Rachael Davies

Dr

    20222025

    Research activity per year

    Personal profile

    Biography

    Rachael works across dance, performance, cultural and archival studies. She is particularly interested in materialist methodologies in the analysis of dance and how these methodologies might help to locate and better understand dance and its relationship to its broader social and material conditions. 

    Rachael was awarded a Midlands4Cities studentship for her doctoral research (2020-2024). Rachael's doctoral thesis is entitled ‘Chisenhale Dance Space in the 1980s: a cultural Materalist Analysis'. This thesis answers the research question ‘What was Chisenhale Dance Space?’ by providing the first historiographical account of the organisation. Informed by the work of cultural theorist Raymond Williams this thesis adopts a cultural materialist approach and utilizes Williams’ concept of structure of feeling to examine the collective historical experience of Chisenhale Dance Space in the 1980s. The use of Williams’ structure of feeling in this thesis is novel within dance studies. Thus, the thesis extends and theorizes Williams’ work within dance studies, demonstrating not only how it might be applied to dance analysis but also that specific insights can be gained from such an approach. These insights demonstrate how dance, and its organisations, are enmeshed in their social, historical and material conditions. This approach enabled an analysis that explores the ways that dance participates in the production of ideologies and how it might thus be implicated in or a challenge to hegemony. As part of this research Rachael produced an on-going oral history project entitled 'Listening to Chisenhale Dance Space' available to the public via YouTube.

    Since 2020 Rachael has focused her curatorial activities on the presentation of dance from the British New Dance movement (1977-1988). In 2020, Rachael curated the first exhibition on the work of the X6 Collective (1976-1980) at Cell Project Space, London; and in 2021 she curated an exhibition on the work of Cycles Dance Company at Rugby Art Gallery and Museum as part of Coventry Biennial. In 2022, Rachael organised a screening programme exploring the work of Chisenhale Dance Space during the 1980s at Chisenhale. This two-part screening programme was supported by an Ivor Guest Research Grant. 

    Rachael teaches across fine art, dance and theatre departments and lecturers at Wimbledon College of Art (UAL) and Coventry University. She is currently assistant editor of Choreographic Practices Journal and communications assistant of the AHRC-funded project: 'Dance Research Matters Networks Mapping project'.

    External positions

    Dance Research Matters: Communications Assistant, Centre for Dance Research, Coventry University

    2023 → …

    Guest Lecturer, University of the Arts London

    20222023

    Editorial Assistant, Choreographic Practices, Intellect Journals

    2021 → …

    Guest Curator, Coventry Biennial 2021

    2021

    Lecturer, Coventry University

    2021 → …

    Guest Lecturer, University of Roehampton

    2021

    Public Programme Curator, Cell Project Space

    20162020

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