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A/r/tography as Research Methodology: Explorations and Impact on Understanding Choreographic Practice

image of A/r/tography as Research Methodology: Explorations and Impact on Understanding Choreographic Practice
  • By Peter J. Cook
  • Source: The Intellect Handbook of Dance Education Research , pp 51-63
  • Publication Date: September 2025
  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1386/9781835951347_7
  • Language: English
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A/r/tography is an Arts-Based Educational Research methodology that recognizes the multidimensional roles of being an artist, researcher and teacher, and the interrelationship of these identities within the educational context. It serves to creatively address both educational and scholarly inquiries, leveraging artistic methods to offer unique insights into research propositions. For dance educators, a/r/tography can maximize the understanding of the pivotal role creative practices play in enhancing pedagogical approaches. Conventional data collection methods are challenged by a/r/tography, as it incorporates both creation and analysis of choreographic activities as valuable datasets that contribute to scholarly discourses on teaching dance as an art form.

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References

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     [Google Scholar]
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     [Google Scholar]
  4. Biggs, S. (2009), New Media: The ‘First Word’ in Art?, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
  5. Blom, L. A. and Chaplin, L. T. (1982), The Intimate Act of Choreography, Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press.
  6. Blumenfeld-Jones, D. (2008), ‘Dance, choreography, and social science research’, in J. G. Knowles and A. L. Cole (eds), Handbook of the Arts in Qualitative Research, Los Angeles: Sage Publications, pp. 175–84.
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  8. Cook, J. P. (2022), ‘Generalist elementary male teachers advocating for dance and male dancers’, in D. Risner and B. Watson (eds), Masculinity, Intersectionality and Identity: Why Boys (Don’t) Dance, Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 53–74.
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     [Google Scholar]
  10. Cook, P. J. (2018b), ‘Understanding dance through authentic choreographic and a/r/tographic experiences’, in T. Chemi and X. Du (eds), Arts-Based Methods and Organizational Learning, Cham: Springer, pp. 115–45.
     [Google Scholar]
  11. Cook, Peter J. (2025), ‘A/ r/ tography as research methodology: Explorations and impact on understanding choreographic practice’, The Intellect Handbook of Dance Education Research, Bristol: Intellect, pp. 51–63.
  12. Cutcher, A. and Cook, J. P. (2016), ‘“One must also be an artist”: Online delivery of teacher education’, International Journal of Education & the Arts, 17:13, https://www.ijea.org/v17n13/.
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  13. Davenport, D. (2006), ‘Expanding thinking on teaching dance composition’, Journal of Dance Education, 6:1, pp. 4–5.
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  14. Davis, J., Normington, K., Bush-Bailey, G. and Bratton, J. (2011), ‘Researching theatre history and historiography’, in B. Kershaw and H. Nicholson (eds), Research Methods in Theatre and Performance, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, pp. 86–110.
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  15. Deleuze, G. and Guattari, F. (1988), A Thousand Plateaus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia, London: Bloomsbury Publishing.
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  17. Eisner, E. W. (1991), The Enlightened Eye: Qualitative Inquiry and the Enhancement of Educational Practice, New York: Macmillan.
  18. Fraleigh, S. H. and Hanstein, P. (1998), Researching Dance: Evolving Modes of Inquiry, Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press.
  19. Gale, M. B. and Featherstone, A. (2011), ‘The imperative of the archive: Creative archive research’, in B. Kershaw and H. Nicholson (eds), Research Methods in Theatre and Performance, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, pp. 17–40.
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  20. Hagood, T. K. and Kahlich, L. C. (2007), ‘Research in choreography’, in L. Bresler (ed.), International Handbook of Research in Arts Education, Berlin: Springer, pp. 517–31.
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  21. Harrington, C. (2013), ‘Choreographic pedagogies: Towards an embodied practice’, International Journal for Lesson and Learning Studies, 3:1, pp. 100–24.
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  22. Irwin, R. L. (2008), ‘A/r/tography’, in L. M. Given (ed.), The Sage Encyclopedia of Qualitative Research Methods, Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, pp. 237–51.
     [Google Scholar]
  23. Irwin, R. L. (2013), ‘Becoming a/r/tography’, Studies in Art Education, 54:3, pp. 198–215.
     [Google Scholar]
  24. Irwin, R. L., Beer, R., Springgay, S., Grauer, K., Xiong, G. and Bickel, B. (2006), ‘The rhizomatic relations of a/r/tography’, Studies in Art Education, 48:1, pp. 70–88.
     [Google Scholar]
  25. Irwin, R. L. and O’Donoghue, D. (2012), ‘Encountering pedagogy through relational art practices’, International Journal of Art & Design Education, 31:3, pp. 221–36.
     [Google Scholar]
  26. Irwin, R. L. and Springgay, S. (2008), ‘A/r/tography as practice-based research’, in M. Cahnmann-Taylor and R. Siegesmund (eds), Arts-Based Research in Education: Foundations for Practice, New York: Routledge, pp. 103–24.
     [Google Scholar]
  27. Lapan, S. D., Quartaroli, M. T. and Riemer, F. J. (2011), Qualitative Research: An Introduction to Methods and Designs, San Francisco: John Wiley & Sons.
  28. Leavy, P. (2015), Method Meets Art: Arts-Based Research Practice, New York: Guilford Publications.
  29. McNamara, C., Kidd, J. and Hughes, J. (2011), ‘The usefulness of mess: Artistry, improvisation and decomposition in the practice of research in applied theatre’, in B. Kershaw and H. Nicholson (eds), Research Methods in Theatre and Performance, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, pp. 186–209.
     [Google Scholar]
  30. Mullins, J. W. (2004), ‘An exemplar-apprentice model for teaching dance composition through performance in secondary education (NSW, Australia)’, Ph.D. diss., Leicester: De Montfort University.
  31. Peacock, S., Murray, S., Dean, J., Brown, D., Girdler, S. and Mastrominico, B. (2012), ‘Exploring tutor and student experiences in online synchronous learning environments in the performing arts’, Creative Education, 3:7, pp. 1269–80.
     [Google Scholar]
  32. Riddett-Moore, K. and Siegesmund, R. (2012), ‘Arts-based research: Data are constructed, not found’, in S. Klein (ed.), Action Research Methods: Plain and Simple, New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
     [Google Scholar]
  33. Risner, D. S. (2009), Stigma and Perseverance in the Lives of Boys Who Dance: An Empirical Study of Male Identities in Western Theatrical Dance Training, New York: Edwin Mellen Press.
  34. Sameshima, P., Irwin, R. L., Beer, R., Grauer, K., Xiong, G., Bickel, B. and Ricketts, K. (2009), ‘Rendering embodied heteroglossic spaces’, Journal of Arts & Communities, 1:2, pp. 129–46.
     [Google Scholar]
  35. Sinner, A., Leggo, C., Irwin, R. L., Gouzouasis, P. and Grauer, K. (2006), ‘Arts-based educational research dissertations: Reviewing the practices of new scholars’, Canadian Journal of Education, 29:4, pp. 1223–70.
     [Google Scholar]
  36. Smith, H. and Dean, R. T. (2009), ‘Practice-led research, research-led practice: Towards the iterative cyclic web’, in H. Smith and R. T. Dean (eds), Practice-Led Research, Research-Led Practice in the Creative Arts, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, pp. 1–38.
     [Google Scholar]
  37. Smith-Autard, J. M. (2002), The Art of Dance in Education, London: A&C Black.
  38. Smith-Autard, J. M. (2010), Dance Composition: A Practical Guide to Creative Success in Dance Making, London: Bloomsbury Publishing.
  39. Springgay, S., Irwin, R. L. and Kind, S. W. (2005), ‘A/r/tography as living inquiry through art and text’, Qualitative Inquiry, 11:6, pp. 897–912.
     [Google Scholar]
  40. Springgay, S., Irwin, R. L., Leggo, C. and Gouzouasis, P. (2007), Being with A/r/tography, Rotterdam: Sense Publications.
  41. Sullivan, A. M. (2009), ‘On poetic occasion in inquiry: Concreteness, voice, ambiguity, tension, and associative logic’, in M. Prendergast, C. Leggo and P. Sameshima (eds), Poetic Inquiry: Vibrant Voices in the Social Sciences, Rotterdam: Sense: pp. 111–26.
     [Google Scholar]
  42. Sullivan, G. (2010), Art Practice as Research: Inquiry in Visual Arts, Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
  43. Cook, Peter J. (2025), ‘A/r/tography as research methodology: Explorations and impact on understanding choreographic practice’, The Intellect Handbook of Dance Education Research, Bristol: Intellect, pp. 51–63.

References

  1. Barone, T. and Eisner, E. W. (1997), ‘Arts-based educational research’, Complementary Methods for Research in Education, 2, pp. 75–116.
     [Google Scholar]
  2. Barone, T. and Eisner, E. W (2011), Arts Based Research, Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
  3. Bickel, B. (2013), ‘Who will read this body? An a/r/tographic statement’, in M. Cahnmann-Taylor and R. Siegesmund (eds), Arts-Based Research in Education: Foundations for Practice, New York: Routledge.
     [Google Scholar]
  4. Biggs, S. (2009), New Media: The ‘First Word’ in Art?, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
  5. Blom, L. A. and Chaplin, L. T. (1982), The Intimate Act of Choreography, Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press.
  6. Blumenfeld-Jones, D. (2008), ‘Dance, choreography, and social science research’, in J. G. Knowles and A. L. Cole (eds), Handbook of the Arts in Qualitative Research, Los Angeles: Sage Publications, pp. 175–84.
     [Google Scholar]
  7. Bullen, V. (2008), ‘Developing a mind-body connection in teaching dance history’, in C. F. Stock (ed.), Dance Dialogues: Conversations across Cultures, Artforms and Practices, Brisbane: The Australian Dance Council and Queensland University of Technology.
     [Google Scholar]
  8. Cook, J. P. (2022), ‘Generalist elementary male teachers advocating for dance and male dancers’, in D. Risner and B. Watson (eds), Masculinity, Intersectionality and Identity: Why Boys (Don’t) Dance, Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 53–74.
     [Google Scholar]
  9. Cook, P. J. (2018a), ‘Creatively analysing dance a/r/tographically’, in L. de Bruin, P. Burnard and S. Davis (eds), Creativities in Arts Education, Research and Practice, Leiden: Brill, pp. 237–51.
     [Google Scholar]
  10. Cook, P. J. (2018b), ‘Understanding dance through authentic choreographic and a/r/tographic experiences’, in T. Chemi and X. Du (eds), Arts-Based Methods and Organizational Learning, Cham: Springer, pp. 115–45.
     [Google Scholar]
  11. Cook, Peter J. (2025), ‘A/ r/ tography as research methodology: Explorations and impact on understanding choreographic practice’, The Intellect Handbook of Dance Education Research, Bristol: Intellect, pp. 51–63.
  12. Cutcher, A. and Cook, J. P. (2016), ‘“One must also be an artist”: Online delivery of teacher education’, International Journal of Education & the Arts, 17:13, https://www.ijea.org/v17n13/.
     [Google Scholar]
  13. Davenport, D. (2006), ‘Expanding thinking on teaching dance composition’, Journal of Dance Education, 6:1, pp. 4–5.
     [Google Scholar]
  14. Davis, J., Normington, K., Bush-Bailey, G. and Bratton, J. (2011), ‘Researching theatre history and historiography’, in B. Kershaw and H. Nicholson (eds), Research Methods in Theatre and Performance, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, pp. 86–110.
     [Google Scholar]
  15. Deleuze, G. and Guattari, F. (1988), A Thousand Plateaus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia, London: Bloomsbury Publishing.
  16. Dixon, S. (2011), ‘Researching digital performance: Virtual practices’, in B. Kershaw and H. Nicholson (eds), Research Methods in Theatre and Performance, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, pp. 41–62.
     [Google Scholar]
  17. Eisner, E. W. (1991), The Enlightened Eye: Qualitative Inquiry and the Enhancement of Educational Practice, New York: Macmillan.
  18. Fraleigh, S. H. and Hanstein, P. (1998), Researching Dance: Evolving Modes of Inquiry, Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press.
  19. Gale, M. B. and Featherstone, A. (2011), ‘The imperative of the archive: Creative archive research’, in B. Kershaw and H. Nicholson (eds), Research Methods in Theatre and Performance, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, pp. 17–40.
     [Google Scholar]
  20. Hagood, T. K. and Kahlich, L. C. (2007), ‘Research in choreography’, in L. Bresler (ed.), International Handbook of Research in Arts Education, Berlin: Springer, pp. 517–31.
     [Google Scholar]
  21. Harrington, C. (2013), ‘Choreographic pedagogies: Towards an embodied practice’, International Journal for Lesson and Learning Studies, 3:1, pp. 100–24.
     [Google Scholar]
  22. Irwin, R. L. (2008), ‘A/r/tography’, in L. M. Given (ed.), The Sage Encyclopedia of Qualitative Research Methods, Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, pp. 237–51.
     [Google Scholar]
  23. Irwin, R. L. (2013), ‘Becoming a/r/tography’, Studies in Art Education, 54:3, pp. 198–215.
     [Google Scholar]
  24. Irwin, R. L., Beer, R., Springgay, S., Grauer, K., Xiong, G. and Bickel, B. (2006), ‘The rhizomatic relations of a/r/tography’, Studies in Art Education, 48:1, pp. 70–88.
     [Google Scholar]
  25. Irwin, R. L. and O’Donoghue, D. (2012), ‘Encountering pedagogy through relational art practices’, International Journal of Art & Design Education, 31:3, pp. 221–36.
     [Google Scholar]
  26. Irwin, R. L. and Springgay, S. (2008), ‘A/r/tography as practice-based research’, in M. Cahnmann-Taylor and R. Siegesmund (eds), Arts-Based Research in Education: Foundations for Practice, New York: Routledge, pp. 103–24.
     [Google Scholar]
  27. Lapan, S. D., Quartaroli, M. T. and Riemer, F. J. (2011), Qualitative Research: An Introduction to Methods and Designs, San Francisco: John Wiley & Sons.
  28. Leavy, P. (2015), Method Meets Art: Arts-Based Research Practice, New York: Guilford Publications.
  29. McNamara, C., Kidd, J. and Hughes, J. (2011), ‘The usefulness of mess: Artistry, improvisation and decomposition in the practice of research in applied theatre’, in B. Kershaw and H. Nicholson (eds), Research Methods in Theatre and Performance, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, pp. 186–209.
     [Google Scholar]
  30. Mullins, J. W. (2004), ‘An exemplar-apprentice model for teaching dance composition through performance in secondary education (NSW, Australia)’, Ph.D. diss., Leicester: De Montfort University.
  31. Peacock, S., Murray, S., Dean, J., Brown, D., Girdler, S. and Mastrominico, B. (2012), ‘Exploring tutor and student experiences in online synchronous learning environments in the performing arts’, Creative Education, 3:7, pp. 1269–80.
     [Google Scholar]
  32. Riddett-Moore, K. and Siegesmund, R. (2012), ‘Arts-based research: Data are constructed, not found’, in S. Klein (ed.), Action Research Methods: Plain and Simple, New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
     [Google Scholar]
  33. Risner, D. S. (2009), Stigma and Perseverance in the Lives of Boys Who Dance: An Empirical Study of Male Identities in Western Theatrical Dance Training, New York: Edwin Mellen Press.
  34. Sameshima, P., Irwin, R. L., Beer, R., Grauer, K., Xiong, G., Bickel, B. and Ricketts, K. (2009), ‘Rendering embodied heteroglossic spaces’, Journal of Arts & Communities, 1:2, pp. 129–46.
     [Google Scholar]
  35. Sinner, A., Leggo, C., Irwin, R. L., Gouzouasis, P. and Grauer, K. (2006), ‘Arts-based educational research dissertations: Reviewing the practices of new scholars’, Canadian Journal of Education, 29:4, pp. 1223–70.
     [Google Scholar]
  36. Smith, H. and Dean, R. T. (2009), ‘Practice-led research, research-led practice: Towards the iterative cyclic web’, in H. Smith and R. T. Dean (eds), Practice-Led Research, Research-Led Practice in the Creative Arts, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, pp. 1–38.
     [Google Scholar]
  37. Smith-Autard, J. M. (2002), The Art of Dance in Education, London: A&C Black.
  38. Smith-Autard, J. M. (2010), Dance Composition: A Practical Guide to Creative Success in Dance Making, London: Bloomsbury Publishing.
  39. Springgay, S., Irwin, R. L. and Kind, S. W. (2005), ‘A/r/tography as living inquiry through art and text’, Qualitative Inquiry, 11:6, pp. 897–912.
     [Google Scholar]
  40. Springgay, S., Irwin, R. L., Leggo, C. and Gouzouasis, P. (2007), Being with A/r/tography, Rotterdam: Sense Publications.
  41. Sullivan, A. M. (2009), ‘On poetic occasion in inquiry: Concreteness, voice, ambiguity, tension, and associative logic’, in M. Prendergast, C. Leggo and P. Sameshima (eds), Poetic Inquiry: Vibrant Voices in the Social Sciences, Rotterdam: Sense: pp. 111–26.
     [Google Scholar]
  42. Sullivan, G. (2010), Art Practice as Research: Inquiry in Visual Arts, Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
  43. Cook, Peter J. (2025), ‘A/r/tography as research methodology: Explorations and impact on understanding choreographic practice’, The Intellect Handbook of Dance Education Research, Bristol: Intellect, pp. 51–63.

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