Choreographic modernities: Movement, mobility and contemporary dance from Southeast Asia

Abstract

This thesis examines the creation and performance of contemporary dance from Southeast Asia under the conditions of globalising modernities. Emergent identities and new body techniques are impacting the creation of new choreographic practices, while the mobility born of international performance touring and foreign artistic collaborations are transforming how dance movements and gestures `travel? from one form to another. Choreographic experimentation, I contend, both reflects and produces these modernising aspects of movement and mobility to create `choreographic modernities? amongst certain Southeast Asian dancers and their performances. These emergent `choreographic modernities? are analysed through comparative studies of dancers from Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), Bangkok (Thailand), Phnom Penh (Cambodia), and Singapore, and through the analysis of a range of dance creations and performances.