Artistic Research in Movement and Music: How Dance Influences My Musicking

Abstract

In this inquiry I draw on artistic research approach to explore reflections that arise as musician, dancer, and pedagogue while navigating the immersive world of musicking within house dance culture and hip hop dance. To understand these intertwining phenomena and their influences on my creative output as a musician, I engage with theoretical underpinnings of somatic movement approaches, as well as three co-creative and interactive artistic processes, and finally a multimodal pedagogical approach.

I start by writing briefly about who I am, what my artistic identity and practice has been and is until this day, followed by introducing the main theme of this research. To understand why and what has led me to study the connection between dance and music within me, which is a topic that has been studied quite a lot within many research fields for years, I will introduce my background as both a musician, dancer, pedagogue, and a multimodal artist.

Then, with the literature review, I present studies from other researchers that I feel connect with what I am trying to understand and unpack in my own research. This is followed by a section where I explain the core methods used for the research, aiming to lay a sort of base of reference for when I try to unpack my experiences, sensations, and observations.

In the next part, where the artistic process and findings of the study merge together, I will present three cases, which are excerpts from my master concert that I composed and arranged during the fall of 2023 resulting in a performance in the Music Halls’ Black Box on December the 15th, 2023. Each case integrates both dance, movement, and music. All three cases were inspired by and based on two artistic projects, the first being a dance course called “Motion Laboratory” and the other a choreographed dance piece called “Something Like This”. The first case is a solo, which I composed, pre-recorded, and produced, choreographed, and performed on stage in the concert. The second case is a duet between a percussionist and me, both moving, dancing, and improvising with music and movement on stage. The third and last case is an excerpt from a dance piece I was involved in earlier that year, in which I performed as a dancer and a singer, involving another dancer. Then I contemplate the pedagogical3 aspects and findings in this research and explore how I could integrate all that I have experienced, learned, and found into teachings in both music and dance in the future. And lastly, I conclude my written work, present what I have found during my inquiry – benefits, strengths, and limitations of this study.