Facilitating individual agency in British contemporary dance technique training: a praxical pedagogical approach

Rimmer-Piekarczyk, Rachel (2021) Facilitating individual agency in British contemporary dance technique training: a praxical pedagogical approach. In: Ethical Agility in Dance: rethinking technique in British contemporary dance. Routledge Advances in Theatre & Performance Studies . Routledge. ISBN 9780367628635 (In Press)

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Abstract

This chapter explores the notion of a praxical pedagogy for contemporary dance technique training in Britain by investigating the role that critical reflection plays in cultivating agency for teachers and students. By examining the ‘doxa’ (Bourdieu, 1977) of the most dominant training pathways that undergraduate dance students access before entering the British higher education system, the author explores the extent to which a praxical pedagogy disrupts the dominant doxa that is perpetuated in these environments. Coinciding with this disruption, the author argues that a praxical pedagogy allows teachers and students to develop a ‘critical consciousness’ (Freire, 1972) in relation to the broader socio-cultural and political discourses at play, a process that is conducive with agency. The chapter concludes by investigating what agency looks like for the contemporary dancer and how the development of a critical consciousness facilitates the creation of new choreographic languages.