‘The Echoes of a Place’: An investigation into the notion of place in the work of Dan Canham

Abstract

This research paper investigates the work of British choreographer and dancer Dan Canham. The focus of the investigation will be localised on the theoretical notion of ‘place’, in relation to Canham’s work and performance theory. It will also utilise geographical and philosophical discourse in order to widen the research, creating a cross-disciplinary approach to the subject in question. It will assert that through the presentation of place in an artistic setting, an experiential understanding of place is processed and created by the receiver. This thesis will also suggest several tools that feature in Dan Canham’s work in order to argue this point. The most potent of these is choreo-mapping, which suggests a hybrid of geographical and performative methodology in order to create a new spatial understanding within the presentation of place on stage.