School of Dance graduate students Ruger Memmott (he/him) and Soph Cardinal (they/them) presented their research at the Utah Dance Education Organization’s (UDEO) annual conference on November 8th, 2025 at Brigham Young University.
Falling just a week after both researchers presented their choreographic thesis at the Marriott Center for Dance in the concert Where Edge’s Blur, these poster presentations represented the culmination of scholarly research Memmott and Cardinal are engaged in as MFA in Modern Dance Candidates. These posters were first presented in the exhibition Half a Century in Motion: Honoring Chicanx Dance, Art, and Activism, highlighting research that explores dance and social movement histories, presented during the University of Utah's 50th Anniversary of “Chicano Awareness Week.”
Memmott and Cardinal are honored to share this work outside of the University of Utah, broadening the researchers’ scope to the greater Utah community, and are thankful for Assistant Professor Kiri Avelar, the curatorial collective of Half a Century in Motion, and UDEO for the opportunities to showcase their research.
Ruger Memmott
- Title: “Borderlands Aesthetics: A Hybrid Approach to Composition Classes”
- Abstract: Using Gloria Anzaldúa’s Borderlands theory as a framework, I embrace the possibilities of mixing and hybridizing choreographic values and aesthetics in the context of a contemporary dance composition class. This is done by shaping the class itself into a theoretical borderlands of style and aesthetics. By decentralizing many typically taught elements of composition and/or teaching them in conjunction with other theories, this hybridizing approach to teaching dance making broadens the scope of what contemporary dance can be. It also hopefully will encourage dancers of diverse backgrounds and traditions of training to find belonging in the contemporary genre.
Connect with Ruger through Instagram @ruger_memmott.
Soph Cardinal
- Title: "Liminal Bodies, Fluid Selves: Nepantla, Gender Performativity, and the Reimagining of Selfhood in Dance Pedagogy"
- Abstract: This presentation explores embodiment as a mode of knowledge within dance pedagogy, drawing on Gloria Anzaldúa’s theory of nepantla to frame identity as a dynamic lattice of emotional, spiritual, and cultural experience. Engaging Judith Butler’s theories of gender as a performative act and Omi Salas-SantaCruz’s decolonial trans* feminism, the project highlights how trans* and non-binary bodies generate knowledge beyond colonial constructions, emphasizing self-making and prioritizing process over product to create spaces of belonging within movement.
Connect with Soph at www.sophcardinaldance.com or through Instagram @sophcardinal.