Artist-centric Inquiry

Abstract

Recent attempts to situate practice-based dance as a subject for academic research have proven to be problematic since dance has not been traditionally viewed as an object of knowledge due to its kinesthetic, temporal, and experiential dimensions. Therefore, a new approach to inquiry must be undertaken that accepts dance practice on its own terms, without force-fitting it into preconceived notions of 'knowledge' or ‘research’. Calling this new approach, ‘art-centric inquiry,’ I will argue that through direct, first-person involvement in the investigation dance can be academically studied without denying the characteristics which distinguish it from traditional domains of knowledge.