Personal histories are deeply rooted into my way of existence, far before my brain became ready to challenge such notions. While Americans have been witnesses to the splintering effects of colonialism and patriarchy on socialization, I ask two questions: (1) Where to stand within a society that promotes the marginalization of both women and brown bodies? And (2) how to combat these harsh realities and protect those most affected?

Being both Black and woman, I decided to embark upon a quest of self-actualization in this document. “Ain’t She Sweet: A Critical Choreographic Study of Identity & Intersectionality,” tracks the creative process and concept design behind my applied project for the Master of Fine Arts in Dance. Developed in extensive rehearsals, community engagement, journaling processes, and lived experiences, the physical product, “Ain’t She Sweet,” explored concepts such as identity, socialization, oppression, decolonization, sexuality, and civil rights. The chapters within this document illustrate the depth of the research conducted to form the evening-length production and an analysis of the completed work.

Don't Hold Your Breath is an evening-length performance created and performed by Sarah "Saza" Kent and EPIK Dance Company that consisted of street and concert dance combined with hip hop theatre, spoken text and live singing. What began as a one-woman show about the choreographer's life, turned in to an ensemble piece that included the stories of many people, including ten community members who were interviewed on their views of life and death after being affected by a diagnosis. The show follows Kat, a young woman tiptoeing the line between her party girl past and the thought of finally growing up and settling down. Typically confident and self-assured, she is now grappling with the idea of life and death. Kat finds herself in an MRI machine that could ultimately determine her fate. As the machine examines her body, she begins to examine her life, causing her to confront some of life's most existential questions. Has she spent her time wisely? Would she do anything differently if given a second chance? When it comes down to it, and all distractions are stripped away, what is truly important? Her thoughts take her to memories of her past and visions for her future as she faces the reality that life is finite and tomorrow is not promised. This document is an account of the show's process and serves as a place of explanation, analysis, and reflection, while also questioning its significance on a personal level all the way to its place in the field.

“shiFT: An Exploration of Empathy” is a document detailing the process of

creating the evening length dance performance, “shiFT,” through the theoretical,

somatic, kinesthetic and choreographic research of empathy. This research specifically

addressed the ability to consciously take on an empathetic perspective and the change

that must occur within oneself to co-create empathy. It focused on the factors that

impede empathetic function and the role of vulnerability in experiencing empathy.

Throughout the creation of this concert, the choreographer employed empathy building

exercises and concentrated creative processes constructed from her research into the

neurological, emotional and physical aspects of empathy with a cast of ten dancers.

Choreographer and dancers worked collaboratively to create an empathetic

environment, a pre-show film installation titled GREY MATTER, and the culminating

evening length concert piece “shiFT.”

The arts benefit society through positively affecting an individual's physical, emotional, cognitive, and social development. The arts are comprised of many genres. The four genres of art this thesis researched includes: dance, theatre, music, and the visual arts. These four genres aid the four areas of human development. The research present in this thesis demonstrates a variety of developmental benefits from participation in the arts. While the benefits of participating in the arts exist, there is not equal accessibility to the arts. People are prevented from participating in the arts mainly due to cost. Four art specialists, one for each genre of the arts were anonymously interviewed to provide real life examples of participating in the arts. These findings informed a business plan for a non-profit arts center, Arts Center for Expression. This center is based off the beliefs that there is an artistic experience for everyone and that anyone who wants to should have access. Following the research in this thesis is a business plan for Arts Center for Expression. It details the operating plan, funding, future/harvest, competition, market, marketing plan, and potential impact. The benefits of the arts are numerous and undeniable.

This project explores the relationship between modern dance and Chinese individual identity from a personal perspective. Modern dance emerged from the West, carrying Western philosophies of individual identity and importance, where the composition of persons defines the group. The Chinese philosophy of the individual, however, has developed in a different context where the group defines the persons that constitute it. There is an interesting negotiation of meaning in the convergence of these two perceptions within the art of modern dance in China. A review of literature was conducted on modern dance in China, as well as the formation and development of individual identity in Chinese philosophy and culture. Over the summer of 2013, the author then conducted ethnographic research while attending the Beijing Dance Festival in Beijing, China. Reflections on the research and experiences were further explored through the creation of a dance piece and then compiled in this paper. Primary findings include that there are differences in understandings of time, space, and the use of technology that influence the practice of modern dance in China. Also, though the concept of self-expression is closely tied to Chinese ideas of modern dance, what is seen onstage raises the question of whose self is being expressed. The interaction of Eastern and Western understandings creates a dissonance of meaning.

Through ideologies of gender identity, gender as performance, sexuality, and the transgressions thereof, this document serves as a memoir inside of a memoir. I made a pop concert dance piece through a western dance aesthetic with my thesis paper detailing the experience. What did that look like? Throughout this paper, I will explain my thought process, expectations, and experience through writing, which is a more challenging task for me. I am not an academic writer, but rather a rebel with a cause. My cause is to transgress the system in any way I’m able - through words, dance, and expression. As opposed to the artistic dance piece itself, this paper’s purpose is one of both selfish intent and catharsis. Given this, I approached my thesis paper with the same mindset used when developing my piece, in that I rebel fighting against the heteronormative standards that have run my life. I don’t fill this document with regurgitated theory. Moreover, this document morphed into a cathartic platform for me, a purging of counter-hegemonic principals and ideals.

This document explores a community dance project at an orphanage in Mexico and the investigations following. This project researched how dance can be used to create a transformative and empowering experience for the participant and what discoveries of identity are made through dance. The research took place at an orphanage in Texcoco, Mexico and at Arizona State University. The participants in this research include three dance artists from Arizona State University and 10 ten-year-old children from Mexico. The portion that took place in Mexico was conducted in daily three-hour classes over the span of two weeks. For five months following the two weeks in Mexico, weekly rehearsals were held and a culminating concert was performed on November 20th–22nd of 2015.

Purple World was a choreographic project that investigated improvisational, compositional, design, and technological experiments to research movement possibilities in interdisciplinary and interactive settings. In developing the work, the dancers exchanged different individual perspectives through "movement recall." This movement recall was inspired by the sensations associated with their physical memories from childhood, conditioned movement patterns, and the ways dancers can use their bodies to creatively problem-solve the philosophical questions in their lives. The work united dance, interactive work, structured improvisation, props, and installation. The intersection of discussion with collaborators, creative methods inspired by other artists, and the elements described above provided a structure for the artist to investigate his choreographic artistic identity by cultivating individual movement vocabulary in himself and his dancers.