A choreographic notebook: methodological developments in qualitative geographical research

Abstract

This paper develops the dancers' choreographic notebook as a cross-disciplinary documentational device in the representation and analysis of multi-sensual qualitative sources. Drawing upon fieldwork collected during a London-based research placement with the dance company BalletBoyz, I endeavour to extend critical debates around the body and performance within human geography to examine the 'more-than-representational' 1 methodological possibilities affiliated with performativity and its allied body of literature. In performing this methodological approach, I first hope to encourage experimental and creative documentational methods for conducting vibrant, engaging geographies of the body. Second, I affirm the centrality of sensuous, embodied accounts in the research process. Finally, this paper seeks to equip others in their investigations into re-imagining what 'physical' thinking might look like. In documenting the body, I hope a space may be created to rethink the ontology of the body beyond the dualisms of absence or present.

Mapping microbial stories: Creative microbial aesthetic and cross‐disciplinary intervention in understanding nurses’ infection prevention practices

“…Two registered nurses in costume (scrubs) are called onto set, task sheets in hand, and asked to complete four routine nursing tasks, first without and then with recommended hand hygiene guidelines (gloves, hand washing, antimicrobial gels). (Veal, 17 May )…”

“…There is a long history of interdisciplinarity between science and art, with organisations such as Arts Catalyst () and Wellcome Trust () producing and funding creative outputs in association with scientific research. Likewise, much cultural geographical scholarship, particularly post non‐representational “theory,” has been characterised by engaging with creative methodologies (McCormack, ; Veal, ) and lively collaborations with a host of art practitioners and practices (Dixon, ; Hawkins, ) as a way of accessing the precognitive, embodied, sensual knowledge that “makes us human.” Yet what seems missing is how cultural geographical knowledge might advance interdisciplinary studies within the health sciences.…”

“…A sense of curiosity about the stories their hands might tell nevertheless increases. (Veal, 17 May )…”

Experimenting with institutions in a 21st century age of “post‐truth”

“…Accordingly, notions of expertise have become increasingly nuanced amid different forms of knowledge being increasingly accepted (see Kerr, ; White, ), while participants have become more involved in experiments' processes as well as outcomes (see Rheinberger, ; also Hawkins, ). Geographers have utilised these more nuanced understandings to fold previous “uncertainty” (DeSilvey, ; Dwyer & Davies, ) into the research process, such as through experimental methods (Dowling, Lloyd, & Suchet‐Pearson, ; Veal, ). Experiments, then, have integrated geographical thought, practice and research process both in terms of using experiments (Kullman, ) and through engaging with geographical concepts experimentally (Fois, ).…”

The art of parachuting: Embodied geopolitics, aerial aesthetics and dance‐based combat training at Ringway Aerodrome, 1940–1946

“…Once a systematic written documentation of each micro‐practice of parachuting had been produced it would, he maintained, be possible to assess good and bad practice, and detail the effort involved during each stage. Keen to extend the reach of his work, his 1946 report subsequently proposes the Laban‐Lawrence effort notation method as “an integral part of the achievement of objective results.” In contrast to other notational techniques, such as stick figures or foot tracks, Laban's “written dance” dismembered each part of the body through the use of specific symbols, positioning them on a staff in accordance with space and time (Veal, ). Once trained in this written movement, Laban argued instructors would be able to determine and cure effort and movement habits of their recruits, whether during synthetic training or parachute descents.…”