Sarah Matzke, the UT Dallas dance artist in residence this semester has collaborated with the UTDance Ensemble to develop her thesis project for fulfillment of her MFA  in Choreography from Jacksonville University in Florida. Movement research studies and assignments have been a major contribution and resulted in a near 40 minute work. Below is a brief explanation of her thesis:

This research examines the process of embodied cognition through a lens of phenomenology as it engages with an environment, traversing the succession of space to place to home. I seek kinesthetic comprehension of the body as it forms an epistemology of space. I ask how a movement practice immersed in phenomenology assists sensorimotor processing and consciousness? How is memory formed, layered, and recalled as a process in the body? How is knowledge shared to participants using the experiential learning theories of John Dewey and David Kolb? How does the research evolve as a paradigm is formed through the involvement of others? And, philosophically how is the body and home alike? The Primary Investigator (Mrs. Sarah Matzke) and Participating Investigators (Professional Dancers from The School of Contemporary Ballet Dallas and students at The University of Texas at Dallas) have an opportunity to form greater awareness and perception of space, their bodies and a phenomenological movement processes.

Sarah Matzke, MFA Thesis Performance, in collaboration with the UTDance Ensemble and the School of Arts and Humanities.