This study investigates the impact of partial versus full mirror use on body image in a beginner-level ballet class. At the end of a seven-week period, researchers distributed an online survey inclusive of qualitative questions to two groups of female collegiate students enrolled in separate beginner-level ballet courses taught by the same…

Little is known about how individuals with histories of sexual trauma experience dance in non-clinical settings. Dance educators outside of the clinical sphere, such as in dance studios and higher education dance programs, may lack knowledge surrounding how the experience(s) of sexual trauma can alter one's movement and involvement in the dance…

This qualitative descriptive study explored how undergraduate dance students describe somatic experiences in dance technique classes and their influence on their critical thinking, feelings of empowerment, and dance technique at a private southwest university. The theoretical foundation for the study was critical pedagogy. Using critical pedagogy,…

Three key constructs--the self, the body, and the dance classroom--help define how community college dance students develop their artistic voice. I identify the educational context of a community college dance class as a significant space where dance students can engage in artistic practices that lead to transformative and empowering experiences.…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the embodied qualities of aerial practice among 13 US undergraduate students (M[subscript age] = 20.46 years old). Drawing on the philosophy of embodiment, interview questions addressed bodily sensations, cognition, and the role of music and mirror viewing. The first emerging theme from the…

Teaching dance in the university raises political and ethical questions regarding the process of cultural transmission. Framed by pedagogical theories of Benedictus de Spinoza, Paolo Friere, and Henry A. Giroux, and two case studies, three authors explore intersections of race, class, gender, and religion. Authors also dissect their own critical…

The purpose of this action research is to explore the value of 'touching' when teaching in a ballet studio-based class. This method, as part of cultural heritage, is traditionally used and preserved to correct students, but in today's society, this could become challenging and problematic in Higher Education. Is this way of teaching still…

Dance teachers use a wide range of methods to communicate effectively with students. Amongst the many possibilities, movement demonstration is often a salient, even expected, tool in dance classes. But when the teacher's body undergoes an injury or other significant physical change, what effect does the altered physical experience have on…

This mixed methods study investigates the juncture of dance science, somatics, and contemporary modern dance training, and how they intertwine with learning processes and skill execution through transfer theory. The effects of a novel somatics training program are analyzed through six case studies using data reduction and interpretation of…

This article identifies the student's perceptions regarding the lack of inhibition, spontaneity and codification of the tasks associated with corporeal expression. The aim was to identify the positive and negative feelings of the students regarding the expressive activities involved in the three phases of the exercise: exploration, expression and…

As a disciplinary program, dance falls between the arts and physical education. As a result, it can often be overlooked or sidelined by either program, to the determent of its great value for community college students. Dance and its attention to movement, mental focus, and physical control provide important neurological benefits that affect both…

This paper explores how young ballet dancers' bodies are constructed and narrated through their desire to become performing ballet dancers. The schooling of the balletic body engages the young dancer in embodying the discipline of ballet and in developing a particular belief in a performing body. The embodied set of acquired dispositions that are…

This article takes a phenomenological approach to understanding embodiment in relation to teaching and learning taking place in movement contexts. Recently a number of studies have pointed to the potential that phenomenology has to understand the meanings and experiences of moving subjects. By presenting two examples of our own work on embodied…

Why would boys want to dance? Why would anyone want to dance? The argument prosecuted in this paper is that dance educators have tended to see dance as a self-evidently good thing with self-evident benefits for children who learn to dance. In other words, dance educators tend to concern themselves with why students should dance rather than why…