Affect, Feeling, and Emotion: The Heart and Art of Storytelling in Ballet

Abstract:

This paper will explore and synthesize how affect, feeling, and emotion function as choreographic storytelling devices in ballet. Research will be based on the analysis of sources related to affect, feeling, and emotion, somatic expression, bodies, embodiment, autotheory, and storytelling to support a choreographic process to develop a narrative concept in classical and contemporary ballet. Synthesis will take place through analyzing how the research functioned in the development of my own recent and ongoing choreographic work at the intersection of ballet, contemporary, and imagination, as well as in the work of other choreographers. Research will include dancers’ reflections and anecdotes on their perspectives of how they experienced affect, feeling, and emotion during the choreographic process and the performance of the work. Audience feedback will be collected through the informal showing of the work prior to performance, as well as post-performance by collecting anecdotes from audience members (students, faculty, peers, etc.) The energetic qualities of the ballet choreography and the sensations that are evoked to me are the most exciting and dynamic elements of a ballet’s choreography. Even in abstract ballets, I extrapolate or project ideas onto a work based on the movements, sensations, or energetic qualities that are transmitted from the choreography and the dancers to my own perception of the work. It has become apparent to me that the elements of affect, feeling, and emotion are key components of ballet storytelling and choreographic devices for the choreographer, performer, and viewer.

 

Bibliography:

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Presented by Fiona Scruggs, MFA Candidate; Sarah Lawrence College

 

Biography:

Born in Tübingen, Germany, Fiona Scruggs is a dancer, choreographer, researcher, educator, and writer. Fiona is an American Ballet Theatre Certified Teacher (Pre-Primary-Level 5) and received her classical ballet and contemporary training at Radford University with Inessa Plekhanova, Aleksey Plekhanov, and Deborah McLaughlin, Salzburg International Ballet Academy with Ildiko Pongor and Amelia Wanderlingh, Next Generation Ballet, Louisville Ballet, and Tennessee Governor’s School for the Arts with Donna Carver. She has performed lead and ensemble roles from ballets including “The Nutcracker,” “Chopiniana,” and “Don Quixote,” musicals including “Oklahoma!” and “Anything Goes,” and numerous contemporary and modern works.

As an artist-scholar, her interests are in storytelling, worldbuilding, and magic. Her work lives at the intersection of ballet, contemporary, and our imaginations. Fiona’s choreography has been presented at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, 5×5 Dance Festival, The Foundry, Bard College at Simon’s Rock, Chesterwood, Choreography on the Edge, Wandering Dance Festival, Salzburg International Ballet Academy Gala, and Radford University. She is the founder, artistic director, and choreographer of Qualia Dance Collective, the Director of Communications & Marketing at Simon’s Rock at Bard College, and a contributing dance writer for The Berkshire Edge. Formerly, she was a Teaching Artist Fellow through the Massachusetts Cultural Council Creative Youth Development program, the School Programs Coordinator at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, and has modeled for fashion designer Samantha Pleet. Fiona received a bachelor’s degree in dance education, summa cum laude, from Radford University. She is currently an MFA in Dance Candidate at Sarah Lawrence College.