Entering the Rhizome

This introductory chapter provides an overview of the book and establishes the connections between dance education and choreographic practice through digital pedagogy. It introduces some of the key concepts that are explored and anchors the reader by establishing the major conceptual and methodological underpinnings of the book. It positions choreographic practice at the centre of the research and how it is incorporated into broader considerations of creative education, with a focus on how this may be facilitated (rather than encumbered) by digital technology. This chapter introduces the concept and significance of the rhizome, based on the work of Deleuze and Guattari (A thousand plateaus: Capitalism and schizophrenia. Bloomsbury Publishing, 1988), and as a metaphor that weaves throughout the rest of the text. The chapter opening figure is an embodied representation of the rhizome and centres on the importance of the physicalisation of the concept. The chapter then offers a preliminary exploration of the landscape of related literature on choreographic practice, the use of technology in dance and the impact of both on learning in dance. Finally, the chapter previews the relationship between the chapters to follow, and the text’s rhizomatic orientation. All of the images in this book are from the author’s originally choreographed works, with permission.