Senior Teaching Fellow
DipPE (Otago) MPhEd (Otago)
Tel 64 3 479 8980
Email ali.east@otago.ac.nz
Background
Alison East (MPHED Otago) is a teacher and choreographer with more than forty years experience. After graduating from The University of Otago in Physical Education under Professor Smithells, she led the dance programme for two years before leaving to study dance in Seattle, USA. Returning to Aotearoa in 1978, she established Origins Dance Theatre (New Zealand's first company of both dancers and musicians, whose thematic concerns were largely eco-political and, who have performed and taught throughout New Zealand.
In 1989 Ali established the first National Diploma of Contemporary Dance, (Now the BA of Performing and Screen Arts in Dance, at Unitec, Auckland) which she directed for eight years.
Ali is a founding member of the National Tertiary Dance Educators Network of Aotearoa, NZ. She is a member of the Board of Studies for the BA in Performing Arts, Music, OU.
She has presented at The International Society of Dance History Scholars conference (Albuquerque, 1999), The New Zealand Dance Research Forum (Waikato UV,2001 and Unitec 2004), at several NDEO National Dance Educators Conferences in USA, and has been guest lecturer at University of North Carolina , USA, the University of Surrey, UK , Dartington Hall, UK.. and Folkland Institute, South India.
Ali is still a practicing artist whose work 'Anima'(2005), a video dance film exploring the human body in and as part of nature, has been shown internationally. She co-ordinates the annual Shared Agendas Cross-disciplinary Improvised Performances at OU (now in their nineteenth year).
Teaching
Research
Alison's broad research interests lie within the area of teaching choreographic practice and process. Her current research explores the links between dance education and practice and ecological Philosophy (the development of an eco-choreography pedagogy). Related to this theme is a strong interest in collaborative performance, trans-disciplinary research within the university and situated learning.
Her major teaching areas include: Dance Fundamentals (comparative somatic practices); Contemporary choreography-History and practice; Dance and Community; and Dance Ethnography.
Publications
East, A. (2016). Rehearsing democracy: Enhancing community through the interdisciplinary performance improvisation series ‘Shared Agendas’. Dance Research Aotearoa, 4(1), 171-187. doi: 10.15663%2Fdra.v4i1 Journal - Research Article
East, A., & Lavender, L. (2017). 'After dance...?' A critical dialogue on possibilities for the un-disciplining of dance. Dance Research Aotearoa, 5, 71-97. doi: 10.15663%2Fdra.v5i1.72 Journal - Research Article
East, A. (2011). Teaching dance as if the world matters: Eco-choreography: A design for teaching dance-making in the 21st century. Saarbrücken, Germany: Lambert Academic, 236p. Authored Book - Research
East, A. (2011). The role of dance studies in a transdisciplinary university research environment. Brolga, 35, 49-56. Journal - Research Article
East, A. (2007). Interweaving philosophies of dance teaching and dance-making: What can one practice teach the other? Waikato Journal of Education, 13, 123-138. Journal - Research Article