ICKL Conference

	25th Biennial Conference of ICKL
	Escuela Nacional de Danza Clásica y Contemporánea, Mexico July 29 (Arrival Day) - August 5 (Departure Day) 2007

SESSIONS

Paper

Writing It Down: Reflexive Processes-at-Work
MOCKABEE, Valarie - USA

Purpose/Problem Statement
The experiences of the notator-at-work are a continuous learning experience and based on personal discovery, reflection, and trial and error. When in the process of notating a newly created work, notators often become engaged with the work on a different level as compared to the times when they are notating works already in existence. For my final project paper, I propose to examine my own experience as a notator-in-the-making, alongside Bebe Miller’s choreographer-in-the-making, from a case study perspective. Using one instance of Miller’s choreographing Prey (2000) and my notating of it, I will research the parallel processes of the notator-at-work and choreographer-at-work from the following aspects: (a) temporal (how our two processes intersect over time); (b) medium (the materials each of us uses while creating); and (c) holistic contexts of creating (what circumstances influenced our making and creating processes).

I will guide my study using the following questions:
1. How does the notator’s time in the studio reflect the choreographer’s time in the studio?
2. What does the notator accomplish while in the studio and also outside the studio when working on a score that is preserving a work “while in the making?”
3. When do the two processes intersect and when do they diverge? And do the two person’s working processes reflect each other’s working styles?
4. How does the medium of dancer’s bodies performing movement for the choreographer become the medium of the notator?
5. What are the surrounding circumstances that help bring into being the work and the score?

Theoretical Orientation and Methodological Approaches
The study will be a single case study approach, using choreographer Bebe Miller and me as the two persons to study. I will take a grounded theory methodological approach wherein from the data the theoretical ideas will emerge. I will watch video, Create data memos, stake notes, refer to my own journals of that time period, and utilize materials arranged in linear format that provide great insight into my own process of notating and creating. From this content analysis process, I will theorize on the ways in which my own notating process reflected Miller’s choreographic process: how one influenced the other. This will in turn raise more questions about the creation of scores and their potential to mirror each choreographer-at-work.

Rationale for the Study/Impact on the Field
To date, no notator has examined the reflexive processes of the choreographer and notator, that is, if the process of the choreographer-in-the-making has the potential to change the process of the notator-in-the-making. This case study may have implications for further examination of how we are training notators, working with choreographers, and responding to the needs of dance preservation in the 21st Century.

Valarie Mockabee received her B.F.A. from The Juilliard School, her M.F.A. from Texas Woman's University, and is a Certified Professional Notator and Certified Teacher of Labanotation. She has directed works from score by Taylor, Humphrey, Momix, Sokolow, Morris, and Petipa and has received grants from National Endowment for the Arts to restage, notate, and design content for CD-ROMs/DVD-Videos. She is Associate Dean for the College of the Arts and Associate Professor in the Department of Dance at The Ohio State University.