Theatre & Dance ETDs

Amy Schofield

Publication Date

Spring 4-7-2021

Abstract

This essay accompanies my Master of Fine Arts thesis project, a dance film entitled Haunted (premiered online March 12, 2021; made in collaboration with Jenny Serrano as Director of Photography), that employs themes and aesthetics from film noir to an exploration of the stereotype of the sensual female flamenco dancer. By combining concepts from dance studies with feminist and postcolonial theories, I trace the legacy of the bailaora (female flamenco dancer) presented as sexualized, Orientalized Other from the nineteenth century to the present day. An overview of film noir and neo-noir bolsters a thorough description and analysis of select scenes from Haunted. Disrupting notions of flamenco dance and fracturing outdated representations of femininity, this work carries on the legacy of flamenco as act of protest to explore the values of flamenco performance in the United States beyond the aesthetic and contributes to my personal search for expression within the form.

Degree Name

Dance

Level of Degree

Masters

Department Name

Theatre & Dance

First Committee Member (Chair)

Brianna Figueroa

Second Committee Member

Angela Beauchamp

Third Committee Member

Eva Encinias-Sandoval

Fourth Committee Member

Marisol Encinias

Fifth Committee Member

Donna Jewell

Sixth Committee Member

James Stone

Keywords

flamenco, flamenca, dance, film noir, haunted, stereotype, bailaora, femme fatale

Document Type

Dissertation

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