‘What Moves Them’ An investigation into the use of the techniques of Pina Bausch and the strategy of ‘creativity cards’ in the creation of a piece of dance theatre that communicates the brutalities of sex trafficking.

This thesis documents a process of practice-led research in which I drew on the techniques of Pina Bausch and a particular methodological and choreographic approach to making material – ‘creativity cards’ – in order to create a piece of dance theatre that communicated the brutalities of sex trafficking. The thesis concludes that the form of dance theatre together with the methodology of ‘creativity cards’ and Bauschian techniques such as the use of repetition, the use of ‘violence’ and the use of ‘memeplex’ (a specific characteristic movement species that can be found across Bausch’s work),
enabled me as a choreographer to establish a relationship between the performer and the audience. The combination of form, techniques and methodology used in the research project engaged the audience in such a way that they empathised with the performer and were encouraged to think about what was being presented on stage in The Body Shop. This engagement between audience and performer meant that the project was successful in conveying the brutal realities of sex trafficking.