Koreografin pedagogiikkaa : Dances to a Beat (DTB) -metodin saavutettavuuden tarkastelua inklusiivisen tanssintekemisen kontekstissa

Abstract

Vuonna 2013 kehitin metodin, jonka avulla voi tehdä hetkessä syntyvää koreografiaa. Annoin metodille nimeksi Dances to a Beat (DTB). Tässä metodissa improvisoidaan liikkeitä ja toistetaan niitä musiikin rytmin mukana. Olen ohjannut metodista monia työpajoja ja kursseja. Olen myös tehnyt neljä tanssiteosta metodin avulla.

Opinnäytteessäni tutkin sitä, kuinka saavutettava Dances to a Beat (DTB) -metodi on. Saavutettavalla tarkoitetaan sitä, miten erilaiset ihmiset voivat osallistua johonkin. Tutkin tätä asiaa tekemällä tanssiteoksen tanssin opiskelijoille Ammattiopisto Livessä. Live on erityisoppilaitos, jossa erityistä tukea tarvitsevat henkilöt voivat opiskella. Siellä voi opiskella ammattitanssijaksi.

Saavutettavuus on yhdenvertaisuuden edistämistä. Saavutettavassa toiminnassa on otettava huomioon monta seikkaa yhdenvertaisuuden toteutumiseksi. Tässä opinnäytteessä siihen vaikutti DTB-metodin ominaisuudet, tanssiteoksen rakenne ja minun tapani opettaa. Tässä kirjoituksessani pohdin myös sitä, miten opettaminen liittyy tanssiteoksen tekemiseen.

In 2013 I developed a dance method that is both an artistic practice and a tool for creating instant choreography. I call this method Dances to a Beat (DTB) and it’s based on improvisation, repetition and rhythm. During the past ten years I’ve created four contemporary dance pieces and guided over 80 workshops and courses based on the practice.

In my thesis, I’m primarily examining how accessible this method is. The focus of the research is my work as a choreographer for the dance students of the special needs education institution Vocational Collage Live. For Live’s students with special needs, I choreographed a version of my previous work Them Merphing (2021), a contemporary dance piece based on the practice of DTB. In the process, the question of accessibility quickly expanded from looking at just the method to looking at accessibility in my way of teaching, as well as the accessibility of the choreographic form of the work and the accessibility of the final performance in relation to the audience.

In my thesis, I consider inclusive dance-making from the perspective of choreographer’s pedagogy, including the contexts of professional dance studies and making a performance. While writing, I realized I was writing this written section to two imaginary yet recognizable groups: On one had to those dance pedagogues who are careful not to bring their individual artistic thinking to group processes and on the other hand to those choreographers who don’t see pedagogical questions relevant to professional dance-making.

In this written section I’m first introducing my professional background and interests that have led to this research. After considering the choice of language for this work, through the lens of accessibility, I write about different types of choreographic processes, choreographer’s ethics, and artist-pedagogy. Next, I’m introducing the practice of DTB and the previous choreographic works that I’ve created with it. Then I’m quickly introducing the concepts of accessibility, inclusion, special needs pedagogy (is good pedagogy) and reasonable adjustments. After that I’m concentrating on the process at Live, discovering how complex the question of access appeared. After writing about my own observations and experiences, I’m including the students’ feedback on the matter. Finally, I’ll have another look at my motives, and problematize the notion of an inclusive choreographer. At the very end there are some open questions about choreographer’s pedagogy and a conclusion how accessibility is not a synonym for easy.