Ethical Relationality in Dance Rehearsal Spaces: A Case Study of <i>Mizuki No Eki</i>

Abstract

Performing arts are important to the cultural fabric, yet in North America, they tend to lack diversity and may reinforce social inequities through training and performance that is based on hegemonic cultural identities. In this paper, we explore an approach to creation and rehearsal that could be more inclusive to diverse perspectives and identities such that performing arts can convey the complexities of multiple realities relevant to the North American context. We propose ethical relationality, a conscious consideration of relationships with the self, others, historical legacies and social and physical environments, as an approach to the creation and rehearsal processes. The application of ethics to these processes has the potential to produce more relatable, pluralist and ethical creation practices and performances and promote responsible, responsive, and affective engagement with others. It requires a flexible, collaborative approach with shared power and shared responsibility for each other, the engagement of all participants in the process, and the work created. Through a case study of a wordless theatrical dance performance, we give a concrete example of how an ethical relationality approach could facilitate open and courageous creative processes, acknowledging the various factors of oppression and omission to which the performing arts are subject.