Abstract

The objective of this research was to develop a model for an embodied-artistic approach to analyzing interview data that could contribute to an enhanced narrative account and/or offer an alternate perspective. A new model was formulated by adapting and/or critically applying a combination of previously developed analytical frameworks. Dance/movement therapy skills that encompass ways of listening through an embodied, empathic, aesthetic manner; and a movement observation and assessment tool, Laban Movement Analysis were at the core of this explicatory process. The researcher’s movement preferences were identified in the preparatory phase with a certified movement analyst as a source for reflexive knowledge. Interviews were conducted with two subsets of dance/movement therapists to: develop the approach in the induction phase ; and test the approach in the validation phase. In the induction phase, the video footage of the dances was shared with a CMA and the participants for peer review. The approach was revised. In the validation phase, this new model was tested with a different subset of dance/movement therapists. The analysis was inherent in the process of dance creation. The findings highlighted that interpreting interview data through a dance brings forth the researcher’s values, biases and intersubjective phenomenological experiences. By moving, emotional resonance and dissonance were brought to the fore. The agreement between researcher and participant on the essence of what was communicated in the dance appeared to be determined by a shared aesthetic and emotional consensus. Additionally, the dance analysis articulated the participants’ aspirations and ideas about themselves that they had not verbalized in the interview. The relational and aesthetic focus of the dance approach can reveal intent, justification, and feelings of purpose that would not be discovered through traditional content analysis of written transcriptions. The complex nature of the experience is reflected in the aesthetics with emphasis on the relational manner in which meanings emerge.