In my first summer as a team leader for Elon University’s Center for Engaged Learning (CEL) three-year, multi-institutional research seminar on Learning on Location, I had the opportunity to lead a workshop on how to inventory space from a choreographer’s perspective for a group of non-dance faculty spanning institutions across the United States and Canada. In this workshop, I drew on my academic and professional experience as a site-specific choreographer and shared my approach to place-based learning. 

Site-specific dance, a genre created for particular locations, integrates the unique features, ambiance, and significance of a site into its choreography. Unlike traditional stage performances, site-specific works adapt to their surroundings, fostering distinct interactions among dancers, audiences, and environments (Kloetzel and Pavlik 2009). 

Mapping the Terrain

I first encountered the phrase mapping the terrain while reading Moving Sites: Investigating Site-Specific Dance Performance, edited by Victoria Hunter (2015). In chapter two, Fiona Wilke describes her earlier article, “Mapping the Terrain” (2002), which surveyed forty-four UK-based site-specific artists. She explored questions such as: Who was producing site-specific performance in Britain? Where did these performances take place? What tools were used to construct a performance of place? (Wilke 2002). I was captivated by both the article and its title, so much so that I adopted mapping the terrain to describe how I look at, experience, and compose site-specific dance. 

Creating site-specific work requires an artist to immerse themselves in the physical, historical, social, functional, and emotional textures of a space. Hunter notes that exploring “relationships between the spatial and experiential components of site and the choreographer” helps illuminate how these interactions inform the creative process (Hunter 2015, 25). 

In addition to Hunter, architectural theorist Bryan Lawson has deeply influenced how I approach the inventorying of space, both in my creative practice and in my teaching of site-based choreography on campus and in study-away courses. In The Language of Space, Lawson (2001, 62–68) identifies six elements that shape our perception of space: 

• Verticality 
• Symmetry 
• Color 
• Number (of windows, columns, doors, etc.) 
• Meaning (labels such as “church,” “gallery,” etc.) 
• Context (our personal relationship to the space) 

A Template for Engaging with Place

I developed a template based on these six elements that I use when first inventorying a location for performance. I also ask my students to apply it when creating their own site-based work. 

The value of this template lies in its ability to make the invisible visible. By breaking down a site into perceptual and conceptual components, artists and learners are prompted to notice what might otherwise go unseen: the rhythm of a warehouse, the symbolism of a sign, or the personal memories evoked by entering a particular space. This framework not only sharpens embodied awareness but also offers a shared vocabulary that can be translated across disciplines. Whether one is choreographing a dance, designing a research project, or leading students through field-based inquiry, the six elements encourage intentional engagement with place. 

Example of Blank Template

Location:
Date:  

Example of Complete Template

Applying the Framework Across Disciplines

During the CEL workshop, I guided participants through this process of experiencing space. Following the exercise, we discussed how they could adapt the template for their own location-based courses and disciplinary perspectives. Their insights highlighted the adaptability of the framework and its potential to deepen student engagement with place-based learning. 

As the seminar moves into its second year, I look forward to revisiting this workshop and exploring more deeply how mapping the terrain can be adapted to diverse contexts. From dance to environmental studies, history to business, this construct invites learners to see location not as backdrop, but as active partner in the process of discovery. 

References 

Hunter, Victoria, ed. 2015. Moving Sites: Investigating Site-Specific Dance Performance. Routledge. 

Kloetzel, Melanie, and Carolyn Pavlik. 2009. Site Dance: Choreographers and the Lure of Alternative Spaces. University Press of Florida. 

Lawson, Bryan. 2001. The Language of Space. Architectural Press. 

Wilke, Fiona. 2002. “Mapping the Terrain.” New Theatre Quarterly 18 (2): 140–160. 

About the Author  

Lauren Kearns is Maude Sharpe Powell Professor, Professor of Dance, and Director of Dance Sciences at Elon University. She serves as a seminar leader for the 2025-2027 research seminar on Learning on Location: Place-Based Pedagogies in Higher Education. She is the author of Somatics in Action: A Mindful and Physical Conditioning Tool for Movers (Handspring Publishing), a certified and registered yoga teacher at the E-RYT 500 level, a registered somatic dance educator with ISMETA, and is a Balanced Body comprehensively trained Pilates educator. 

How to Cite This Post 

Kearns, Lauren. 2025. “Mapping the Terrain for Learning on Location.” Center for Engaged Learning (blog), Elon University. June 9, 2026. https://www.centerforengagedlearning.org/mapping-the-terrain-for-learning-on-location.