This article describes four years of experience the Pittsburgh High School of the Creative and Performing Arts has had with a dance program. Problems and virtues of the program are highlighted, and suggestions for improvement are offered. (MT)

Kentucky Mountain Square Dancing is appropriate for all ages because it is easy to learn and fun to do. A brief overview of square dancing is presented in this article. An example is given that offers calls and directions to be used. (DF)

Clogging is a rhythmic dance that children enjoy watching and doing. This article discusses the history of clogging and suggests eight basic steps to be used in the physical education class. Clogging resources are included. (DF)

Basic instruction programs, those designed to instruct students in sports, dance, and fitness, are physical education in its purest form. These seven articles examine basic instruction programs in terms of history, trends, goals, financing, student fitness, and lifetime activity. (MT)

This book provides theoretical knowledge, practical tips, and inspiration to help prepare the next generation of dancers and meet the demands of contemporary dance. It teaches the reader to set strategies and reasonable goals; use rituals to facilitate centering; safely incorporate conditioning principles; understand the interplay between gravity…

Examines pedagogical content knowledge obstacles that teachers sometimes face when teaching educational dance, discussing several pedagogical strategies related to teaching educational dance (eliminating challenges and determining skill levels, the role of the teacher, categories of educational dance, and contextual situations). These strategies…

Examined how the Feldenkrais Method of somatic education informed a series of contemporary technique classes in a professional setting in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Collaborative research findings highlighted three themes: transfer of learning, movement awareness facilitation, and construction of the dancing bodies. This study works toward a shift…

Among 20 Ontario elementary school teachers (average teaching experience 13 years), none had ever taught creative dance but all felt it should be included in the elementary curriculum. Barriers to implementation included lack of training and confidence, little support from administrators and policymakers, and lack of resources and facilities. (SV)

Using improvisation in movement and dance classes is an ideal way to help students relate to how their bodies move. Students can learn confidence from the way they move by experimenting with unconventional and different methods. Improvisation, as such, is responding spontaneously to stimuli (music) in order to create a composition that allows for…

A four-component aiming movement was used to examine the relative effectiveness of part and whole practice. Following a pretest, participants were assigned to one of three practice groups. Participants in a "Whole" group practiced the four components together as a unit. A "No Overlap" group practiced the first two and last two components of the…

This article describes the three fundamental strategic principles--to be curricular, developmental, and democratic--that have been designed and implemented in the Mamaroneck High School's integrated arts program, a four-year, sequential, elective program that includes dance, theater, and music. An explanation of the ways in which the dance…

Accessible and hands-on yet grounded in research, this book addresses the "whats," "whys," and "how-tos" of integrating literacy instruction and the arts in grades K-8. Even teachers without any arts background will gain the skills they need to bring music, drama, visual arts, and dance into their classrooms. Provided are a wealth of specific…

For philosopher Gilles Deleuze, the work of philosophy consists of affirmatively and artistically creating and reworking concepts in response to real-life problems in an ongoing process that invites new perspectives and ways of thinking. Carol Matthews's music composition pedagogical practices reflect these processes, arguing that they demonstrate…

This study examines the cognitive experiences of children as they engage in creative projects in both dance and poetry. The data includes interviews with fifth graders from an elementary School in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, about their lived experience of writing poetry and creating dances. Students interviewed for this study participated in a…

Authoritarian teaching practices in ballet inhibit the use of private speech. This paper highlights the critical importance of private speech in the cognitive development of young ballet students, within what is largely a non-verbal art form. It draws upon research by Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky and contemporary socioculturalists, to…