The slogan "I can't breathe" reverberated in 2020 with the Black Lives Matter movement protests against police brutality and racial injustices in America. As much as there was an uncanny coincidence with that phrase and the root of the COVID-19 pandemic, the immediate association of those words for me, a dance educator in South Africa,…

The dance world is dominated by instilling technique and discipline in the dance training. Technique and discipline have been inculcated through training regimes that are dogmatically transferred through the generations -- from teacher to dancer --and who in turn perpetuate technique and discipline in their teaching. Within a multicultural…

Cultural hegemony permeates society and is spread through social institutions. These institutions socialize people into the norms, values and beliefs of the dominant social groups. Moreover, cultural hegemony is spread and perpetuated through education in the form of compulsory education, a national curriculum, national assessments, as well as the…

The arts as a pedagogic medium can be an important tool for language learning, and yet many teachers avoid it, often because of a lack of confidence. The main purpose of this study was to explore the possibility of generalist educators, as opposed to art specialists, using the arts successfully as a cross-curricular tool to accelerate English…

This paper considers arts-based research (ABR) as a useful resource for creating fluid and dialogic spaces between multiple domains of dance knowledge and practices. Through the lens of a multi-disciplinary, arts-based research project "Same Story, Different Countries" explored the socio-political phenomena of racism in the United States…

In primary schools across many countries, dance is now included within the arts key learning area with its own outcomes and content. But as future teachers of dance and other art forms, how do preservice generalist primary teachers perceive their background and confidence in relation to dance and dance education? This study investigates the…

In South Africa the arts and culture educational curriculum has undergone immense change and continues to impact and influence the role of musical arts practices in children's lives throughout the country. In specific districts of the Limpopo province in particular, musical practices of the Venda culture are being integrated into the school…

This paper presents an overview of UKUSA, a non-governmental community arts/music programme in Durban, South Africa. At the heart of this project is a desire to enable people who have been historically disadvantaged to develop a more positive sense of self. To this end, UKUSA offers the best possible tuition in music, dance and drama, developing…

There is a need for culturally relevant teaching in dance education. Many dance teachers have heard the buzz words "culturally relevant teaching methods." Yet these dance educators acknowledge that the "dance culture" is not always synonymous with "culturally relevant." This paper examines the issue of culturally…

The post-apartheid Dance Studies curriculum in South Africa is attempting to offer school learners both an education and training in dance as an art form. The outcomes-based syllabi are intended to ensure that learners come to respect the diversity of South African society, and therefore a range of dance styles and genres are offered in order to…