Rhode Island has recently mandated a new kind of arts requirement for high school graduation that involves proving proficiency in one of four art forms: music, visual art, theater, or dance. How the state came to mandate this law, how proficiency is currently defined and assessed in dance, and what effects the cuts in arts education funding will…

The intent of this action research study was to determine the effect peer coaching had on transfer of skills and content in the secondary arts classroom. Incorporating both qualitative and quantitative methods, the study took place in two public high schools, one a suburban high school and the other a first ring suburban high school (close to an…

As a Certified Laban Movement Analyst and a classically trained ballet dancer, I consistently weave the Laban Movement Analysis/Bartenieff Fundamentals (LMA/BF) theories and philosophies into the ballet class. This integration assists in: (1) Identifying the qualitative movement elements both in the art of ballet and in the students' dancing…

Recent research about sexuality and dance has begun to address the needs of gay male dancers, yet the needs of lesbian dancers have remained mostly absent from scholarly discourse. Exploring the lesbian lacunae, or invisible spaces of dance education, reveals the personal, political, and pedagogical implications of their existence within the dance…

Integrating principles from the Alexander Technique into a dance technique class can provide tools for facilitating a more coordinated use of the self. While the methodologies of Alexander Technique and dance technique may present differences, there are ways of applying the principles of Alexander within the context of a dance technique class that…

Dance as an art form is transformational to body, mind, and spirit. The author opines that public education would do just fine if dance was the "only" subject taught. This article presents the author's reflection on progress of dance in K-12 education. The author contends that progress in dance in K-12 education can perhaps be judged by the fact…

For many years, the author has incorporated creative process into the way she teaches ballet class. The author shares the philosophical, practical, and artistic reasons for the creative process in ballet classes. She also shares the rationale and how this practice developed over time.

````````Incorporation of an experiential anatomy component into the modern technique class educates students about the body in a way that permanently and positively impacts how they move. It is our responsibility as dance educators, whether at the elementary, secondary, or college level, to teach students how to care for their bodies and make…

Based in bodily awareness, somatic education has many points of relationship with dance education. Body-Mind Centering[R] (BMC), with some of its roots in Laban Movement Analysis/Bartenieff Fundamentals (LMA/BF), has a particularly easy link to dance. When studying Body-Mind Centering, the theoretical components are often taught through dance…

Choreographers working in an educational setting often use student dancers as the instruments of their art. The inherent power dynamic of this relationship generates ethical issues that can affect the choreography and the learning experience of the student. At what point do choreographic decisions infringe upon goals for a moral, student-centered…

Integrating somatic practices into the dance technique class by bringing awareness to the bodily processes of breathing, sensing, connecting, and initiating can help students reconnect the mind with the body within the context of the classroom environment. Dance educators do not always have the resources to implement separate somatics courses…

Site-specific dance, which is often defined as dance that occurs outside of the conventional theater space, challenges choreographers to look at, listen to, feel, and think about the space in which the dance is performed. It also asks audiences to be active participants in the performance experience. The dances have to be informed by the space and…

This qualitative study describes the experience of professional contemporary dancers studying and applying the Alexander Technique to their dancing. This study was motivated by: 1. years of teaching both dance and somatics, 2. a strong desire to better understand how the Alexander Technique can be applied by dancers, and 3. a gap that the…

Good teaching, at its core, is an intuitive practice. It is an art and craft in which, through vision, objectives, and planning, a teacher prepares for the teaching moment. Experienced teachers know that lesson plans and pre-planning though, no matter how finely crafted, only point the teacher and the student in a direction. As artist-educators…

What does it means to be a caring dance teacher? The essay reviews the rise of care in education and examines the concept of care as a moral orientation in personal and educational encounters so that connections to dance education are revealed, definitions are arrived at, and important related issues are identified. The essay describes three…