Luc Vanier Presented at NDEO

Professor Luc Vanier was invited - along with collaborators Elizabeth Johnson (University of Florida) and Rebecca Nettl-Fiol (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign) - to present at the National Dance Education Organization's annual conference Pre-Conference intensive in September 2024. They presented a total of 3 research presentations, which you can read about below.

Never Neutral: Framework for Integration

Biomechanical, anatomical, and aesthetic models of human posture often posit there is a place of non-moving equilibrium—a static, correct way to stand, sit, lie down. Dance teaching cues often encourage movers to find neutral. Framework for Integration (FFI) insists that the body is always coming from somewhere to go somewhere, even when seemingly stationary. This workshop interrogates the idea of “neutral” in upright posture or body parts, for example the pelvis. Participants will explore the balances of the head, neck, spine/trunk relationship in diverse dance postures as well as identifying spiral movement as requiring both weight shifting and fluctuating muscular tone and release. An overview of FFI will include movement patterning and experiential principles from the Alexander Technique, Laban/Bartenieff Movement Analysis, Dart Procedures, BMC, and Dynamic Embodiment.

Dance composition for all with Integral Theory
For years, I taught choreographic processes as ways to design movement while also trying to move beyond postmodernism to include diverse dance cultures and styles." Philosopher Ken Wilbur’s Integral Theory brings various theories into a greater whole and for me, represents how composition can relate to all ways of teaching a person to become a thinking mover. I shifted my composition teaching to include his quadrant and lines of development framework. The beauty of an Integral Theory approach is that it is diverse by design and provides a glimpse at what a healthy whole might be, including culture and inner awareness. Applying a holistic, developmental, process-based lens facilitates valuing the vast diversity of perspectives in any individual or group and allows choreographers, teachers, and movers to share points of view, create inclusive community, and clarify communication.

Resisting Urgency: The Slow Down Class Lab
As our culture attempts to reinstate pre-pandemic norms of unsustainable output despite exhausted or defunct support systems, inside our university dance classes we are forcefully resisting. Through somatic education, we became skeptical of the lack of process or lasting learning associated with urgency centered methodologies. We now design classes as laboratory-like spaces that embrace mindful experimentation, embodied data gathering and purposeful space for failure, reflection, and rest. In this session, we will share the somatic and philosophical underpinnings of our laboratory approach including broad concepts from Framework for Integration and other somatic practices. We will also provide space for participants to reconsider internalized biases and pressures, articulate/prioritize what is most important, and redefine assessment according to the student’s developmental capacity.