This article examines how the philosophy of Ubuntu is reflected in assessment and feedback provision systems of Indigenous dance education in African communities. In environments where urbanization, globalization, digitalization, and existing traces of colonialism are contesting Indigenous epistemologies, examining how communities value and…

In her seminal text, "Feminist Theory: From the Margin to the Center," bell hooks calls attention to the "transformative impact the eradication of sexist oppression could have on all of our lives." She goes on to say that "challenging sexist oppression is a crucial step in the struggle to eliminate all forms of…

It is my belief that a prevailing colonial mentality in higher education dance spaces, as it relates to jazz dance, is responsible for the lack of serious engagement and appropriate regard. This article makes the argument for the decolonization of higher education spaces, advocating for fuller engagement with the jazz genre and positioning it to…

This study aims to provide practical methods for teaching "world/urban" dance courses in higher education in the 21st century. We discuss problematic terminology in our courses and suggest a new term to better reference these dance forms. Eight methods are discussed for assisting teachers and expanding student perspectives in…

Somatic memoirs from the author's participation at dance intensives with acclaimed dancer-choreographer Moustapha Bangoura in the West African Republic of Guinea reveal how solo dance experiences can test acoustic literacy, promote music interaction, and foster an aptitude for movement invention. These skills are fundamental to West African dance…

Rhythmic virtuosity or moving with "percussive attack" is an ultimate performance quality for Black/African dance. The practice of musicality is a window into a dynamic system of intersubjective communal creativity. Drumming, for example, provides percussive sensorial information that directs a dancer's somatic and choreographic…

Indigenous dances in communities that underwent European colonialism and Christianization are currently practiced in environments that still carry colonial legacies. Without formal dance teachers' training programs and frameworks, individuals in postcolonial Africa have leveraged local resources, social experiences, and individual innovation to…

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…

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…

I present an action research study that enacts an Asianist somatic movement education approach to teaching Afro-Haitian dance at Arizona State University as a response to my Chinese American body's experience of hegemony in postsecondary dance curriculum. My pedagogical framework uses an intercultural teaching approach that applies a somatic…

In her efforts to present her students with material that is socio-culturally informed, current, and ultimately liberatory, dance educator Cara Hagan has developed methods of engagement across levels of study. These methods honor voices of color, dance styles derived from various diaspora, and mitigate the censure and control of the dancing body…

The 1619 Project by "The New York Times" asks American History teachers to revise their history curriculum to recognize the influence of Blackness, and of slavery, as foundational to the development of the United States. In this article I share a practical approach, including lesson plans and learning activities, to a similar revision of…

As globalization endures onslaughts from neo-state nationalism, examining the role that dances from non-Western cultures play in facilitating intercultural education is necessary. This article critically examines the intercultural reflections and meanings that student performers constructed from learning and performing the movements, techniques,…

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…

Dances from African communities are gradually getting incorporated into formal education at pre-tertiary and tertiary levels in the United States. Whereas strides have been made to embrace this artistic and cultural diversity, the instructional methodologies that are applied in teaching these dances are commonly founded on Western pedagogic canons…