Domains of Knowing
The goal of Dance at Illinois is to be a national center for the development of dance artists/leaders. If we are creating a space for dance artists/leaders to thrive and work, what does as artist/leader need to know? We have gathered around the following domains of knowing as a jumping board for curriculum, dicussions, and inquiry. Each one of these knowings inherently holds all the others. Each one of these knowings, is addressed in every curricular subject, whether it is technique, history, theory, dancemaking, improvising, or performing. I have started some questions as a springboard for gathering our collective thoughts.
Jan Erkert, Department Head
Domains of Knowing
Reflection: Lying still, occupying an empty room, or hoarding thoughts in a journal teach me - what am I open to learning? How can I sculpt quiet time/empty space in my schedule in order to find out? Who am I on the inside/outside, physically/mentally, culturally/socially? Who are my ancestors? What life experiences landed me here? Who am I?
Context: What is the aesthetic, cultural, historical, social, political mileu in which I make work? What surrounds me? Who preceded me in dance, history, science, and arts? How does the body work? What are the compelling issues of our time? How can I make a difference? From which perspective will I choose to analyse, search and explore an issue? Who are my global neighbors? How do I fit into the bigger picture?
Here is our "Group Think" on Context from the Department's Town Hall on 8/23/10:
C - Connections, Community, Commitment, Communication, Collaboration, Caring, Complexity
O - Origins, Omnipresence, Organization, Organic, Orientation, Ornery, Open, Observation
N - Nature, Nurture, Network, Nance, Nucleus, New person
T - Texture, Time, Team, Trust, Truth, Tolerance
E - Environment, Earth, Energy, Encompass, Experiment, Experiential, Expression
X - X-ray, eXpand
T - Topics, Totality, Transcend, Transition, Trends, Transparency
S - Surround, Stimulate, Systems, Summation, Saturate, Self
Inquiry: How fo I ask the right question How do I set up a creative process? What are the boundaries and what are the freedoms? Where do I begin? Who can I involve? How do I get lost? Can I stay there? Do I want to? What collaborators do I want to choose to go on the journey? How do I sculpt a path yet take a ride on tangential thoughts?
Agency: What is my role in my own learning? How can I be pro-active and get the most out of each moment? What is my responsibility to myself, my community, my world? How do I pursue my dream? Who can I seek out for advice? Who can I ask to be my mentor? How do I learn best? What are my limits? What is my potential? How do I say yes? How do I say no? What opportunities are hovering near that could be the start of something important? What is the artisitic entrepreneur?
Synthesis: What is the connection between the sky and the body, the psoas and the trapezius, a dance by Cunningham and Einstein's Theory of Relativity? How can I connect all these seemingly disparate thoughts into a Theory of Everything? How do I put it together? Can I share the unique connection I am making through speaking, writing, dancing, making dances, improvising, sounding, dreaming, living?
