Dance, the human spirit and event: translating the choreographic principles of “landscape dancing” to the interior design of a secular event space

• Main Author: Riediger, Erin
• Other Authors: Mallory Hill, Shauna (Interior Design)
• Published: 2013
• Subjects: Interior Design; Dance; Winnipeg; Exchange District; James Avenue Pumping Station; Hospitality
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1993/22127

In this Master of Interior Design practicum project I apply the choreographic principles of Stephanie Ballard’s “Landscape Dancing” projects to the design of a secular event space within the James Avenue Pumping Station site in Winnipeg, Manitoba. A landscape dancer’s relationship with their surroundings allows them to create meaning and event in quotidian environments; therefore the application of Ballard’s dance methodology to design can create interior design that affects the human spirit. The process of cultural analysis in conjunction with relevant theories related to the moving body and performance were studied to understand how landscape dancers transform the emotional qualities of an environment through gesture and positioning. This theoretical framework informs the adaptive reuse of an existing structure that reacts to the industrial interior and builds upon its inherent aesthetic to breathe new life into the environment.