Synthesis of Circles: Transcultural Choreographic Practice through Movement Analysis and Reshaping
This research explores transcultural choreographic practice by utilizing the ‘circle’ as a shared physical carrier and generative principle. It focuses on analysing distinct circular kinetic mechanisms abstracted from Sufi whirling, Chinese classical dance, and the Viennese waltz to facilitate their contemporary transformation.
Drawing on Wolfgang Welsch’s concept of transcultural hybridity and Susan Leigh Foster’s post-structuralist view of the dancing body, the project moves beyond surface-level cultural juxtaposition to examine choreography as an ongoing process of subjectivity formation. The main research question is: How can the culturally embedded circular movements of selected dance forms be dismantled and reshaped into a transcultural choreographic language? Through this line of inquiry, the research investigates how to strip these specific motions of their traditional aesthetic shells, and how this ‘denaturalizing’ process reconfigures these disparate kinetics into a contemporary movement vocabulary. The methodology combines Laban Movement Analysis (LMA) to dissect kinetic mechanisms, comparative analysis of choreographic cases, intensive artistic practice, and kinaesthetic reflection. Ultimately, this project aims to develop a practice-led framework for transcultural choreography, offering new strategies for movement translation within the contemporary dance field.
Erstbetreuerin: Assoz.Univ.Prof. Mag. Rose Breuss, ABU
Zweitbetreuerin: Univ.-Prof. Dr. habil. Stephanie Schroedter, mdw
Biography
Jiaji Cheng (b. 1998, China) is an emerging dance artist active as a dancer, choreographer, and dance educator. He completed his secondary vocational studies at Ningbo Art School, focusing on Chinese classical and folk dance. He subsequently graduated from the Zhejiang Conservatory of Music’s Dance Pedagogy Program in 2020, earning multiple scholarships and the title of Outstanding Graduate. From 2022 to 2024, he studied under Professor Rose Breuss at Anton Bruckner University, obtaining a Master’s degree in Movement Research with distinction.
Cheng has presented his work at various international platforms. He has performed at Theater an der Rott, the A!KO Dance Festival, and the China-CEEC Music and Dance Festival. His co-choreographed work, Homodyne, was featured at the Ars Electronica Festival and the Geneva Mapping Festival. Additionally, his dance film, Song Dynasty · Flower Wedding, won the Best Creativity Award at the 2023 Divulge Dancers’ Film Festival, and Fish in the Room, a piece choreographed for his student, claimed First Prize at the 2025 Dubai International Dance Competition.
Currently a doctoral researcher, Cheng explores transcultural dance creation. By integrating traditional dance forms into contemporary choreographic contexts, he aims to develop practical methodologies for the innovative preservation and evolution of dance art.