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Choreonavigation

2/1/2022

Choreonavigation

Abstract
Choreonavigation proposes a practice-based wayfinding method through maritime dance–a world of colonialism, racism, "discovery" and resilience. It treats choreography as a compass reading traces in the body to chart routes through memory, diaspora and place. This projected emerged from my New York City pierdancing as as a Romani voguing Irish step dancer orienting movement across histories, geographies and identities.

Overview

Choreonavigation emerged in my practice as I worked with maritime and migratory archives. "Street" and "traditional" dance forms alike are reconsidered as surviving maritime dance practices. I use step dance and task-based scores to “map” wayfinding, then build choreographies and storytelling that explore legibility with audiences and community.

Methods

  • Task scores for embodied wayfinding
  • Reflexive choreonavigational storytelling
  • Field notes + annotated video

Artifacts

  • Lecture–demonstrations and performance excerpts
  • Academic article

References & mentions

  • Brown, Russell Patrick. “‘This Little Wooden World’: Choreo-Navigating Maritime Dance.” In Celebrating Flamenco’s Tangled Roots: The Body Questions, ed. K. Meira Goldberg and Antoni Pizà. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2022. (Introduces choreonavigation as a “wayfinding self” in the opening of the chapter.)
    PDF sample

  • Celebrate & Recalibrate Flamenco (Coventry University). I was a co-collaborator on the project; on Day 3 I presented a walking paper (performance paper) on space, place, and protocols.
    Project page · Day 3 video

Image credit

Aeon Satori and Russell Patrick Brown dancing on Christopher Street Pier in New York City.

Keywords

Choreonavigation, Post/Colonialism, Embodied Wayfinding, Wayfinding Self, Maritime Dance, Oceanic Dance, Spatial Choreography, Embodied Mapping, Psychogeography, Walking Methods, Site-Specific Performance, Step Dance, Task Scores, Attention Mapping, Somatic Practice, Diaspora and Place, Romani Studies, Atlantic World, Blue Humanities, Migration & Movement, Spatial Humanities, Dance Ethnography, Performance Studies, Choreography as Research, Protocols of Space, Memory and Place.

Contact

Booking, residencies, or collaborations: info@timedancers.org