The interdisciplinary collaboration is a type of subversive activity that helps the students and teachers to see beyond the traditional subject boundaries. A high school teacher's collaboration with the dance instructor helped students to understand and see Barbara Kingsolver's "Animal Dreams" in a new way.

While much has been written about dance, its role in education has been elusive. One thing is clear, though. What distinguishes dance from other forms of movement, action, and activity is the context in which dance or "aesthetic movement" is performed and appreciated by others. This includes both the way dance is thought about and evaluated by…

To resist and transform gendered and hypersexualized assumptions and attitudes that cloud interpretations and devalue readings of black and brown bodies, dance educators cannot only facilitate agency for their students, but also help demonstrate an overarching concern for social justice and equality. Dance has the power to transform and redirect…

Dance education in the USA has a new window of opportunity to reach every child in academic schools. The National Education Goals now recognize dance as a core subject, such as, e.g. language. To take advantage of this development, the "Intelligent Moves--Partnering Dance & Education K-12" workshop for teachers was held as part of the Vail Valley…

The "Critical Thinking Belief Appraisal" was administered to practicing dance teachers (n = 52) in the USA to investigate their beliefs (and use of) critical-thinking activities with high-advantage and low-advantage learners. Results point to an "advantage effect" in dance teachers' beliefs about critical thinking: the higher…

The purpose of this research is to instigate a debate about the way in which professional ballet dancers are trained and the content of that training. The literature on the teaching of ballet has always focused on two areas: ballet vocabulary and training. The former is treated as both a fixed and autonomous form, and, for the latter, methods of…

In England the government's specialist schools initiative is transforming the nature of secondary education. A three-year longitudinal case study tracked the effects of specialist performing arts college status on two schools. The sites were a mainstream school drawing pupils from an area of high social deprivation and disadvantage, and a special…

This paper focuses on Iceland's arts and cultural education. The objective of arts education is to develop creativity, strengthen self-identity, and increase cultural understanding. It aims at a balance between, creation, expression and interpretation, on the one hand, and perception, discernment and evaluation, on the other. In accordance with…

This paper focuses on Portugal's arts and cultural education. The Ministry of Education (ME) is fundamentally responsible for establishing aims to develop the cultural and creative aspects of education, in accordance with the following aims defined for the whole curriculum. At the level of compulsory education, the Portuguese education system,…

Artistic education at general education schools in Lithuania is organised by teaching separate art subjects. Art education based on the integrated approach or project method may be organized at primary school, in grades one to four, according to the individual curriculum prepared by the teacher. Arts subjects included in Lithuanian arts curriculum…

Setting the aims for cultural and artistic aspects of general education is the responsibility of the Ministry of National Education. Educational aims specified in the core curriculum refer to arts and culture in the following way: ...As part of its educational activities, the school should ensure in particular that pupils: ...8) learn about the…

This edition of the dance directory contains updated information on colleges and institutions which offer dance education. It lists the following information: (1) name of college or university and whether it is a state or private institution; (2) name of department; (3) mailing address and telephone number; (4) degrees and/or certification…

The purpose of this paper is to explore the application of Rudolf Laban's theories of movement to the teaching of choreography and improvisation. The paper presents learning activities appropriate for early encounters in the development of artistic process skills. It is predicated on the theory that the choreographic process is a heuristic process…

A literature and research review regarding the participation of boys in elementary school dance programs suggests that negative attitudes held in the early part of this century about the value of dancing for boys may still influence the nonparticipation of boys in dance programs of the 1980s. (CB)

The article describes the development, organization, goals, and activities of a course designed to trace the evolution of jazz dance and tie this dynamic dance form to the cultural experiences of African-Americans. (CB)