Abstract Summary/Description
How can I explore my early childhood experiences as a Guyanese American using theoretical and practical methodologies? How can I incorporate creative modalities to communicate my stories? Utilizing autoethnography methodology, I reflected on life-changing events during childhood. Using Bronfenbrenner’s childhood ecological systems theory (Paquette & Ryan, 2001), I contextualized key themes that emerged from my data analysis and reflected each ecological layer. For example, the chronosystem, which describes life transitions, is aligned with themes of loss, hope, and immigration. During my analysis, I noticed that I practiced dance to cultivate hope during life transitions, especially migration. Dance became a practical processing tool during my childhood years and beyond. Tikvah Tozi La’or, Hebrew for hope prevails, is a dance creation process influenced by theoretical and practical approaches from reimagining patterns to creating choreography in artistic and educational settings. My classical dance performance tells my story of hope and, in turn, celebrates creative storytelling in academic spaces. This five-minute performance utilizes ballet and modern dance techniques and, a classical music selection composed by YoungMin You, and a musical piece I composed titled “Hope & Lights.”
