Climate change is a global issue that we believe first started during the industrial revolution in the mid-1800s (Met Office, 2020). It is a social and political issue because it requires all of us and the government to act (TEDx Talks, 2019). This is a subject I feel passionate about and wanted to use this dissertation project to create a work titled Whose Future? Our Future! that explores climate issues and protest through practice as research. My objective was to engage audience members to witness the facts and points of view about climate change in a physical and artistic way.

A statement that resonated with me was expressed by a dancer from ODC (Oberlin Dance Collective) dance company in San Francisco , was:
No dance will necessarily give you all the facts about climate change but what it can do is give voice to how people feel about it
(KQED Arts, 2016,1:42).
This illuminates how dance can raise awareness around issues, like climate change and initiates the importance of voicing points of view surrounding the topic to expose an audience to the feelings of others.

In this thesis I will be exploring the ways in which dance addresses political subjects and how I put this research into practice. Choreographers that I have taken inspiration from for this project are Lloyd Newson, Kyle Abraham, and KT Nelson. Chapter 1 will explore the history of politics and dance and how dance has evolved to become a platform for political debate. There will be focus on climate change with reference to a piece addressing the topic. There will be an evaluation of the work in progress in chapter 2, discussing the process of creating Whose Future? Our Future! and the developments that would have been made.