The purpose of the "Perspectives" section of "Research in Dance Education" is to make available valuable material relating to dance education that is out of print and, therefore, difficult to obtain. In this issue's "Perspectives" contribution, the author raises issues that are significant for dance education and possibly as relevant today as…

The purpose of this study was to discuss the dance technique class experiences of students in a university dance program. Working within a post-positivist methodological framework, I interviewed five university dancers. Using the lenses of phenomenology and hermeneutics, I compared and contrasted the women's stories with each other's and my own.…

-This paper was presented to the VII Commonwealth and International Conference on Sport, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance in Brisbane in 1982 (1200 delegates) and was subsequently published in Volume 1 (Dance) of the Conference Proceedings by the Department of Human Movement Studies, University of Queensland Australia. The Conference…

This article explores the ways in which gay male presence and contribution to dance education in the US is minimised in order to legitimate male participation and to gain wider social acceptance of dance. Current muted discourses regarding homosexuality in dance pedagogy are not only shortsighted, but also unwittingly reproduce narrow stereotypes…

This critical analysis focuses on the movement vocabulary and interaction of dancers in selected sections of the filmed version of "White Man Sleeps" (1988) by Siobhan Davies. The choreography is divided into five distinct parts, in accordance with divisions in the musical accompaniment from which the piece takes its name, a suite of…

An important outcome of Singapore's education system is the development of creative thinking skills. This project investigates the impact of a creative dance unit on a class of Primary One (seven-year-old) children's usage of bodily kinaesthetic intelligence to solve problems. One key objective was for the researchers to observe something new,…

Describes an innovative approach to using information and communication technologies in teaching choreography. A group of dance students ages 9-18 in three countries created an original piece of choreography through an Internet collaboration process, sharing their choreographic ideas via movies and text. The asynchronous communication method…

This essay discusses issues of cultural difference in dance studies and presents specific pedagogical strategies for engaging the students' embodied knowledge as a research tool in both historical and cross-cultural investigations. (Contains 2 notes.)

UK Higher Education Institutions are being required to reflect on the balance between academic and vocational aspects of their course provision and to identify more clearly how they are preparing their students for employment. This is not a simple matter. The UK arts and cultural sector is highly complex, with the characteristic features of a…

This paper examines two very different approaches to dance training, ballet technique and the somatic discipline of Topf technique ("TT"). It explores and evaluates the application of TT to ballet training. Initially, what is meant by the term "mind/body connection" is discussed, and then the paper examines, in a theoretical and a practical sense,…

This paper describes new approaches to assessment in dance and dance education. The first part examines assumptions behind traditional models of evaluation in academic and performing arts contexts. I consider whether it is useful to understand human ability as unitary or if it is meaningful to evaluate people according to a single dimension of…

The numerous ways that postsecondary students benefit from experiential education across the academic disciplines have been well documented in the scholarly literature. One exception, however, is in the field of dance, where these effects have not been researched as extensively. Using a combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods,…

This study compared the creative thinking abilities of students taking dance class in high school to nondance students (n = 286). The Torrance Test of Creative Thinking (TTCT) was the basis of the comparison using a pre-test/post-test format. Dance subjects were enrolled in classes that included a variety of dance forms plus some creative work.…

Three key publications from September 2000 point to rapid changes in the educational and arts environment in Hong Kong that will impact on the development of dance education. This paper provides some contextual details on the current state of dance education in Hong Kong and also examines the influence and possible ramifications implicit within…

In this essay, the author notes a danger concerning the general approach to teaching about the arts through improper use of the concepts "aesthetic" and "artistic." Observing that both concepts are often used interchangeably, with "aesthetic" being seen as the more generic term, the author argues that these concepts are separate and should be…