In this article, we explore the transformational power of holistic studio culture in dance education, drawing from our personal experiences growing up in dance studios that engaged in community events and dance competitions. Unlike traditional studios bound by a single technique, our formative environments embraced a rich tapestry of dance…

One of the most contested areas of arts practice research concerns the nature and role of writing. For many artist-scholars, research predicated on artistic practice does not require written contextualization. For those who engage in writing, questions as to the nature, mode, register, and purpose of writing abound. The growing body of…

This article examines students' choices in a postsecondary dance major curriculum where students selected to study one or more of five dance practices (African and Diaspora Movement Practices, Contemporary Ballet, Movement Language Sources, Postmodern Contemporary Dance, and Urban Movement Practices) each semester along with required coursework…

This qualitative case study examined the definitions, structure and pedagogical approaches that constituted a creative movement program as part of an artist-in-school-scheme for pre-schools. Data was collated through audio-recorded interviews with teachers, the school principal and dance instructor. Creative movement classes were video recorded…

This research highlights a K-5 dance artist-in-residence as a form of democratic and exemplary dance education that ignited collaboration, promoted equity, fostered student autonomy, and demonstrated rigor in school curriculum. Through examining observation, interview, and performance-based data and calling upon critical, democratic education…

In this paper we explore the relationship between creativity and identity in dance education. We consider how, when creating dance, young people can go on a "journey of becoming"; how in the process of making dance, they are also being made. We draw on the Dance Partners for Creativity research, a qualitative in depth study of creative…

This paper details the early stages of research which, through exploring new methodological and conceptual spaces, is being carried out with the aim of contributing to redressing the balance between creativity and performativity, in secondary level dance education in England. The Dance Partners for Creativity Research (DPC) Project is a…

This paper examines two improvisational processes, Authentic Movement (AM) and automatic drawing (AD), the possibility of their presentation to the viewer and the meanings such presentation may bring to the work presented. Improvisation has traditionally been used in the process of creating a finished work of art rather than in the finished art…

In 2001, North Carolina Dance Theatre, The University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School system joined forces to create a multidimensional, professional development program for dance professionals (teachers and artists) in the public schools called, The Dance Educator Enrichment Program (DEEP). DEEP was designed…