This article adheres to UN guidelines concerning the Decade of Healthy Ageing (2021-2030) which aim to improve the lives of the older population. The objective of this study is to show how social dance with artistic-scenic purposes for a socially vulnerable group of older adults (third and fourth age) contributes to active ageing from social and…

This article examines the processes of cultural transfer and cross-pollination within four diasporic DanceSport studios located in major cities in Canada. It focuses on first- and second-generation Soviet-Canadian competitive ballroom dancers and their experiences with identity as a diasporic community. Through an ethnographic study, it explores…

This article calls educators to continue using accessible language to support dancers with disabilities and promote disability esthetic in dance. I will draw from my experience working in "inclusive dance," a term that will be discussed and problematized. The article also challenges the idea of the "ideal" body in dance. It…

The primary aims of this qualitative interpretive inquiry were to gain better understanding of dance teaching artists' preparation and preparedness, workplace challenges, and the role and impact of policy and regulations in P-12 schools. A secondary aim focused upon identifying school environments that support effective and purposeful dance…

This article presents a phenomenological study on lived and living conscious experiences of improvisational dance. Six experienced improvisational dancers and one dance piano accompanist were interviewed individually, and shared the past-lived experience of improvisational dance. After the interviews, the six dancers agreed to perform solo…

In this article, we explore how inclusion and diversity in mindful dance and movement practices can be supported by a practice of self-reflexivity in regards to our embodied identities as teachers. We understand identities as created through processes of stratification, which tend to assign dualistic, fixed and often mutually excluding categories…

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…

As an artist/academic, I discuss my pedagogical interventions in teaching Odissi through studio, theory, and praxis courses to populations across university students and professional artists. Through interdisciplinary research, I work at the confluence of historical and contemporary forces. Casteist, fundamentalist, racist, sexist, ablist, and…

Traditional ballet classes teach dancers how to perform long-established vocabulary and choreographed roles within a time-honoured hierarchical structure that provides constant direction and methods for physical training. When the dancers proceed to professional companies, some of this structure remains in the form of daily ballet classes.…

Despite the well-documented challenges of professional ballet dancers and anecdotal report of premature retirement, no research has examined what professional ballet dancers do to persevere in their performance careers. This study drew on the perspectives of retired professional ballet dancers to address this question. We conducted narrative…

The Feldenkrais Method® (FM) is a form of somatic education aiming to increase brain-body communication, reportedly via interoceptive mechanisms. Although empirically proven to improve perceived interoceptive ability and psychological well-being in adults, feasibility in adolescents remains unclear. We therefore used a combined randomized…

Practitioner Exchanges (PXs) at Luna Dance Institute are casual community conversations co-facilitated by dance educators around a topic of dance teaching inquiry. With the physical disconnection of the COVID era, these in-person roundtables shifted to Zoom, and became even more essential in bringing teaching artists together. Educators from all…

This article examines limitations of teaching contemporary dance through a Eurocentric lens and proposes an expansive approach to contemporary dance pedagogy that honors students' experiences in multiple dance forms and cultures. I question the Western pedagogy of contemporary dance and problematize the use of ballet pedagogy as a foundation of…

Using an autoethnographic approach, this article focuses on the experiences of two male dance educators/researchers living with/through terminal cancer. Autoethnographers analyze their 'unique life experiences in the context of the social and cultural institutions that have shaped the world the researcher inhabits.' Drawn from a larger research…

The current study examines the relationships between relational psychological contract, psychological contract breach, loyal boosterism and conscientiousness in the performing arts context. Based on the literature, we develop and test a moderated-mediation model that investigated the mediating role of psychological contract breach in the…