Inner Dimensions

Author

Liudmila Karaseva, The University Of MontanaFollow

Graduation Year

2025

Graduation Month

May

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

School or Department

College of Humanities and Sciences

Major

Multidisciplinary Studies

Faculty Mentor Department

Dance

Faculty Mentor

Heidi Eggert

Keywords

dance, performance, mental health, process, Dance on Location

Subject Categories

Dance

Abstract

“Inner Dimensions” is a choreographed dance piece that is collaborative and process-based about the connection between our inner consciousness and the outside world. This piece is about how living in the world with mental health, addiction, and trauma feels isolating and disconnected. To showcase this, I wanted to focus on the fact that life is about the journey rather than the destination. So often in our outside world, we have to conform to standards and norms that do not feel reachable when individuals have struggles that prevent them from fully achieving what is expected. This piece hopes to shed light on the system that we have created that is fully product focused, about what you can produce, rather than what occurred along the way.

The outcomes of this project were to provide rehearsal sessions that are collaborative with the dancers and present the piece at Dance on Location on October 5^th and 6^th at the University of Montana. These sessions were interactive and involved the dancers in the process of creating the dance piece. I facilitated each session in an organized and also fluid way. This looked like starting out the sessions with a guided body scan meditation to allow participants to come into their bodies. It then moved into check-ins about how they are feeling and what is present in their life, followed by moving into choreographing the dance piece. I designed my piece so that each dancer can bring in their own experiences to express themselves through the art of movement. It allowed for the individuals to move through and alchemize their experiences in a safe and healthy way. After working together, the sessions wrapped up with designated time for reflection. This looked like participants drawing, journaling, and verbally sharing how their experience was and what came up for them.

This project’s importance is to call out that holding space for process-based experiences is not only beneficial but necessary. If we want to move forward in a society that holds space for all individuals, especially those struggling, we can help by shifting focus on the importance of creation for the act of creating, experiencing for the experience, and living for life itself, rather than merely for an achieved result or product.

Honors College Research Project

Yes

GLI Capstone Project

no

Recommended Citation

Karaseva, Liudmila, "Inner Dimensions" (2025). Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts. 520.
https://scholarworks.umt.edu/utpp/520