Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Social aspects of Dance halls'

The discussion over whether arts education has an impact on social responsibility has been an interesting field of investigation in the educational realm. Although there still remains a dearth of information surrounding this issue, past research in the field has shed light on the importance of art and aesthetic education. Building upon prior research, this study offers a critical investigation into issues linking social responsibility and arts and aesthetic education. At the core of this study, through the use of a phenomenological framework, insight was offered into whether students' perceptions of a dance program in one British Columbia school assisted them in constructing a more advanced notion of their role in social responsibility. The overall results suggest that the participants believe that the dance program has assisted them in understanding and fulfilling their role in being socially responsible.

Although, in principle, schools and dance teachers support the notion of encouraging social and emotional development, there has been little emphasis on this area within English schools, little theory or research on how it might be applied within mainstream education, and teachers are mostly too busy to prioritise it. The basic model for dance in British schools is "dance as Art", performed for a theatre audience. It is commonly assumed by dance teachers that practice at performing dance boosts children's confidence and self-esteem. Using a social constructionist methodology and qualitative methods of group interviews, I find that children construct a wide variety of discourses about what constitutes dance, much of it based on a social model of dance for enjoyment and for each other, which is largely ignored by schools. Whether pupils gain confidence, or feel embarrassed, depends hugely on the quality of the audience, whether they are judgemental, or witnessing in an empathic way. Potentially, one of the major social and emotional benefits of dance could be as an open workshop to explore aspects of their gender and sexuality. There is still a large swathe of opinion, especially among boys, that school dance is for girls, and that boys who participate in it are "poofs". This attitude prevails much more strongly about the contemporary style of most school dance, than about popular, and more "macho" social forms such as breakdance. Apparently homophobic attitudes among boys are part of a policing of expressions of masculinity among "straight" boys, who suffer from schools' failure to tackle issues of gender, aggravated by a current discourse around so-called "child protection" that restricts most attempts to explore issues of touch and personal space, even within a heterosexual setting. I propose a model from performativity theory, of how both gender and "good dance" are constructed, or performed within schools, in a way which generates a measure of social exclusion, particularly of boys' dance. Using video recorded observations of lessons, I locate school dance within a wider social practice of "discipline of the body" and associated resistance, that constrains what movements are acceptable where and when. Within these constraints, dance lessons offer a space for young people to develop self-awareness, to explore and challenge customary boundaries of movement, the feelings associated with freer movement, and issues of identity. Some children gain self-knowledge, practice co-operation and trust, learn from cultures other than their own, extend their movement and expressive vocabulary, and experience enjoyment and zest for life. Using two contrasting approaches to phenomenology, I illustrate how the "dance as art" model, and the emphasis on school discipline and exam curricula, mostly excludes any emphasis on using movement introspectively to explore feelings and to develop autonomy, as occurs in most body / movement therapeutic settings. An emphasis on choreography omits opportunities to respond spontaneously to a partner in the present moment, or to dance alone for their own pleasure. Children resort to hiding their attempts to escape socialisation, through dance as "crazy" or "wild" self-expression. I emphasise the value of movement and dance as an embodied, non-verbal, non-rational route to knowledge of self, and raise theoretical questions about the limits to social construction, and the possibility of verbalising embodied experience.

This thesis explores, from a feminist perspective, some implications on the status of women in selected dance forms, and addresses the perceptions of women as 'inferior' and 'subordinate'. One of the intentions behind the work was, indeed, to challenge prevailing perceptions and create an awareness of sexism, capitalism and patriarchy, especially for the uncritical and uninformed who have become its victims. Part 1 offers an analysis of the premises upon which social, political and economic inequality are founded and consolidated, with specific reference to sexual inequality and sexual prejudice. Utilising a Marxist-feminist and semiotic approach, the machinations of the traditional mass media are linked to negative imaging of the female body in support of the sexist, patriarchal, capitalist male manipulator, who benefits from women's subordinate social status. Part 2 addresses the issue of sexual politics, and the implications for dance research and performance. The researcher offers a descriptive analysis of four specific dance forms, which serve to highlight the socialisation and educational processes that shape our perceptions and instruct our lives. A set of questionnaires was sent to fourteen autonomous dance institutions, including those attached to national performing arts councils. The thesis concludes with a summary of the results of the questionnaires that were distributed amongst female dancers, dance students and choreographers. The researcher questions our culture's preoccupation with the female body image, and posits the urgent need for an assessment of this situation, and an education which will create a better understanding and a more harmonious climate for development.

This study investigated the effects of a South African Black youth jive on selected Biophysical, Physiological and Psycho-social parameters, using 31 Black youths, males and females (mean age 19.29 yrs) as subjects. All subjects participated in the pre- and post-programme testing protocols (acting as their own control) and in a 7-week jive programme. While the female subjects were significantly (p<0.05) heavier with a greater percentage body fat than their male counterparts, a two factor analysis of variance revealed no significant changes in body composition (p<0.05) of either sex group. However, significant improvements did occur in the cardio-respiratory . parameters of working and recovery heart rates, predicted V0₂ max, and the anaerobic capacity. Here, the males exhibited superior cardio-respiratory qualities and performed better in all motor fitness parameters except flexibility, where no significant sex difference occurred. Also, there were significant improvements in all motor fitness tests with the exception of power (as tested in the 18-Item Illinois test). No significant differences occurred between male and female psycho-social responses with no changes occurring after the 7- week programme. It can be concluded that involvement in the 7-week jive programme improved physiological parameters but failed to bring about alterations in the biophysical and psycho-social domains..

This thesis is a theoretical examination intended to lead the reader in a process of deeper and subjective understanding of culture through the medium of dance. The literature review avails the reader with meaningful foundation work and theories that are weaved together to propose a framework for observing dance movement with a more intercultural set of lenses. This thesis focuses particularly on three intersections: dance as a form of expression and nonverbal communication, dance as embodiment of culture, and dance as a reflection of cultural identity. A useful outcome of this study is a sequential set of tools suggested as a structure useful to gather and analyze data and to conduct further research.

Pantsula dance is a performing art born from the townships of Johannesburg. It is a dance form performed across South Africa, in a variety of contexts; in theatres, music videos and competitions in community halls, on national and international stages and on television, and in the streets of townships, cities and suburbs across South Africa and abroad. Its performance is widespread, but it has its beginnings as a dance form born in areas created to marginalise and oppress. There is a scarcity of academic scholarship related to pantsula dance. This thesis aims to be a contribution to that pre-existing body of knowledge in the hope that there can be further engagement on this important, and increasingly mainstream, art form. I have focused my thesis on analysing pantsula dance as a performance of 'the township'. This has been attempted through an ethnographic engagement with pantsula dancers based in different township areas of Johannesburg and Graha mstown: various members of Impilo Mapantsula, Via Katlehong, Intellectuals Pantsula, Via Kasi Movers, Dlala Majimboz and the cast of Via Katlehong's Via Sophiatown. The research was conducted between 2013 and 2016 and serves to represent various moments within the ethnographic research process, while coming to understand various aspects of pantsula dance. An engagement with notions of 'the township', the clothing choices of the pantsula 'uniform', the core moves, inherent hybridity in the form itself, and the dedication to the dance form as a representation of the isipantsula 'way of life', are addressed throughout the thesis. As well as engaging with the memory and representation of Sophiatown as an important component to pantsula dance. Pantsula dance, an intrinsically South African dance form, provides a celebratory conception of 'the township' space and allows people from different backgrounds to engage in an important part of South Africa's past, present and future.

Using Heideggerian interpretive phenomenology, this study illuminates the lived experience of an adapted dance program for individuals with Down syndrome and their family members. The overall pattern from both dancers and family members was adapted dance: connecting mind, body and soul. The primary theme from dancer interpretations was expressing a mosaic of positive experiences, and the primary theme from family member interpretations was experiencing pride in their loved ones. The dance program provided dancers an opportunity to express their authentic self while experiencing moments of full embodiment in the connection of their mind, body and soul. While dancers experienced the connection of mind-body-soul, family members recognized the importance of this connection in their loved one. This research is instrumental in advocating for opportunities for individuals with Down syndrome to experience dance as a social, physical and intellectual activity that results in learning and increasing social interactions. The research findings from this study can support future initiatives for dance programs that may influence a population that has limited access to physical activity and dance. The study's teaching strategies, dance activities, class procedures and sequences, and feedback techniques can be used by other professionals who teach individuals with intellectual disabilities.

Thesis (PhD)--Macquarie University, Division of Humanities, Department of Contemporary Music Studies, 2007.
Bibliography: p. 291-313.
Introduction -- "Back to this subculture thing": literature review and methodology -- "The crowd went berserk": dance music and club culture in Sydney and Australia -- "Once you find a groove you've got to keep it locked": the role and significance of the DJ -- "There's a great myth about that": DJ culture in Sydney -- "You're not a real DJ unless you play vinyl": technology and formats: the progression of dance music and DJ culture -- "What is underground really?": defining the structure, significance and meaning of dance culture -- "Where are they going to go next?": shifting the focus of dance music studies.
The development of contemporary, post-disco dance music and its associated culture, as representative of a (supposedly) underground, radical subculture, has been given extensive consideration within popular music studies. Significantly less attention has been given to the commercial, mainstream manifestations of this music. Furthermore, demonstrating the influence of subculture theory, existing studies of dance culture focus largely on youth-based audience participation, and as such, those who engage with dance music on a professional level have been somewhat overlooked. In an attempt to rectify these imbalances, this study examines the contemporary commercial dance music scene in Sydney, Australia, incorporating an analytical framework that revolves mainly around the work of DJs and the commercial scene they operate within.--An ethnographic methodological approach underpins the majority of this thesis, with interviews forming the main source of research material. Beginning with a discussion of the existing academic literature on dance culture and dance scenes, an historical context is subsequently established through a section that traces the development of dance culture from an underground phenomenon to a mainstream leisure activity, both within and outside Australia.--The ideas, opinions and interpretations of a selection of local DJs and other music industry practitioners who work in Sydney are central to the analysis of DJ culture herein. Issues discussed include the interaction and relationship between the DJ and their crowd, the technology and formats employed by DJs, and the DJ's multiple roles as entertainer, consumer and educator. The final part of the study gives consideration to the structure of the Sydney dance scene, in regard to the frequently used, but rarely critically analysed, terms 'underground' and 'mainstream'. The thesis concludes with a discussion that challenges the structural rigidity imposed by subcultural theory and scene-based analysis, arguing instead for a greater degree of fluidity in the theoretical approaches taken towards the study of contemporary dance music scenes.
Mode of access: World Wide Web.
vi, 334 p

Thesis (MPhil (General Linguistics))--University of Stellenbosch, 2011.
Bibliography
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Viewing cross-cultural dance performances on international tours or as part of international dance festivals has become common practice all over the world. For critique writers, choreographers/ dancers and the audience the accessibility of such a diverse variety of dance has both advantages and disadvantages. Cross-cultural differences in these performances challenge strategies of viewing and perception which may lead to aesthetic enrichment but these performances also risk being misunderstood. In dance critique writing, such a misunderstanding may result in a negative critique projecting, in a worst scenario, negative prejudices on the respective cultures. This thesis investigates how attitudes towards, and perceptions of, cultural differences are reflected in cross-cultural dance critiques, through the use of particular linguistic and stylistic devices. Analysis strategies deriving from Critical Discourse Analysis and Text Analysis are used to uncover the critique’s strategies to communicate their evaluation including ways of persuasion and power. I analyse six critiques from three countries on the performance Beautiful Me performed on international tours by the Vuyani Dance Theatre from South Africa. My initial hypothesis is that cultural differences may lead to negative critiques due to intercultural misunderstanding. Since viewing Performance Art is not only influenced by the critique writer’s cultural background but also by their perception attitude towards the performance, the analysis takes perception modes such as a theatre semiotic approach and a phenomenological approach into consideration. Interestingly, different perception modes seem to have a greater impact on the outcome of a critique than cross-cultural differences. This means that most negative evaluations must have their origin in the applied strategy of viewing and perceiving dance. The critic seems to interpret and embed the perceived features of the dance performance into specific cultural or socio-political contexts forming an individual, often complex evaluation.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Om te kyk na kruiskulturele dansuitvoerings deur dansgeselskappe op internasionale toere of as deel van internasionale dansfeeste, het wêreldwyd algemene praktyk geword. Vir kritici, choreograwe/dansers en die gehoor hou die toeganklikheid van so ’n diverse verskeidenheid dans sowel voordele as nadele in. Kruiskulturele verskille in hierdie vertonings daag kyk- en waarneem-strategieë uit, wat tot estetiese verryking mag lei. Daar is egter ook ’n moontlikheid dat hierdie vertonings verkeerd geïnterpreteer mag word. Só ’n waninterpretasie in dansresensies mag lei tot negatiewe kritiek wat, in uiterste gevalle, negatiewe vooroordele oor die betrokke kulture projekteer. Hierdie tesis doen ondersoek na die wyse waarop houdings teenoor en persepsies van kultuurverskille in kruiskulturele dansresensies deur middel van spesifieke talige en stilistiese middele gereflekteer word. Analitiese strategieë uit die velde Kritiese Diskoersanalise en Teksanalise word gebruik om kritici se strategieë wat ’n oordeel kommunikeer, bloot te lê. Ek analiseer ses resensies uit drie lande wat handel oor die vertoning Beautiful Me wat deur die Suid-Afrikaanse dansgeselskap Vuyani Dance Theatre tydens internasionale toere opgevoer is. My aanvanklike hipotese is dat kultuurverskille aanleiding mag gee tot negatiewe kritiek vanweë interkulturele misverstande. Aangesien die beoordeling van Uitvoerende Kunste nie slegs deur die kritikus se kulturele agtergrond beïnvloed word nie, maar ook deur hul waarnemingshouding teenoor die vertoning, neem die analise waarnemingsmodusse soos ’n teater-semiotiek-benadering en ’n fenomenologiese benadering in ag. Interessant genoeg, lyk dit asof verskillende waarnemingsmodusse ’n groter impak het op die uitkoms van kritiek as kruiskulturele verskille. Dít beteken dat die meeste negatiewe oordele hul oorsprong moet hê in die toegepaste strategie van dans kyk en waarneem. Dit blyk dat die kritikus die waargenome eienskappe van die dansuitvoering interpreteer en inbed in spesifieke kulturele of sosio-politiese kontekste wat aanleiding gee tot die verskillende, dikwels komplekse maniere van beoordeling.

This thesis examines the representation of the lives and performances of tawa'if and rudali in South Asian cinema to understand their marginalization as performers, and their significance in the collective consciousness of the producers and consumers of Indian cultural artifacts. The critical textual analysis of six South Asian films reveals these women as caste-amorphous within the system of social stratification in India, and therefore captivating in the potential they present to achieve a complex and multi-faceted definition of culture. Qualitative interviews with 4 Indian classical dance instructors in Portland, Oregon and performative observations of dance events indicate the importance of these performers in perpetuating and developing Indian cultural artifacts, and illustrate the value of a multi-layered, performative methodological approach. These findings suggest that marginality in performance is a useful and dynamic site from which to investigate the processes of cultural communication, producing findings that augment sole textual analysis.

Orientador: Eni de Lourdes Puccinelli Orlandi
Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Estudos da Linguagem
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Resumo: Esta tese tem por objetivo compreender os movimentos de sentido sobre/do corpo produzido em diferentes materialidades significantes, e que mantém relação com três práticas discursivas e corporais distintas, aqui teorizadas como tecnologias corporais: a dança, a medicalização do corpo e a tatuagem. Para tanto, priorizamos o espaço da festa rave como lugar de produção dessas práticas, sítio significante que abriga processos de identificação e individualização do sujeito contemporâneo, conforme a proposta de Pêcheux e Orlandi. Interessa-nos, pois, observar as formas de assujeitamento fabricadas na atualidade, em condições materiais e históricas específicas, tendo em vista a forma como o corpo se textualiza nas redes de sociabilidade da Internet. Partimos da suposição de que esse corpo ideologicamente marcado é também um corpo de desejo: lugar de falta, do possível. É pela/na falta que o sujeito se constitui em sujeito de desejo, é na tentativa de tamponá-la que ele tece para si sentidos inscritos em práticas capazes de metaforizar a falta em ser: nas discursividades analisadas, o movimento de sentidos compõe cartografias marcadas por suturas e cicatrizes. Essas metáforas do corpo, assim formuladas, possibilitam pensar as práticas ideológicas como profundamente paradoxais: é no furo, nos sentidos em fuga, que este trabalho dá a ver outros lugares de identificação, permitindo que a noção de resistência seja significada diferentemente
Abstract: The objective of this thesis is to understand the meaning of the movements on/of the body produced in significant different materiality and that keep the relationship between three different discourse and body practices, the dance, medication and tattoo. In order to do so we gave priority to the rave parties, where these are common practices, as a significant place that houses the identification and individualization processes of the contemporary subject according to the Pêcheux and Orlandi proposal. We are interested in observing the forms of subjection currently performed under specific historical and material conditions, aiming to understand how the body is contextualized in the social networks of the Internet. We started with the premise that this ideologically marked body is also a body of desire, a body that lacks a possible body. And it is for what lacks that the subject constituted him/herself in object of desire, and it is trying to disguise it that he/she builds meanings, written in practices that can metaphor the lack of being. In the analyzed discourse the movement of the meanings composes a cartography that is marked by sutures and scars. Formulated like this, these metaphors of the body make it possible to think the ideological practices as deeply paradoxical. It is in the puncture, in the meanings of escape, that this work makes it possible to see other identification places, allowing the notion of resistance to be differently diagnosed
Doutorado
Linguistica
Doutora em Linguística

This thesis proposes that maps contain much more than just a depiction of physical space. Focusing on a selection of maps of ‘Australia’, the following attributes are found in some of these maps: myth and imagination, memory, power and the evolution of a people’s relationship with a place. Each attribute is the centrepiece of a separate chapter. The investigation undertaken here begins before ‘Australia’ was a known, named and mapped identity, at least as far as Europe was concerned, and continues up to the present day. It moves from maps of the imagined, the unknown and the theoretical, the science of cosmography, to chorography, which concerns maps of the local and the known. Cosmography operates on the grandest scale attempting to depict the whole world whereas chorography attempts to map details that can be recognised on the land. The words cosmography and chorography have fallen into disuse but the meanings of both were re-examined for this work, allowing for a unique mapping picture to emerge. The dance between these two kinds of mapping is the methodological pivot around which this thesis revolves. Chapter one begins in the theoretical realm of cosmography with the creation of the Antipodes, an idea that arose as a consequence of classical and Hellenistic Greek philosophical and theoretical concepts. This land only existed on maps yet came to harbour myths and imaginary attributes. Although replaced by Terra Australis Incognita, fantasy and myth continued to inhabit this southern part of the mapped world. Explorers eroded the unknown until a European chorographical destination, Botany Bay, was mapped into place. The dance then began all over again across the landmass called ‘Australia’ as the boundary between the known and unknown was crossed and mapped. Chapter two is a detailed study of the minutiae on chorographical maps of the Burragorang Valley and surrounding area. The names used for various geographical features are shown to contain memories of past inhabitants both Aboriginal and European. These memories still exist on maps of this area whereas the land the maps depict has been radically altered by the inclusion of man-made lake that has all but removed the earlier human marks on the landscape. The power embedded in both cosmographical and chorographical maps is examined in chapter three. In 1493 Pope Alexander VI drew a line on a cosmographical map and ‘donated’ half the non-Christian world to Spain and half to Portugal, thus commencing a process whereby a few European Christian nations carved up the rest of the world with the help of the authority vested in cosmographical maps. This culminated, as far as Australia was concerned, with Lieutenant James Cook’s map of the east coast of New Holland, which enabled the British Crown to claim land to the east of the 135th meridian, the line Alexander VI had drawn. Within sixty years this claim had expanded and covered the whole of the Australian landmass. On the ground, chorography recorded each individual parcel of land as it changed from Aboriginal land to European property. In chapter four, the concern is the way maps facilitated an evolving relationship between European Australians and the land they came to inhabit rather than the use of the maps in colonial appropriation. The focus in this chapter is on marginal lands where little European involvement is evident either on the ground or on the map. Because it is here in less trampled areas that any European marker on a map becomes important, and because there are so few of these markers, it is possible to trace the way these key features have evolved and have taken on a new significance over time.
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Research Report required for the completion of Master of Arts – Applied Drama (MAAD) Drama for Life - Wits School of Arts - Wits University March 2015
This study aims to explore ideas of liberation in relation to the present tendencies of gender representation in Tango. I argue that the traditional pedagogic model, observed in Johannesburg, tends to perpetuate hegemonic discourses mainly through terminology in which gender binaries, codes and subjectivities are normalized. Such representations reduce, or even reject, plurality and diversity by sustaining specific power dynamics, necessarily related to the role of men and women. Tango is characterized by certain aesthetic elements described in this thesis, and here I prioritize the analysis of its role as a social dance, in the category of couples’ dances. I argue that couples’ dances are embedded in historically and socially constructed stereotypes; thus, the dynamics observed in balls are not capable of reflecting present gender complexities and identities. To do so, I first present a critical reflection of the history of couples’ dances and Tango, along with my own lived experience as a movement facilitator. Then, I present descriptions of the first phase of the research, the Performance as Research (PAR) project in which I aimed to deconstruct hegemony by challenging gender fixities. The PAR included creative processes, interviews, performance, media and textual production, and the main outcome was related to the pedagogy of dance, presenting the DE-GENDERED MODEL of teaching-learning. In the second phase of research, or what I call the fieldwork, I engaged with different methods, such as dance meetings based on investigative approaches, body mapping, micro-performance, group discussions and questionnaires to collect data together with a group of 9 participants. I made sense of all the information collected during PAR, and, given by participants during fieldwork, by correlating theories of performance, critical pedagogy, gender and queer studies, with the purpose of including collaborative pathways of embodiment.

Many Australian novelists since the late 1890s have written about dance in varied and interesting ways. Characters in many Australian novels are portrayed dancing on stage, dancing within the context of their everyday lives, watching corroborees, reminiscing about social dance events in distant homelands or gyrating under flashing lights at discos and raves. In other instances the word “dance” (or an associated term) is used metaphorically to convey actual or imagined movement such as the wind dancing in trees, or thoughts dancing in characters’ minds. Although representations of dance in Australian novels portray qualities such as vitality, beauty and transcendence, this thesis argues that they also elucidate a shadowland of pain and suffering and sometimes an uncertainty about Australian culture and identity. Indigenous dancers are scrutinised critically by non-Indigenous spectators. Despite the bright lights and glamour of their world, professional dancers are shown to struggle against the persistence of the cultural cringe. Unflattering notions of class and gender taint the excitement and romance of social dance occasions, migrant characters associate dance with painful memories of abandoned homelands and dancers performing professionally or privately risk being labelled mad, feminine or homosexual (or all three). The metaphorical use of the word dance does not always portray vital movement but often conveys heaviness, awkwardness and even imminent collapse. Descriptions of dance are minimalist to the point where the dance almost disappears from the reader’s view. As well as making dance in Australian novels visible, the investigation conducted in this thesis sharpens awareness of its negative or “shadow” side and challenges the widespread critical glorification of the presence of dance in literature more generally.
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Using a framework of feminism and poststructuralism, this thesis aims to interrogate the utilisation of the body as a contested site of struggle for meaning in contemporary theatre dance in South Africa. "Both feminism, as a politics, and dance, as a cultural practice, share a concern for the body" (Brown, 1983: 198). A feminist analysis of dance can offer a tool to interrogate the dominant discourses of gender and race that surround and permeate both the female and male body in contemporary theatre dance. The body is not a neutral site onto which cultural codes and conventions are inscribed, as the dancer's body is always marked in the physical sense of gender and race. This thesis aims to decode the body and examine how the discourses of gender and race are embodied by the moving body on stage - specifically in the South African (KwaZulu-Natal) context. By a feminist appropriation of the poststructural endeavour, this research will look at how the body, as discourse, can be interrogated to examine how the interconnected discourses of gender and race surround and permeate the moving body. The utilisation of a poststructural paradigm will aid in the examination of how the dominant discourses of gender and race are hegemonically imposed onto the body. Poststructuralism also offers an understanding that there exist counter-discourses that have the ability to resist the dominant discourses of gender and race. This notion becomes important to the study of contemporary theatre dance as an art form. This thesis will examine how South African (Durban-based) contemporary theatre dance choreographers explore the body's potential to be subversive in performance. The thesis will focus on the body's ability to interrogate the discourses that operate in its surroundings and permeate its lived reality.
Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2000.

Sleep is a behavioral condition fraught with mystery. Its definition—either a suite of diagnostic behavioral characters, electrophysiological signatures, or a combination of the two—varies in the literature and lacks an over-arching purpose. In spite of these vagaries, sleep supports a large and dynamic research community studying the mechanisms, ontogeny, possible functions and, to a lesser degree, its evolution across vertebrates and in a small number of invertebrates. Sleep has been described and examined in many social organisms, including eusocial honey bees (Apis mellifera), but the role of sleep within societies has rarely been addressed in non-human animals. I investigated uniquely social aspects of sleep within honey bees by asking basic questions relating to who sleeps, when and where individuals sleep, the flexibility of sleep, and why sleep is important within colonies of insects. First, I investigated caste-dependent sleep patterns in honey bees and report that younger workers (cell cleaners and nurse bees) exhibit arrhythmic and brief sleep bouts primarily while inside comb cells, while older workers (food storers and foragers) display periodic, longer sleep bouts primarily outside of cells. Next, I mapped sleep using remote thermal sensing across colonies of honey bees after introducing newly eclosed workers to experimental colonies and following them through periods of their adult lives. Bees tended to sleep outside of cells closer to the edge of the hive than when asleep inside cells or awake, and exhibited caste-dependent thermal patterns, both temporally and spatially. Wishing to test the flexibility of sleep, I trained foragers to a feeder and made a food resource available early in the morning or late in the afternoon. The bees were forced to shift their foraging schedule, which consequently also shifted their sleep schedule. Finally, I sleep-deprived a subset of foragers within a colony by employing a magnetic “insominator” to test for changes in their signaling precision. Sleep-deprived foragers exhibited reduced precision when encoding direction information to food sources in their waggle dances. These studies reveal patterns and one possible purpose of sleep in the context of a society.
text

Cultural heritage events as a tourism product have increased in recent years, both globally and in South Africa. Within the sphere of cultural heritage tourism, people construct and present their heritage and traditions to tourists in a reconstructed setting. To the visitors and people who are directly involved with the planning of the event, a sense of belonging and group identity are experienced by linking the present to the past in a celebratory mood. The annual ‘Afrikaanse Taal en Kultuurvereniging’ (ATKV) Riel Dance Competition in South Africa is an example of such an event, which celebrates a threatened cultural heritage in the form of a competition. The idea of a dance competition in order to preserve cultural heritage started in response to a feeling of marginalisation of culture among certain segments of the Coloured community of South Africa after the establishment of democracy in 1994. This dissertation used the constructivist-interpretivist approach in geographical enquiry to explain the role of cultural heritage events. Multiple sources of evidence and information were used in this study, including focus group interviews, observations, audio-visual materials, questionnaires and participant observation. The participants and visitors alike felt that the ATKV Riel Dance Competition serves an important role in preserving and protecting the cultural heritage of the Coloured community. The competition played a role in fulfilling the need of a large percentage of its participants and visitors for a group identity. There was no significant financial benefit for the communities who participated in the ATKV Riel Dance Competition. However, on a political level the competition played an important role in nation-building and cultural expression in South Africa.
Geography
M.A. (Geography)

This research explores the lives and experiences of female exotic dancers with the aim of gaining an empathic understanding of their involvement in the stripping industry. The stereotypes and generalizations of exotic dancers and the stripping industry undermine the exotic dancer's ability to be seen as an individual with her own story and her own experiences. The participants of this research were selected through convenience sampling and consist of three female exotic dancers. The researcher interviewed the participants using a semi-structured interview format and focused on the dancer's experience within the exotic dancing industry, her family history, her relationships, and personal life. The data was analysed using thematic network analysis. The thematic networks are often contradictory and inconsistent with the common stereotypes and ideas held about exotic dancers. The results indicate that some exotic dancers experience meaning, healing, gratification, and power within their work and live responsible, productive lives.
Psychology
M.A. (Clinical Psychology)

Quan, Xixi.
Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2013.
Includes bibliographical references.
Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web.
Abstracts also in Chinese.

This study distils some of the principal political and sociological lines of enquiry that Neville Alexander embarked upon in his published writings. It initially sets out to sketch the political, economic and intellectual milieu that he encountered after his release from Robben Island in 1974, and then it addresses the language question, as a part of the national question, in South Africa. The researcher argues that Alexander’s “dance” in the world of political and educational interventions has at times been solitary but that his discourse is substantively girded by the writings and experiences of established practitioners in the fields of sociolinguistics, political economy and cultural activities. The study concludes that his policy proposals on language in particular, in spite of the fact that the constitutional and institutional infrastructure exists for their implementation, have been put on the back burner because the dominant linguistic interests of the post-apartheid government correspond with the communication interests of market-driven institutions in the country, and not with the interests of the linguistic majorities who populate the nation.
Neville Alexander's thoughts on the language question in South Africa
Language question in South Africa
Educational Studies
M.Ed. (Philosophy of Education)

Recognizing the importance of context with regard to youth agency, this study explores how 8 Black LGBTQ+ youth understand their practices of agency in ballroom culture, an underground Black LGBTQ+ culture. Ballroom was chosen as the backdrop for this scholarly endeavor because it allowed for the study of the phenomenon — Black LGBTQ+ youth agency — in a space where the youth might feel more able to be themselves, especially given that the 2019 Black LGBTQ+ youth report published by the Human Rights Campaign revealed that only 35% of Black LGBTQ+ youth reported being able to “be themselves at school” (Kahn et al., 2019). Thus, instead of asking what is wrong with schools, this study inverted the question to explore what is “right” about ballroom culture in which Black LGBTQ+ youth might practice different kinds of agency due to their intersectional racial and LGBTQ+ identities being recognized and celebrated. Framed by the youth’s understanding of their own agency across different contexts, my research illuminates the complex interrelationships between youth agency, social identity, and context. Extending the literature on youth agency and Black LGBTQ+ youth, the findings of this study suggest that in many ways these youth are always already practicing agency to work toward different ends, and that these different end goals are greatly mediated by the contexts in which they find themselves. In making connections between the ways Black LGBTQ+ youth feel liberated within ballroom space to use their agency to explore and affirm their identities outside socially constructed norms, the findings of this study point to new opportunities for education research, practice, and policy to learn from ballroom culture about how to better invite Black LGBTQ+ youth into schools in humane and educative ways, encourage their agentive imaginations within education spaces, and promote liberatory school environments that recognize and embrace these youth’s intersectional identities.

Text in Afrikaans
The importance of the emotional and social development of a human being is highlighted by this research study, while the ability of the human spirit to transcend the human body has inspired the researcher to investigate movement activities as a potential key to the emotional and social development of wheelchair-bound learners. The researcher has chosen participation in wheelchair dancing to determine whether wheelchair-bound learners show development on emotional and social levels by investigating their intra- and interpersonal abilities before and after participating in wheelchair dancing. Intra- and interpersonal abilities are interdependent abilities and are regarded important components of emotional intelligence. In the interest of validity and reliability, the researcher used purposeful sampling in the selection of her participants. The participants had to meet certain requirements. She undertook a constructivist investigation, from an interpretive perspective, as a (primarily) qualitative study, with an interactive case study design and multimethod strategies. The smaller, quantitative component of the research study is the Piers-Harris Children’s Self-Concept Scale, Second Edition (Piers-Harris 2), which offers as pre- and post-test a baseline assessment for the participants’ emotional and social development in respect of self-concept. The theoretical approach for this study is a combination of the medical deficit model and the social model, with stronger emphasis on the development and healing approach of the social model, than on the deficit-and-control approach of the medical deficit model. The focus of the study is not on the constraints suffered by the wheelchair-bound learners, but rather on the possible development that may take place in the learners through their participation in movement activities. The researcher strongly relies on the social model in an attempt to gain understanding of the problems that wheelchair-bound learners currently experience in the education system, so that schools can be developed that would meet learners’ needs. The research results offer answers to the primary and secondary research questions and the general objective of this research study has been achieved. The researcher has determined that wheelchair-bound learners show emotional and social development after participation in movement activities. The emotional intelligence of all the participants has increased and each experienced increased self-actualisation since having participated in wheelchair dancing. The research results reflect more growth in respect of the learners’ intrapersonal abilities than in their interpersonal abilities. The researcher’s specific objectives would be achieved, when she submits the research results of this study to policy makers in the Department of Education, thus expanding the boundaries of existing knowledge about the relationship between wheelchair-bound learners’ participation in movement activities and their emotional and social development.
Die belangrikheid van die emosionele en sosiale ontwikkelingsgang in die mens se ontwikkeling word deur die navorsingstudie uitgelig, terwyl die vermoë van die menslike gees tot transendensie van die menslike liggaam, die navorser inspireer het om bewegingsaktiwiteite te ondersoek as ’n moontlike sleutel tot rolstoelgebonde leerders se emosionele en sosiale ontwikkeling. Die navorser het deelname aan rolstoeldanse gekies om te bepaal of rolstoelgebonde leerders op ’n emosionele en sosiale vlak ontwikkeling toon deur hul intra- en interpersoonlike vermoëns voor en ná deelname aan rolstoeldanse te ondersoek. Intra- en interpersoonlike vermoëns is interafhanklike vermoëns en word as belangrike komponente van emosionele intelligensie beskou. Die navorser het ’n doelgerigte steekproefneming gebruik in die seleksie van haar deelnemers om geldigheid en betroubaarheid in die hand te werk. Die deelnemers moes aan sekere vereistes voldoen. Sy loods ’n konstruktivistiese ondersoek vanuit ’n interpretivistiese perspektief as ’n (hoofsaaklik) kwalitatiewe ondersoek, met ’n interaktiewe gevallestudie-ontwerp en veelmetodestrategie. Die kleiner, kwantitatiewe komponent van die navorsingstudie is die Piers-Harris Children’s Self-Concept Scale, Second Edition (Piers-Harris 2). Dit bied, as voor- en nátoets, ’n basislynassessering vir die deelnemers se emosionele en sosiale ontwikkeling ten opsigte van selfkonsep. Die teoretiese raamwerk waaruit die navorser hierdie navorsingsprobleem benader, is ’n vermenging van die mediesetekort- en die sosiale model, met sterker klem op die ontwikkelings- en helende benadering van die sosiale model, as die tekortkominge-en-beheer-benadering van die mediesetekort-model. Die fokus van die studie is nie op rolstoelgebonde leerders se inperkinge nie, maar juis op die moontlike ontwikkeling wat deur hul deelname aan bewegingsaktiwiteite in die leerders mag plaasvind. Die navorser steun sterk op die sosiale model in ’n poging om begrip vir die probleme wat rolstoelgebonde leerders tans in die onderwys ervaar, te verkry, sodat skole ontwikkel kan word wat in leerderbehoeftes voorsien. Die navorsingsresultate bied antwoorde op die primêre en sekondêre navorsingsvrae en die algemene doelstelling van hierdie navorsingstudie is bereik. Die navorser het vasgestel dat rolstoelgebonde leerders, deur hul deelname aan bewegingsaktiwiteite, emosionele en sosiale ontwikkeling toon. Al die deelnemers se emosionele intelligensie het verhoog en almal beleef groter selfverwesenliking sedert hul deelname aan rolstoeldanse. Die navorsingsresultate weerspieël groter groei ten opsigte van die deelnemers se intrapersoonlike as hulle interpersoonlike vermoëns. Die navorser se spesifieke doelstellings word bereik, wanneer die navorser die navorsingsresultate van hierdie studie aan beleidmakers in die Departement van Onderwys voorlê en daardeur die grense van bestaande kennis omtrent die verband tussen rolstoelgebonde leerders se deelname aan bewegingsaktiwiteite en hul emosionele en sosiale ontwikkeling kan uitbrei.
Inclusive Education
M. Ed. (Inklusiewe Onderwys)