftly inserts himself and his Caribbean West African ancestry into a series of complex cortical and geographic maps, which become choreographic in every sense of the term.

The central argument in the book is based on a claim that human beings are cognitively embodied through their own lived experiences of movement through space and time; the spaces we inhabit and the practices we engage in are documented through cortical and cartographic maps. In short, as we inhabit and move through spaces our brains organise our experiences into unique cortical and spatial maps, which eventually determine how we see and deal with, i.e., ‘become’ subjects in a world that we also help create. The argument is that through performance, as a re-cognising and re-membering of these movements, we can claim the knowledge that is in the body as well as in the spaces through which it travels.

To demonstrate how the brain organises our experiences of the world according to cartographic (graphically mapping procedures) and cortical (motor, sensory and visual functions) mapping and exploring the impact of this mapping to choreographic practice, considering how maps might be disrupted or altered by change of circumstances. This is illustrated through scientific, creative and reflective approaches to exploring neurological process of embodied experiences, as well as the analysis of projects that have utilized this practice thus far.

Audience will include Dance and Performance Studies Scholars; Dancers and Choreographers; Undergraduate and Advanced Students; Researchers

List of Figures

Acknowledgements 

Prologue



ACT 1

1. Autoethnography as a Methodological and Ideological Starting Point

- A beginning of sorts

- Will the artist please stand up?

- Introducing the map

- Microcosm vs. macrocosm

- Mediating difference

- Choreographic organization



2. The Hypothesis Explained

- Theory, perception, process and practice

- Implications

- Embodiment and disembodiment

- Science, art, culture and the transdisciplinary mandate

- Self-knowing

- Movement, language and non-discursive thinking

- Mirroring

- Preliminary conclusions



3. Further Presuppositions and Explorations in Search of a Theory of Practice

- Revisiting the hypothesis

- Shango Meets Ogun

- Performing disembodiment

- Futurist Equation

- The futurist/humanist condition

- Re-cognizing/re-membering

- The lived machine

- Performing consciousness

- Scales and dimensions, movement and sound

- Further conclusions



ACT 2

4. Transnet

- Performing art, performing science, transdisciplinary approaches to performance

- Significant contributions

- Choreography as transdisciplinary Practice-as-Research



5. New Performance Maps

- The Touched Project: Organization, control and emergence in choreographed performance systems

- Touched

- t2

- t2_echo

- Imprint

- Imprint II

- Embodied choreographic knowing



6. Going West to Find East

- Choreographing from the underside

- Haikai, Encounters and Here Be Dragons (Stage I Creative Preview)

- Barca: el otro lado

- A barca: Reaching back to go forward

- ambos lados

- Isabella’s Dream



ACT 3

7. Contemporary Nomads

- Nomadism

- nómadas

- nómadas 2018_excerpts

- On Home

- Multiple presences: Movement through space/time holes

- The real and the virtual, reality and the dream

- Performing the self: Movement as an unfolding and initiating of thought

An Epilogue: Fitting [Out-fitting] In 

- Who is he fooling and what is he really doing there? 

- Who am I and why am I here? 

- Fitting [Out-fitting] In

- So, what’s your background?

- Where are you from? I mean, where are you really from?

- Oh! You’re a Professor? What do you teach?

- What’s ahead? 

- Finale



Appendix A: Artisitic Works by the Author

- Multi-year research projects referenced

- Short-term stand-alone works mentioned 



Appendix B

- Map A 

- Map B 

- Map C 



Bibliography

Index

Sujets

• Ethnic Relations
• Social Science
• Performing Arts
• Sociologie, société et politique
• Reference
• Choreography
• Performance art
• Cartography
• Dance
• Race

Informations

• Publié par: Intellect Books
• Date de parution: 07 octobre 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781789386738
• Langue: English

Extrait

Re-Choreographing Cortical Cartographic Maps
Re-Choreographing Cortical Cartographic Maps

Going West to Find East Going East to Find West
Henry Daniel
First published in the UK in 2022 by
Intellect, The Mill, Parnall Road, Fishponds, Bristol, BS16 3JG, UK
First published in the USA in 2022 by
Intellect, The University of Chicago Press, 1427 E. 60th Street,
Chicago, IL 60637, USA
Copyright 2022 Intellect Ltd
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Copy editor: MPS Limited
Cover designer: Aleksandra Szumlas
Cover image: from Project Barca by Bea Gamboa and modified by Henry Daniel.
Frontispiece image: Luciana D'Anuncia o in Here Be Dragons/Non Plus Ultra.
Production manager: Laura Christopher
Typesetter: MPS Limited
Hardback ISBN 978-1-78938-671-4
Paperback ISBN 978-1-78938-769-8
ePDF ISBN 978-1-78938-672-1
ePUB ISBN 978-1-78938-673-8
To find out about all our publications, please visit our website. There you can subscribe to our e-newsletter, browse or download our current catalogue and buy any titles that are in print.
www.intellectbooks.com
This is a peer-reviewed publication.
Cette publication est financ e par le fonds du Conseil de recherches en sciences humaines du Canada (CRSH) Nouvelles fronti res en recherche (NFRFE: R f rence N. 2021-0017).
This publication is funded by a substantial publication grant from Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC)'s New Frontiers in Research Fund (NFRFE: Reference No. 2021-0017.
Contents
List of Figures
Acknowledgements
Prologue
ACT 1
1. Autoethnography as a Methodological and Ideological Starting Point
A beginning of sorts
Will the artist please stand up?
Introducing the map
Microcosm vs. macrocosm
Mediating difference
Choreographic organization
2. The Hypothesis Explained
Theory, perception, process and practice
Implications
Embodiment and disembodiment
Science, art, culture and the transdisciplinary mandate
Self-knowing
Movement, language and non-discursive thinking
Mirroring
Preliminary conclusions
3. Further Presuppositions and Explorations in Search of a Theory of Practice
Revisiting the hypothesis
Shango Meets Ogun
Performing disembodiment
Futurist Equation
The futurist/humanist condition
Re-cognising/re-membering
The lived machine
Performing consciousness
Scales and dimensions, movement and sound
Further conclusions
ACT 2
4. Transnet
Performing art, performing science, transdisciplinary approaches to performance
Significant contributions
Choreography as transdisciplinary PaR
5. New Performance Maps
The Touched Project: Organisation, control and emergence in choreographed performance systems
Touched
t2
t2_echo
Imprint
Imprint II
Embodied choreographic knowing
6. Going West to Find East
Choreographing from the underside
Haikai, Encounters and Here Be Dragons (Stage I Creative Preview)
Barca: el otro lado
A barca : Reaching back to go forward
ambos lados
Isabella's Dream
ACT 3
7. Contemporary Nomads
Nomadism
n madas
n madas 2018_excerpts
On Home
Multiple presences: Movement through space/time holes
The real and the virtual, reality and the dream
Performing the self: Movement as an unfolding and initiating of thought
An Epilogue: Fitting [Out-fitting] In
Who is he fooling and what is he really doing there?
Who am I and why am I here?
Fitting [Out-fitting] In
So, what's your background?
Where are you from? I mean, where are you really from?
Oh! You're a professor? What do you teach?
What's ahead?
Finale
Appendix A: Artistic Works by the Author
Multi-year research projects referenced
Short-term stand-alone works mentioned
Appendix B
MAP A
MAP B
MAP C
Bibliography
Index
Figures
Note: Unless specified, all images are taken from the author s personal research archives. 3.1 Olugbenga Taiwo and Henry Daniel in Shango meets Ogun . 3.2 Lee Bamford, Diane Sowter and Henry Daniel in Futurist Equation . 3.3 Lee Bamford and Diane Sowter in Futurist Equation . 3.4 Sally Woodham and Henry Daniel in Futurist Equation . 3.5 Vetruvian Man by Leonardo da Vinci. c .1490. Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice, Italy. 3.6 The 2/3 to 3/4 structure of the octave fourths and fifths. 3.7 Pythagorean scale. 3.8 Messiaen's Seven Modes of Limited Transposition . 3.9 Messiaen's Second Mode with Transpositions. 3.10 Taoist symbol. 4.1 Henry Daniel, Courtney Bannon and Albert St Albert Smith in Skin. 4.2 Victor Ustare in Skin . 4.3 Lisa Ravensbergen in Skin . 4.4 Courtney Bannon, Henry Daniel, Kyle Toy, Victor Ustare, Lisa Ravensbergen and Summer Thome in Skin . 5.1 Scheherazaad Cooper and Lily Hsu in Touched . 5.2 Jeanette Kotowich and Cast in Touched . 5.3 Brenna McLaud, Livona Ellis, Scheherazaad Cooper and Olivia Shaffer in t2 . 5.4 Chengxin Wei in t2 . 5.5 Livona Ellis, Scheherazaad Cooper, Chengxin Wei, Olivia Shaffer and Neelamjit Dhillon in t2 . 5.6 Chengxin Wei, Tara Dyberg, Brenna McLaud and Donald Taruc in t2_echo . 5.7 Chengxin Wei, Tara Dyberg, Donald Taruc and Brenna McLaud in t2_echo . 5.8 Chief William Wasdan, Henry Daniel and Chief Robert Joseph in Imprint . 5.9 William Wasdan, Brenna Mc Claud and Henry Daniel in Imprint . 5.10 Tara Dyberg in Imprint . 5.11 Tara Dyberg, Thoenn Glover, Brenna Mc Laud and Michelle Cheung; Henry Daniel and Tara Dyberg in Imprint . 5.12 Samantha Jane-Gray, Felicia Lau and Cai Glover in Imprint II . 5.13 Felicia Lau, Matthew Waldie, Owen Underhill and The Turning Point Ensemble in Imprint II . 5.14 Samantha Jane-Gray and cast with The Turning Point Ensemble in Imprint II . 6.1 Plaza Comandante Ramón Franco in Palos de la Frontera, Andalusia, Spain. 6.2 Joahn Volmar and Sara Martín in Barca: el otro lado . 6.3 Ángel Zotes and Sara Martín in Barca: el otro lado . 6.4 Ángel Zotes and Ireneu Tranis in Barca: el otro lado . 6.5 Luciana D'Anunciação in Here Be Dragons/Non Plus Ultra. 6.6 Kyle Toy, Karin Kato and Eloi Homier in Encounters . 6.7 Thoenn Glover in Encounters . 6.8 Ireneu Tranis, Sole Medina, Arash Khakpour and Sara Martín in Here Be Dragons/Non Plus Ultra . 6.9 Dorothea Hayley; Rakel Expeleta, Dorothea Hayley and Luciana D'Anunciação & cast; Elisenda Moya and Ireneu Tranis in Here Be Dragons/Non Plus Ultra . 6.10 Thoenn Glover, Arash Khakpour, Sole Medina, Eloi Homier, Sara Martín Elisenda Moya, Karin Kato, Ángel Zotes Ramos, Laura Calvet-Butzbach, Julia Carr, Ireneu Tranis and Kyle Toy in Here Be Dragons/Non Plus Ultra . 6.11 Janelle Reid, Luciana D'Anunciação and Milton Sim in Here be Dragons (Stage I Creative Preview) . 6.12 Joyful Simpson and María de los Ángeles Ceja in Isabella's Dream . 6.13 María de los Ángeles Ceja, Joyful Simpson, Tiffany Martin, Mary Anne Brooks and Daniel ‘Bear’ Davis in Isabella's Dream . 6.14 Daniel ‘Bear’ Davis. 7.1 The nómadas_the installation with Kenny León, Katrina Mugume and Montserrat Videla Samper. 7.2 nómadas cast: Allison Vicente, Amy Griffith, Anja Graham, Caitlin McKinnon, Jeremy O'Neill, Kadin Vanden Heuvel, Kaia Shukin, Kestrel Paton, Kevin Locsin, Lynnelle Sura, Montserrat Videla Samper, Nelle Lee, Seana Williams, Vienna Wong and Yian Chen. 7.3 nómadas cast: Allison Vicente, Amy Griffith, Anja Graham, Caitlin McKinnon, Jeremy O'Neill, Kadin Vanden Heuvel, Kaia Shukin, Kestrel Paton, Kevin Locsin, Lynnelle Sura, Montserrat Videla Samper, Nelle Lee, Seana Williams, Vienna Wong and Yian Chen. 7.4 nómadas 2018_excerpts cast. 7.5 nómadas 2018_excerpts cast. 7.6 Interview participants in nómadas_the installation. AB.1A choreographic mapping of countries, cities and locations.
Acknowledgements
I would like to acknowledge my dear wife Diane and daughter Lauren, who put up with more than my absences and the many international moves we made to satisfy my research and teaching agendas. I would also like to thank all the performers and collaborators in the different countries (Germany, the UK, Canada, Spain and the USA) for their contributions to the numerous productions I staged, and the institutions that helped me do so over the years; this book would not have been possible without their assistance. These countries and institutions are all named in the chapters as well as in the Appendices at the end of the document. I would like to acknowledge my undergraduate and graduate students, especially as they were the first to experience some of these ideas in development, whether in course lectures or in the many studio classes and stage productions I organized. Thanks to all the professional dancers in the different countries who helped me to take that work to another level. A big mention to Dr Roaa Ali for her early feedback on the idea for the book, and acknowledgements to Research Assistants Anna Dueck, Rachel Silver, Tomoyo Yamada and Karla Desentis who worked hard on cataloguing the images and videos for the ongoing performance archive. Thanks to everyone at the Simon Fraser University (SFU) Digital Humanities Innovation Lab (DHIL), the SFU Library and SFU's Research Computing Group's Labs who advised and assisted in the early attempts to create an online archive, and finally, thanks to my publishers for their patience as I tried to meet their deadlines.
Prologue

To have a mind is to have the ability to reason, and to be sensitive to reasons in thought, feeling and action.
(Hacker 2014: 89)

[T]he Tibetan word for mind, which is sem (Sanskrit citta), covers not just the realm of thought but also that of emotion.
(His Holiness, The Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso 2005: 122)

In our direct and immediate awareness of the body, we know it primarily through the various tactile sensations involved in any activity of touching something.
(Welton 1998: 47)