ABSTRACT
This chapter considers how site elements might influence and affect creative dance practitioners. It explores relationships between the spatial and experiential components of site and the choreographer and also considers how these relationships might inform the creative process leading to performance. The chapter focuses on the work of architectural and philosophical theorists concerned with the experiencing of space, including Henri Lefebvre, Bryan Lawson, Yi-Fu Tuan and Gaston Bachelard. Lawson implies that the 'meaning' of the space refers not only to its external facade, but also indicates the building's function and the social norms employed when interacting with the space. The chapter examines concepts of social and personal space, ways of constructing, experiencing, perceiving, and reading them and the implications for site-specific dance performance. The chapter also focuses on architectural and constructed spaces. It concludes with the presentation of a 'model of influence' as an illustration of how the various approaches upon the creative and interpretive process can be of influence.
