Dr Astrid Bernkopf has performed as a professional ballet dancer in Austria, Germany, the Czech and Slovak Republics. She studied pedagogies of ballet (MA with distinction) at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague and holds a PhD in Dance Studies focusing on ballet narratives at the University of Surrey. Astrid Bernkopf has created a method of narrative analysis and researches approaches to analyse dance through written source materials. Her work on ballet narratives and libretto analysis has been presented at international conferences organised by the Society of Dance Historians, European Association of Dance Historians, International Society for the Study of Narrative, European Narratology Network and she has delivered guest lectures in Austria and Denmark.
During her time in Prague, Dr Bernkopf taught ballet at undergraduate and postgraduate level at the Academy of Performing Arts and provided ballet training for two independent Czech dance companies. Before joining Middlesex University in 2006, she taught theory at the University of Surrey, Guildford, and London Metropolitan University. She has been Programme Leader of BA Dance Studies at Middlesex from 2009 to 2019 and predominantly teaches Critical Theory, Performance Analysis, History and Journalism.
Since 2019, Astrid has completed qualifications as Yoga teacher, Accessible chair yoga teacher, Meditation and Mindful trauma-informed Yoga. She currently explores the benefits regular mindfulness practices can have for students.
You can follow Dr Astrid Bernkopf on Twitter @astridbernkopf
Instagram @dr_astrid_bernkopf_mdx
Memberships:
Languages:
German, English, Italian, French, Czech.
Dr Astrid Bernkopf teaches at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. She supervises and examines PhD theses. Enquiries from potential doctoral candidates to work on topics related to her areas of expertise (listed below) are welcome.
Published articles:
Bernkopf, Astrid. Václav Nižinský: Bůh tance [Vaclav Nijinsky: God of Dance] in Taneční Listy, April 2000, Prague.
___________. Modř [Blue] in Taneční Listy, January 2001, Prague.
___________. Giving Light – Interview with Kevin Haigen, Hamburg Ballet in Taneční Listy, January 2001, Prague.
___________. Bíla [White] in Taneční Listy, February 2001, Prague.
___________. Žluta a Rúžova [Yellow and Pink] in Taneční Listy, March 2001, Prague.
___________. Zelení [Green] in Taneční Listy, May 2001, Prague.
___________. Červení [Red] in Taneční Listy, June 2001, Prague.
___________. Dramaturgy of Desire – a model of narrative analysis in Choreologica Journal of the European Association of Dance Historians, Autumn 2006, Vol 2, no 1.
___________. Site under Construction: taking Reading Performance literally. SDHS conference proceedings for "Rethinking Theory – Rethinking Practice" 2007 conference in Paris.
Bernkopf, Astrid. Dancing Narratives. An analytical approach to the
narrative of the ballet fantastique. in Dance Today The Dance Magazine of Israel, Issue 14, November 2008.
(Also on the Dance Voices Israeli dance website here)
Bernkopf, Astrid. Between Stage and Literature: Romantic Ballet's Narrative Strategies. European Narratology Network, online publication, Spring 2011.
Conference Presentations:
"Over and Over again: the storytelling aspects of Romantic ballet"
paper at New Scholars conference, Society for Dance Research, November 29th 2003
"Dramaturgy of Desire – a model of narrative analysis"
paper at Study Day "Once upon a time … in the Highlands" organised by the European Association of Dance Historians and Sadler's Wells, London, March 5th 2005
"Reviewing Reviews: The Critic as Notator"
paper at International Symposium "Reading a Dance or Two" organised by the European Association of Dance Historians and University of Hull, York, October 28th – 30th 2005
"Giselle (1841): Six Characters in Search of a Narrative"
conference paper at "Dance Research Conference" organised by Society for Dance Research, Middlesex University, March 25th 2006
"Reversed gender relations – reversed storytelling patterns? Explorations of the narrative strategies of Jules Perrot's Der Kobold"
paper at international conference "Grounding Moves. Landscapes for Dance" 29th Annual Conference organised by Society of Dance History Scholars, Banff (Canada), June 15th – 18th 2006
"Site under construction: taking 'Reading Performance' literally"
paper at international conference "Rethinking Theory – Rethinking Practice" 30th Annual Conference organised by Society of Dance History Scholars in collaboration with Congress of Research in Dance (CORD) and Centre National de la Danse, Paris (France), June 21st – 24th 2007.
"You may kiss the Bride: Romantic ballet goes Hollywood in Tim Burton's The Corpse Bride."
Paper at international symposium "Narrative Conference" organised by International Society of Narrative Literature, Birmingham, June 4th – 7th 2009.
"Dancing Stories – Telling Stories" Research Seminar Presentation, Middlesex University, Dance Research Seminar Series, 2 March 2011.
"Between Stage and Literature: Romantic Ballet's Narrative Strategies"
Paper at international conference "Working with Stories: Narrative as a Meeting Place for Theory, Analysis and Practice" by European Narratology Network and University of Southern Denmark, Kolding, Denmark, 10 and 11 March 2011.
"Narrative Transformations: Matthew Bourne's transformation of The Sleeping Beauty"
Paper at joint international conference by Society of Dance History Scholars and Nordic Forum of Dance, Trondheim, Norway, 8 June – 11 June 2013 also at ISSN international conference June 2013 Manchester, UK.
Bernkopf, Astrid (2019) Cinderella, the beauty myth and a feminist conundrum. In: Storytelling: Cultural and Creative Transformations of Cinderella. Weedon, Alexis and Darwood, Nicola , eds. Wayne State University Press. (Accepted/In press)
Bernkopf, Astrid (2011) Between stage and literature: romantic ballet’s narrative strategies. Working with stories: Narrative as a Meeting Place for Theory Analysis and Practice .
Bernkopf, Astrid (2008) Dancing narratives: an analytical approach to the narrative of the ballet fantastique. Dance Today: the Dance Magazine of Israel , 14 .
Bernkopf, Astrid (2007) Site under construction: taking ‘reading performance’ literally. In: 2007 Society of Dance History Scholars Conference: Re-Thinking Theory and Practice/Repenser pratique et theorie, 21-24 June 2007, Paris, France.
Bernkopf, Astrid (2006) Dramaturgy of desire: an analytical approach to dance narratives. Choreologica , 2 (1). pp. 41-60. ISSN 1746-5737
