This study evaluated the changes in literacy and numeracy levels on schoolchildren across four New Zealand primary schools. A total of 187 schoolchildren aged 8-9 years were assigned to either a dance group (n = 101) or control group (n = 86). The dance group (DG) from each school participated in a six-week, curriculum-integrated dance program…

This article presents a phenomenological study on lived and living conscious experiences of improvisational dance. Six experienced improvisational dancers and one dance piano accompanist were interviewed individually, and shared the past-lived experience of improvisational dance. After the interviews, the six dancers agreed to perform solo…

Fresh Moves Dance Festival is an independent local initiative held in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand. In 2021 Fresh Moves reached a 20-year milestone. Part of a larger research inquiry which chronicles the festival's journey through the years and seeks to understand how such an initiative has been sustained over time, this article…

Multicultural and intercultural dance practices are a by-product of the ever-increasing flow of people across national and cultural boundaries. The increasing presence of Latinx dances in Aotearoa New Zealand has resulted from the migration of Latinx people who celebrate, create, perform, and teach these dance traditions as teachers, performers,…

For arts practitioners and the creative community, the response to COVID has meant cancellations or postponements and a rethinking of how to share stories. The same too can be said for how students experience the arts in school. For two years in a row the biennial and much anticipated school production was cancelled due to COVID disruptions, not…

Since 2015 many postgraduate dance students from the Beijing Dance Academy China, have completed a one-year Masters in Community Dance at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. This paper reflects on eight student's experience of their year of international study. Data gathered through semi structured interviews were examined through the…

This study explores how Pacific cultural values can be of critical significance in the completion of a tertiary learning journey, particularly as students navigate neoliberal mind-sets of individuated learning. As a case study, the paper draws on the "talanoa" (conversation) with a Niuean graduate, as he shares reflections on the…

This paper explains the design, development and delivery of a curriculum-integrated dance programme across four primary schools in Auckland, New Zealand. Four teachers and their respective classes (101 children in total) were part of the programme. Each class participated in 18 dance sessions at their schools during school hours. The dance…

This paper engages with multiplicity in methodology through reflections on a dance and risky play research project in a shared problematisation of children's physical activity. A research-practitioner team explored perspectives on physical activity and risky play through dance. This project aimed to distance itself from the idea of an expert other…

This article critically explores two dance educators' reflections of difference in dance learning and teaching. We pose the question, How as educators might we facilitate and view difference? What have we learned in our teaching practices that aims to celebrate difference? Through the sharing of narratives and reflections about our experiences of…

In internationalised dance education, many teachers undertake inclusive philosophies and identify themselves as inclusive educators. But there may be possible differences between theories in minds and practices in studios, leading to the research inquiry: How might dance teachers' teaching practices for international students extend from their…

This article explores the values that bridge democracy and community dance. Policymakers show an interest in promoting democracy, including the very values shared between community dance and democracy. Observing this, we propose that policy may benefit from examining the pedagogy and practices of community dance, and incorporate relevant aspects…

Teaching Pasifika learners effectively to improve their educational outcomes is an education priority in New Zealand. New ways to maximise learning are needed. This article shows how dance, a cultural experience of many Pasifika learners, offers strong opportunities for enhancing learning across the curriculum while impacting positively on…

This article presents a critical consideration of the ways in which specialist dance teachers in New Zealand state secondary schools respond to curriculum expectations to incorporate Maori arts content into their lessons. Disparity between Maori and non-Maori achievement is evident in the state schooling system. More than 20% of students in New…

Over the years, dances from African cultures have been viewed in the Western world as caricatures of exotic bodies and representations of experiences that are abundant in the natural order of things. Valentino Y. Mudimbe (1988) has defined this otherization and objectification as the invention of Africa. With the continuous mobility of people and…