Year of Graduation

2022

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

MFA: Dance

Directing Professor

Jeffery Bullock

Abstract

This thesis paper and accompanying film explore the reality of mothering a school-aged child in America. The written document describes the creative manifestation and explains the stalemate at which American parents and gun sense advocates find themselves: over the past four decades of documented school rampage shootings in America, precious few laws have been enacted to protect American schoolchildren from gun violence. By June of 2021, a year in which many children were taught virtually, nine children have been murdered by gunfire on school grounds. Rampage shootings are a distinctly American issue, with little to no action being taken on a national level to protect children from the very real threat of gun violence in schools. Extreme solutions, such as arming educators or banning firearms altogether, serve only to further divide parents who all want the same thing: safer schools. The complementary creative manifestation, a narrative/experimental dance film, follows an American mother through her morning routine, performing the labor of parenting, caretaking, and worrying as she sends her daughter to school with the understanding that on any given day, she could kiss her daughter goodbye in the morning and be asked to identify her bullet-riddled remains in the afternoon. While there is no graphic violence depicted, the film asks the audience to examine the inner imaginative landscape of a mother fearing for her child’s safety as she sends her to school, innocent and trusting, like a sheep to slaughter.

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Performance Access Statement

If you wish to see the creative piece or performance that accompanied this thesis, please complete the Request Form, and you should receive a response from the Dance Department within two weeks.

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