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,…

Investigating the nature and value of dance drama as an expressive idiom for elementary school children, this paper discusses foundational concerns about the nature of dance drama, aesthetic content, learnings in dance drama, and the organization of these learnings. Noting that the ideas of dance drama presented have largely emerged from a content…

This paper argues that traditional African dance can develop fitness and health particularly for those interested in both health and African culture. A discussion of fitness concludes that this quality enables the body to perform physical activities with greater efficiency and that all the qualities commonly found in notions of fitness are found…

This anthology of articles, selected from writings in the "Journal of Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance" and the "Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport" (previously "Research Quarterly") over a 10-year period, offers insights into the growth in dance education and the changes during those years in pedagogical, creative, and…

Dance educators need to be aware of current career trends and focus their programs on practical needs of their students. Teaching, dance journalism, therapy, and photography are career options for the dancer who is not a professional performer. (DF)

Discusses the evolution of dance education, the national support for arts education, and the implications for dance. Considers the challenges that must be met to establish quality dance programs. Focuses on how to address the challenges both at the national and state level. Provides recommendations. (CMK)

Stresses the importance of local arts, focusing on encouraging modern dance at the local level. Addresses issues such as audience participation, sense of ownership and community, and accessibility that accompanies local art. Considers the implications for K-12 modern dance education. (CMK)

The concept of the "hidden curriculum" can reveal complex issues of gender in dance education, ones which often reinforce gender stereotypes in the larger culture. The hidden curriculum, referring to everything students are learning besides what teachers are explicitly teaching, is generated through the taken for granted structures and practices…

The author has spent six years teaching dance and movement to grades pre-kindergarten through fourth at an independent school in New York City. For five of those years, the author has had the privilege of hosting student teachers from New York University's Dance Education Program. Although the author has reflected on what the student teachers may…

Johann Paul Friedrich Richter (1763-1825) adopted the pen-name "Jean Paul" in honour of Jean Jaques Rousseau. His "Levana or the doctrine of education" ("Levana oder Erziehlehre") was once a standard text and required reading in teacher education. Outside Germany the name of Jean Paul is now little known and the…

This framework for dance contains three instructional strands. Each strand has content standards and cumulative student learning expectations for grades K-4, grades 5-8, and grades 9-12. The three strands are: (1) "Basic Elements of Movement;" (2) "Arts in Civilization;" and (3) "Artistic Communication." The content…

Defines dance education, noting that it enables all children to be expressive nonverbally and to incorporate the physical self as a functioning part of the whole social being. Differentiates dance training and education. Discusses the importance of learning through movement and curricular integration through dance, asserting that dance education…

In this paper I explore the special type of thinking, moving and dancing place which is opened up for decolonisaton when students engage in an embodied pedagogical practice in Indigenous education. I examine what decolonisation means in this context by describing the ways in which the curriculum, the students and me, and more generally the…

The movement meanings of students (n=19) in one fifth-grade class during a creative dance unit focusing on effort (force, time, space, flow) are investigated using a perspective grounded in transcendental phenomenology (Husserl, 1931). Data were collected via videotape, journal, and homework documents and semistructured interviews. Analytical…

This document presents the results of the project to develop an assessment framework and specifications for a planned 1996 Arts Education Assessment. The purpose of the project was to develop and recommend a framework and other design features for an arts education assessment that includes the areas of dance, music, theater, and the visual arts.…