Research

I am excited to be doing research! In the past as I've done research for classes I've drudged through it seeking the quickest way to produce a final product. This experience I can tell will be much different. For one I get to pick any topic in the world that I'm interested in so I'm motivated by inherent curiosity, and two I choose the methods and objectives of the research. This feels like true academic freedom.

Another reason I'm excited about research and already feel so empowered by what we've learned thus far, which is very little, is that we are not coached in research in the dance department like other majors are. In comparison to other academic fields dance research, especially at BYU, is seldom done. As dancers we often like to spend our time moving and conditioning then researching and reading in the library. But for dance to live up to its new found place in the fine arts college I believe it must be doing as much research as the other art forms of music, theatre, and visual arts. Dancers really are smart students, we just don't exhibit our intellectual accomplishments in the same form as the rest of academia. I am excited to try this new approach to learning about the field I've chosen to study.

I am now faced with the question of how I might research dance, collect data and record observations that will be effective in explaining, describing and exploring my chosen topic in a valid way. In my dance classes our discussions have often been insightful but on the edge of touchy-feely. How am I to avoid those sorts of descriptions. What makes a good dance ethnographic study? How can I present my findings in a professional and intelligent way? These are things I hope to find out over the course of my research.