Politics: Navigating Power Dynamics

How can we best navigate power dynamics within a dance workplace? What about through active agency and heterarchy? Organizational structures have historically been a challenge for corporates and performing arts groups alike, mostly presenting itself as a tough nut to crack. However, therein lie a multitude of ways to better grasp and understand the psychology and modus operandi of our environment, resulting in a reframing and distancing from the often negative connotations associated with the concept of POWER.

Sarah Rubidge is an educator, academic and choreographer and digital artist working in dance for over 40 years. She was Head of Education at Rambert Dance Company and headed up the MA in Dance Studies at the Laban Centre between 1992 and 1997. She is currently mentoring Postgraduate students at the Bartlett School of Architecture Masters in Design for Performance and Interaction, and serves as a PhD examiner and mentor. She was subsequently awarded a Readership and then a Professorship in Choreography and New Media.

Kickstarting the month of Politics, this episode explores the research and methods of navigating power dynamics within the increasingly complex workplace of the performing arts. Ready to become an active agent and unleash personal power? Join us as we foreground dance in the background!

Soundtrack: Birds - Tyler Twombly | Poison Ivy Yard Work - Uncle Milk

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Prof. Sarah Rubidge

Researcher | Educator | Digital Artist | Consultant

B. Ed, MPhil, PhD Research and Postgraduate Consultant.

Sarah has had a long career as educator, academic and artist, and spans the artistic and the academic worlds. She was Head of Education at Rambert Dance Company and headed up the MA in Dance Studies at the Laban Centre between 1992 and 1997. As a practitioner-scholar and early adopter of practice as a primary research method at PhD level, she received one of the first AHRC Creative Arts Fellowships in 2000, working through the University of Chichester. She was subsequently awarded a Readership and then a Professorship in Choreography and New Media.

She is a well-respected practitioner and scholar and has had both her writing and her artistic work published nationally and internationally. Sarah is currently mentoring Postgraduate students at the Bartlett School of Architecture Masters in Design for Performance and Interaction, and serves as a PhD examiner and mentor. She continues to engage in both her artistic work and her academic research.