Traditionally, concepts such as art appreciation, student-centered learning, and holistic wellness have often been at odds with educational priorities on selected school subjects and teacher-centered learning. Education reform around the world has triggered shifts from traditional to innovative practices in education. This article addresses the…

As a Certified Laban Movement Analyst and a classically trained ballet dancer, I consistently weave the Laban Movement Analysis/Bartenieff Fundamentals (LMA/BF) theories and philosophies into the ballet class. This integration assists in: (1) Identifying the qualitative movement elements both in the art of ballet and in the students' dancing…

This article provides a practical framework for infusing a body-listening or somatic approach into the dance class. Although the concept of body listening is not revolutionary or ground breaking, it has been underemphasized in the dance technique class and needs revisiting. From reflection on current research, as well as from several years of…

This VHS videotape recording is the first in a two-volume series that presents 500 years of social dance, music, and fashion. It focuses on the 15th-19th centuries, including Renaissance nobility, Baroque extravagance, Regency refinement, and Victorian romanticism. Each era reflects the changing relationships between men and women through the…

This book, recognized as a most complete and accurate dictionary-glossary-encyclopedia-thesaurus on dancing-with-a-partner, defines and enumerates names, words, and terms with their relation to coupledancing, offering data and suggestions for making coupledancing easier, more graceful, and fun. It targets couples who dance together in any mode,…

Uses the author's experiences as a performer, choreographer, artistic director, and teacher to investigate the notion of the performer's presence in dance, providing examples from her teaching a graduate module in performance making (choreography) to illustrate how performance practice and poststructuralist theory can influence each other. Three…

Separating theoretical knowledge from practical knowledge and from direct engagement with dance is limiting and distorts nature of dance. The challenge is to demonstrate how rationality of subject works, show progress from intention to action in creating and performing dances, articulate purposes of making and performing a work, identify…

Recent research about sexuality and dance has begun to address the needs of gay male dancers, yet the needs of lesbian dancers have remained mostly absent from scholarly discourse. Exploring the lesbian lacunae, or invisible spaces of dance education, reveals the personal, political, and pedagogical implications of their existence within the dance…

Integrating principles from the Alexander Technique into a dance technique class can provide tools for facilitating a more coordinated use of the self. While the methodologies of Alexander Technique and dance technique may present differences, there are ways of applying the principles of Alexander within the context of a dance technique class that…

For nearly 25 years, the author has driven the highways and back roads of Illinois, teaching dance to school children, leading family programs, performing lecture/demonstrations, and choreographing technically simple, conceptually complex pieces with and for young dancers. The author's home base is Champaign/Urbana (C/U), twin cities with a…

Regardless of geographical limitations, community partnerships can flourish through videoconference technology. This article presents iDance Arizona (iDA) research as a tool for supporting the teaching and learning of dance in rural settings. This research focuses on university/K-12 collaborations and examines the pedagogy of videoconferencing in…

The American Square Dance became the official National Folk Dance of America by an act of Congress in 1982. Although the square dance contains some elements similar to the New England Quadrille, the Kentucky Running Set is thought to be the true foundation for its movements and configurations. The Running Set has been traced back to the source of…

Dance as an art form is transformational to body, mind, and spirit. The author opines that public education would do just fine if dance was the "only" subject taught. This article presents the author's reflection on progress of dance in K-12 education. The author contends that progress in dance in K-12 education can perhaps be judged by the fact…

For many years, the author has incorporated creative process into the way she teaches ballet class. The author shares the philosophical, practical, and artistic reasons for the creative process in ballet classes. She also shares the rationale and how this practice developed over time.

````````Incorporation of an experiential anatomy component into the modern technique class educates students about the body in a way that permanently and positively impacts how they move. It is our responsibility as dance educators, whether at the elementary, secondary, or college level, to teach students how to care for their bodies and make…