ERIC Number: EJ1182882
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2018-Jun
Pages: 23
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1321-103X
EISSN: N/A
I Drum, I Sing, I Dance: An Ethnographic Study of a West African Drum and Dance Ensemble
Silverman, Marissa
Research Studies in Music Education, v40 n1 p5-27 Jun 2018
The purpose of this ethnographic study was to investigate the Montclair State University's West African drum and dance ensemble. Analyses of the data revealed three themes related to individual participants and the "lived reality" of the group as a whole, and to the social-cultural teaching--learning processes involved: spirituality, community-as-oneness, and communal joy. My motivation for undertaking this inquiry arose from the fact that, beginning in the 1960s, music education scholars in the United States have been concerned about the widespread marginalization of non-Western musics in American music teacher education programs. This situation is still a major concern because American undergraduate and graduate music teacher preparation remains overwhelmingly dominated by Western classical styles. This situation runs contrary to the massive social, cultural, situational, and musical diversity of American students' lives. As one small effort to advance musical diversity in my own university music school context, I developed the proposal for and initiated the Montclair State University's West African drum and dance ensemble.
Descriptors: Dance Education, Dance, Singing, Ethnography, Learning Processes, Religious Factors, Sense of Community, Community Attitudes, College Programs, Music Education, African Culture, Video Technology, Interviews, Observation, Educational Practices, Theater Arts
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: New Jersey
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A