Can Dance Be Used Effectively to Communicate Life Events: An Interpersonal Analysis

Abstract

This study is a focus on the intrapersonal evaluation of communication using the subject of LGBTQ+ individuals through dance. Individuals that identified as part of the LGBTQ+ community were recruited from the Bryan/College Station, Texas area to share their coming out stories and impactful aspects of their lives with the researchers. The researchers then created a solo dance piece within a modern-day dance genre that was presented to the participants. The participants reported back to the researchers how they identified with the piece and to what degree it represented their individual story. The researchers used the feedback to determine the effectiveness of dance as a storytelling medium. Dance as a form of communication has been seen throughout human development in most cultures, with styles that include movement for the sake of movement and movement for the sake of storytelling. The creation of modern-day forms of dance have gravitated towards the former as opposed to the more traditional forms of dance that would be more inclined to demonstrate the latter. The researchers chose to use modern-day genres of dance to attempt to communicate the life events of participants, considering that older forms of dance (i.e. ballet) have already been created with the intention of storytelling. The LGBTQ+ community was chosen as a parameter for participation due to the underrepresentation of that community in modern media. People who identify within this community are typically less likely to have identified with the story of characters present in modern media. The researchers also believe that there should be equal representation of all people in research. After the presentation of the individual pieces to the participants, it was determined that the dances were successful in staying true to the original story told by participants, and creating deeper thought in an independent audience.