This article revisits ideas put forward at the beginning of an academic career and discusses the ways in which time and experience within academe has shifted the author's perspective. Specifically, focusing on the balance of artistic thinking with the widely perceived need to justify the arts in higher education, the author explores questions…

At Arts Advocacy Day 2009 in Washington, over 500 citizens educated, advocated, and lobbied for federal support for the arts and its positive impact on the U.S. economy. This year the Nancy Hanks Lecture was given by Wynton Marsalis, whose extraordinary address voiced the potential of the arts in this new era of hope. For dance educators, Marsalis…

Within the Western fine arts tradition of concert and theatrical dance, new dances may be created in any number of ways. No matter how dance making begins, however, unless the work is to be improvised afresh each time it is performed, a process of developing, revising, and "setting" the work needs to take place. To move confidently and…

As issues of equity consistently surface as a fundamental concern for dance education's past, present, and future, this commentary is the first of a number of pieces that will focus on root common goals, new ways of seeing the field, and acting upon both of these realizations in one's own site. In this initial commentary, the author discusses…

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…

Those who have advocated for dance in public education have also found their discipline to be easily malleable to fit whatever goals and values seem in style. In different times, dance education has been marketed as a way for students to become healthier, better adjusted, better problem solvers, better critical thinkers, better team players, more…

The intersections of dance and sexuality and sexual identity are part of the critical discourse important to teaching dance appreciation and dance history. This essay presents aspects of my teaching practice, informed by current writings in queer studies, dance studies, education, and sociology. Awareness of potential classroom diversity helps…

This article presents a collection of shorter pieces from current and former dance chairpersons which addresses concerns and questions about sexuality in dance education from a variety of perspectives. Although each essay stands alone (and was written as such), the conversation that develops helps one to see the larger geography mapped by…

Given the present economic and political climate, how can dance programs in colleges and universities continue to thrive? Recently there has been a national movement to return to the roots of the original altruistic mission of the public university and the land grant legacy. In other words, a movement toward, engagement. Engagement involves a…

In this article, the author talks about Motif Notation, a means of creating, recording, and reflecting on dance experience, and dance making as educational partners in an urban middle school. The author shares partial tales of middle school-aged children engaging in dance making and Motif Notation which illustrate the fact that teens need to…

In this article, the author discusses the responsibilities of private sector dance educators to their students, parents and the faculty in middle America. The author believes that dance educators' responsibility to their students requires that they are qualified, caring, and professional. Private sector dance educators have the challenge of…

What does it means to be a caring dance teacher? The essay reviews the rise of care in education and examines the concept of care as a moral orientation in personal and educational encounters so that connections to dance education are revealed, definitions are arrived at, and important related issues are identified. The essay describes three…

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…

A history of the outstanding K-12 dance program in Vancouver, Washington, is provided, including various strategies used to promote its growth from a few pilot elementary schools through middle schools to an arts magnet high school. Numerous changes have been weathered by the professional dance staff, including certification challenges instigated…

In recent years the number of children, ages 3 to 5, in early childhood programs has rapidly grown. As a result, an emphasis has been placed on developing curriculum guidelines that specifically address the needs of young children. One of these guidelines recommends that children be provided with an opportunity to participate in regular movement…