Educational Research and Intertextual Forms of (Re)Presentation: The Case for Dancing the Data

Contemporary dialogues concerning qualitative methodology focus increasingly on alternative forms of data (re)presentation. This article explores the use of dance as a medium for such (re)presentation. The article contextualizes, describes, and reflects on a performance by the authors staged at the 1998 Annual Conference of the American Educational Research Association. The (re)presentation in words and movement was choreographed from research on school choice policy and its impact on families whose children have special educational needs, undertaken by one of the authors in the United Kingdom. In reflecting on the process, the article discusses some of the difficulties and advantages derived from the performance and stresses the need for creating a space for intertextual forms of data (re)presentation within the academy.