Lille Nightingale combined her lifelong fascination with animals and her passion for dance to create a capstone project researching the emotional and physical challenges of wildebeest migration. Guided by a team of dedicated faculty mentors, she translated her research into a compelling group performance that reflects the patterns, struggles and shared emotional experiences of both humans and animals.

Wichita State University's research emphasis includes opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students, as well as faculty and staff, and extends across campus from aerospace to ancient civilizations and business administration to biochemistry. 

Lille Nightingale, senior in dance with a minor in sustainability and a certificate in environment and sustainability

Wichita

Embodied Research on the Physical and Emotional Challenges Wildebeests Face While Migrating

Cheyla Clawson Chandler, director for the School of Performing Arts and associate professor of dance; Mina Estrada, assistant professor of contemporary dance and dance program director; Lauren Evans, dance lecturer; and Sabrina Vasquez, senior educator of dance

For my senior capstone project, I had to pick a topic to research and create a group dance based off of it. I've always had a passion and love for animals, so I knew that I wanted my research to somehow involve them. I grew up watching a lot of documentaries about animals in Africa, and wildebeests were always one of my favorites. I was fascinated by their migration patterns and the way they work together. So, I thought it would be really cool to base a dance off of an animal I've loved my whole life.

My research explores the patterns and shapes of wildebeest migration as well as the challenges and emotions wildebeests face during their annual migration. Based on the research I gathered, I created a dance piece that aims to show all the aspects of the wildebeests’ migration.

I think most dances are based on human emotions and experiences, but this dance is based on animal emotions and experiences. I think what's interesting, is that even though there's a big difference between humans and wildebeests, we do share some similar emotions and patterns in our life.

Cheyla was very helpful when I was deciding on and forming a topic to research for my dance! Mina helped me a lot when it came to turning my research into a dance. Both Mina and Sabrina gave me a lot of great feedback to help my dance evolve and grow. But I definitely couldn't have done any of it without the guidance of Lauren Evans, who helped me in every step of my research and worked with me to see my research through to the end!

It was such a unique experience to be able to research something and then turn it into a dance. We write so many papers and research so many things in college, and that's that. And then we quickly move on to the next project. So, to be able to turn that research into a dance was a really unique and fun experience. 

I am planning on getting a master’s degree, and I know I’ll have to do a lot of research for it. I feel like the research I did for my capstone project has helped prepare me for what I might be doing in the future. 

My advice would be to research something you are really passionate about or something you are really interested in learning more about. Research takes a long time, so researching something that means something to you is really important.

Wichita State University is Kansas' only urban public research university, enrolling more than 23,000 students between its main campus and WSU Tech, including students from every state in the U.S. and more than 100 countries. Wichita State and WSU Tech are recognized for being student centered and innovation driven.

Located in the largest city in the state with one of the highest concentrations in the United States of jobs involving science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), Wichita State University provides uniquely distinctive and innovative pathways of applied learning, applied research and career opportunities for all of our students. The National Science Foundation ranked WSU No. 1 in the nation for aerospace engineering R&D, No. 2 for industry-funded engineering R&D and No. 8 overall for engineering R&D.

The Innovation Campus, which is a physical extension of the Wichita State University main campus, is one of the nation’s largest and fastest-growing research/innovation parks, encompassing over 120 acres and is home to a number of global companies and organizations.

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