Staging principles of my choreographic method "The Spherical System" by Fernando Antonio Dominguez Rincon

The research develops around The Spherical System, a method and sensorial technique I created in 2011, which I have been evolving since then. The Spherical System is a method designed for developing choreographic material and a technique for practitioners to sense their bodies in motion. This practice is my go-to method for all my choreographic creations. In this project, I focused on generating multiple tools for communicating and articulating the system's operations as a method to a broader audience. I also explored and produced a choreography titled "Spherical Body," which differs from previous ones that expressed an emotion, story, or feeling. Instead, an abstract choreography that physically displays the basic principles of the Spherical System. The study develops a framework that outlines the key stages of choreographic practice within the Spherical System and how each stage can be communicated to an audience. The framework serves as a guide for explaining the mediums and techniques used to create a stage performance. I aim to showcase my practice's fundamental principles and delve into the more abstract aspects of contemporary dance by unfolding movement complexity from a single point.

This section gives final conclusions after conducting this research.

By conducting this research, I realized that it actively contributes to existing knowledge about the body and ways to approach it in choreographic settings. I made practical implications by providing insights into my practice and method while informing decision-making in relevant settings and stages.

As someone genuinely invested in this topic, I am compelled to offer my perspectives and insights to the current discourse. That is why I have decided to open up my practice and explore it further. By doing so, as an art research community, we can gain a deeper understanding of what, why, and how we conceive art.

I knew most of my practice was empirical and built by research-practice and practitioner feedback. At an early stage of this research, I identified with M.C. Escher, according to Macgillavry, Caroline H. (1965), Escher stated, "Although I am absolutely innocent of training or knowledge in the exact sciences, I often seem to have more in common with mathematicians than with my fellow artists." [5]

Articulating and communicating my practice made me realize it is an adjustable method for exploring different fields, such as social sciences and technology.

Before starting this research, I envisioned how The Spherical System is a tool that can break down traditional body stereotypes in dance and choreography by imagining the body as an architecture of three-dimensional forms. I even thought about exploring that topic during the MA in Choreography program. However, it was challenging to encounter the method within a social frame because it was a practice that only existed in my head during my choreographic processes, rehearsals, and workshops.

I could not investigate, contextualize, or allow others to research it because it was "non-existent." So I needed to step back and start by articulating and communicating my method in a way that extends beyond the rehearsal space. I delivered various mediums, such as text, diagrams, images, video, and a software application.

Even if this concept of breaking down stereotypes in dance was not the main focus of the actual research - performance- it is an ongoing process that I am considering studying as a branch of this research.

One of the most significant insights was to think of The Spherical System method outside the binary of "body-mind by" by adding" a third component "device." That opened up more questions than answers. Schwaiger, E. (2011). "Further, as the post-structuralist feminist literature of Judith Butler and others suggested, the perceived disruption of subjectivity caused by bodily aging can only be a disruption to a subjectivity that is fixed, unitary, and based on a dualistic mind-body split. It can, therefore, be argued to be a product of binary forms of thinking which pose 'young' against 'old,' 'male' against 'female' and 'self' against 'other' and reflects a worldview which is both hegemonic and limiting and denies justice to the Other". [6]

Especially now, the world is submerging itself in digital technology where slowly "the strength," as in the past, is not a primary motor to question hierarchy; considering the new digital platforms that allow us to avatar ourselves, reality in its hybrid is less attentive to only a "binary way of thinking" and perceiving ourselves in diverse qualities that hopefully will not be continue ruled by "the existing stereotypes."

Placing this research will allow me to encounter The Spherical System with other fields; until the end of conducting it, I realized that more than only staging a choreography, I was finally articulating and communicating a choreographic practice into other mediums different from physicality.

It was discovered that The Spherical Body, as a body simplification into three-dimensional shapes, also can operate as an algorithm that can create the base to formulate a software code.

I never thought, for example, that I would explore the connections between dance and AI through the development of this research. However, now, I am inspired to investigate and see where this journey takes me. There is so much potential, and I am excited to continue pushing the boundaries of what is possible.

In conclusion, this research became extensive in resultant products and opened more goals for further research in my career.

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[5] H., M. G. C., & Escher, M. C. (1965). Symmetry aspects of M.C. Escher’s periodic drawings. A. Oosthoek’s Uitgeversmaatschappj.

[6] Schwaiger, E. (2011). Aging, gender, embodiment, and dance: Finding a balance. Springer. 4 Oliver, W., & Risner, D. (2017) Dance and Gender: An evidence-based approach.

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