This article provides an overview of a proactive approach to collaboration for both dance and teacher education. Collaboration was examined through the lens of assisting children with disabilities to reach their maximum potential in the art of dance. The purpose of the research project was to examine pre-service teachers, in both dance and…

This article describes dance/STEAM-based educational workshops for 3rd and 4th graders at a local science museum led by the artistic director and members of a professional dance company and supported by a large university research community. The overarching pedagogical goal was to use dance to learn about science and science to learn about dance.…

Acknowledging criticisms of the values supported by competitive dance, this article seeks to develop and advocate a pedagogical reframing of the event in terms of situated learning and mediated learning experience. Making sense of the competitive experience with the contributions of 4E (embodied, embedded, extended, and enactive) cognition theory,…

Based upon Paulo Freire's theory of humanizing pedagogy and informed more recently by Freirean scholars Lilia Bartolomé and Maria del Carmen Salazar, this practice-based article provides two immersive learning experiences in which learners engage and question their educational histories, beliefs, and values, reflecting upon and unpacking their…

In this article we analyze the landscape of dance teacher certification programs in the United States for the potential of anti-racist transformation in the field of dance education. We look at higher educational programming as a main place for revolutionary change in the future of dance education because the socio-political culture within…

The extent to which creativity and perfection can be considered compatible aims for dancers was investigated. Also investigated were how creativity and perfectionism are (1) nurtured versus inhibited, and (2) related to basic psychological needs (autonomy, competence, relatedness). Seventy-seven ballet students (12-19 years old) in Stockholm,…

This article focuses on the development of a theoretical framework for jazz dance in which researchers hypothesized how motif notation concepts from Laban Movement Analysis (LMA) and Language of Dance® (LOD) could be used to help learners understand how the roots and branches of jazz dance styles are related. We began by investigating the…

As a longtime student and aficionado of both poetry and percussive dance, Ryan Casey presents ways in which poetry--both written and spoken word--can be used in a dance class to develop rhythmic proficiency in percussive dancers of varying ages and skill levels, and explains why he believes this practice is accessible and educational. Although the…

The purpose of this interdisciplinary educational experience was to explore dynamic interaction between student dancers and graduate physical therapy students in a structured learning environment regarding prevention of dance injuries. A second aim was to determine the utility of a self-report outcome measure and the Functional Movement Screen…

"Fin de siècle" cancan dancers Jane Avril and Louise Weber ("La Goulue") examined alongside the musical dance and song number "Big Spender" from Sweet Charity serve as examples of how decontextualization of images leads to essentializing the subject of the image that gives precedence to a male gaze focus. In analyzing…

This article explores the expanded possibilities of Bharata-Natyam education in the United States (US) based on a reflective practice in my dance over the past thirty years. This has given rise to an epistemological investigation into the seeming dichotomy of tradition and agency and has percolated into a set of questions, especially salient in my…

Jazz dance training in college and university dance programs offers a platform for students to develop a holistic understanding of dance. Three unique qualities of jazz dance are discussed: vernacular expression, improvisation and sense of play, and rhythmic dynamism. Accessing the vernacular nature of jazz dance provides historical context for…

The 2001 reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act defined dance as an art form, designated the arts as core academic subjects, and called for highly qualified instructors in every classroom. These developments provided new opportunities for dance faculty in higher education preparing their students for life after college.…

This article presents a guiding framework for K-12 arts education. The framework lists four goals for arts education and outlines six areas of teaching practices to support these goals. This framework is presented adjacent to specific political moments, executive orders, and movements from the 2017-2018 political landscape in the United States,…

The author, a dance instructor, embraced the energy and culture of Hip Hop when she started dancing back in the late 1980s and early 90s. However when invited to teach Hip Hop dance for a newly revived dance minor in 2011, she had her concerns because her Hip Hop instruction in various settings previous to this invitation left her a bit…