Kennesaw State Interim Provost Showcases ‘Disruptive Collaborations' In Choreography

Press release from Kennesaw State University:

Nov 30, 2021

Kennesaw State interim provost showcases ‘disruptive collaborations’ in choreography

KENNESAW, Ga.
(Nov 30, 2021) — The creative process in interdisciplinary research collaborations through the lens
of dance will be the subject of Kennesaw State University’s last Research with Relevance – Deans’ Showcase for this fall. The featured guest is Ivan Pulinkala, interim provost and vice president
for academic affairs, and professor of dance in the College of the Arts (COTA).

The Office of Research is hosting the hybrid event at 4 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 3 in the Katherine Scott Rehearsal
Hall of the Bailey Performance Center on the Kennesaw Campus. Guests who prefer to
attend virtually can view the live video stream on KSUTV.

Traditional choreography is led by the choreographic artist serving as the primary
content creator. Yet Pulinkala’s body of scholarship has been guided through a technique
of working with interdisciplinary collaborators in a process he terms disruptive collaborations.

“My process intentionally defies the norms of traditional choreographic inquiry, to
engage the collaboration of other artists and disciplinary experts in a process sequencing
that changes the outcome and the choreographic product,” said Pulinkala.

Pulinkala will showcase three recent choreographic works that demonstrate this technique,
including “Metamorphosis,” celebrating the opening of the Dance Theater on the Marietta
Campus in 2017, and “Moon Dust,” a collaboration between the College of the Arts and
the College of Computing and Software Engineering last year.

Pulinkala’s most recent disruptive collaboration involves a new work called “Forest”
that was filmed this past summer at the University, featuring the interplay between
12 robotic arms and KSU alumni dancers. Gil Weinberg, professor and founding director
of Georgia Tech’s Center for Music Technology, had invited Pulinkala to join the project and choreograph the piece. The robotic arms were developed in the School of Music
at Georgia Tech.

“This National Science Foundation-funded pilot project was intended to be additive
to the robotic techniques Dr. Weinberg had developed to create musical choices and
augment the capacities of individuals through highly functional robotic prosthetics,”
explained Pulinkala. “I was immediately drawn to the project, as it perfectly fit
my interests in pursuing disruptive collaborations.”

Originally from New Delhi, India, Pulinkala has worked professionally in the field
of dance and musical theater both in India and the U.S. His work has been commissioned
by professional and collegiate dance companies such as the Israel Ballet, Atlanta
Ballet, Alliance Theatre, Washington University at St. Louis, Shanghai Normal University,
the University of South Carolina, among many others.

Pulinkala joined Kennesaw State University in 2005 and founded KSU’s Department of
Dance, a program he developed into the largest collegiate dance program in Georgia.
He also was instrumental in the development of the Dance Theater on the Marietta Campus,
Atlanta’s first theater designed specifically for dance. He served as the department’s
first chair until he became the COTA dean in 2019 and then took on the interim provost
role in 2021.

Click here for more information about the upcoming Research with Relevance program.

– Joëlle Walls

Related Stories

• Kennesaw State dean explores how behavior drives design

• Kennesaw State’s Research with Relevance features Wellstar College dean’s research

• Kennesaw State’s Research with Relevance showcase returns as hybrid event

A leader in innovative teaching and learning, Kennesaw State University offers undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degrees to its nearly 43,000 students. With 11 colleges on two metro Atlanta campuses, Kennesaw State is a member of the University System of Georgia. The university’s vibrant campus culture, diverse population, strong global ties and entrepreneurial spirit draw students from throughout the country and the world. Kennesaw State is a Carnegie-designated doctoral research institution (R2), placing it among an elite group of only 6 percent of U.S. colleges and universities with an R1 or R2 status. For more information, visit kennesaw.edu.

This press release was produced by Kennesaw State University. The views expressed here are the author’s own.