This thesis constitutes a performative research enquiry the outcomes of which are three live ensemble choreographic works by the author, Shrink’d (2005-2007), Doing, Done & Undone (2007-2009) and The Living Room (2010-2011). These have been documented and are presented on DVDs and online. The written thesis serves as an exegesis of these works by examining the notions of in-between contained within an aesthetic of ‘everydayness’ as manifested in the works and the ways in which these works intersect and dialogue with performance and dance theory, phenomenological, feminist and post-colonial theoretical perspectives. The writing begins by outlining the key choreographic concerns and ideas driving the research, specifically the notion of in-between and the works’ everyday aesthetic. It continues with a contextual framework charting the practice-led research methodologies employed, the key
phenomenological metaphors and theoretical notions underpinning the enquiry as well as situating the works within a historical trajectory of choreographic practice. The main part of the thesis (Chapters Two to Four) serves as an analysis of the primary output of the research project – the works themselves, bridging distinct strands of critical theory. This section of the written thesis journeys from the ‘outside’, via an analysis of theatrical framing, to the core of the practice in an exploration of the choreographic concerns and processes that drove the research. The examination of theatrical framing discusses the dramaturgical methodologies employed in the submitted works, including the reconfiguration of theatrical space in Shrink’d, the compositional use of space, in Doing, Done & Undone and the referencing of the temporal frame in The Living Room arguing that by pointing to the performance frame and fraying the fourth wall the works facilitate an in-between embodied and reflective mode of viewing between performers and audience members.
The investigation of the core of the practice examines portraiture via textual address and the interface of text with moving body, and then moves on to discuss the body as a parallel corporeal form of address, ‘a body that speaks’.