Classical ballet technique is commonly taught through the use of authoritarian practices and normalizing aesthetic values, but the construction of the ballet dancer as a docile subject in opposition to an all-knowing instructor might impede ballet's progression. In this article I explore my development of a feminist or democratic ballet…

Today's dance educators enter classrooms populated by increasingly diverse students in which teachers' pedagogical knowledge necessitates heightened understandings of race, ethnicity, social class, gender, and sexuality. Uncovering taken-for-granted assumptions, dominant stereotypes, and educational structures that reproduce social…

The purpose of this study was to investigate "fat talk" conversations about weight and body dissatisfaction within college dancers. Participants were 116 female undergraduates who were dancers/dance majors ("n"?=?20), dancers/nondance majors ("n"?=?32), and nondancers ("n"?=?63). Participants responded to…

This study reflects on teaching and learning contemporary dance in Amman, Jordan, focusing on the experiences of three contemporary dance students. Through the three case studies, various issues regarding teaching and learning contemporary dance in a Jordanian context are raised, revealing that contemporary dance can be perceived as a taboo and…

The Pilates method as Joseph Hubertus Pilates originally defined it in the early 1920s, was called "Contrology," or the art of control, based on the ideal of attaining a complete coordination of body, mind, and spirit. Joseph Pilates's early writings emphasized the value of controlling the body rather than attending to the process of body…

In this article, the author describes how she was able to instill some ideas about looking at the world through the lens of dance as an important reorientation of what it means to be male through an eight-week course entitled Movement for Men. This elective class is open only to male undergraduates, and predominantly, the class population is…

Over a three-month period, Arcadia High School and Arizona State University formed a community partnership with the help of New York modern dance choreographer David Dorfman to create an original dance titled "Here." Dorfman's community-building approach is based on personal refection, collaboration, critical thinking, problem solving, genuine…

Research on the efficacy of traditional ballet barre exercises in relation to student learning and performance in technique class essentially is non-existent. This research explored how students described their experiences with barre work as well as how they saw these experiences as developing desired skills for moving in the center work.…

The purpose of this study was to design, implement, and evaluate an experimental course investigating the effect of Feldenkrais "Awareness Through Movement (ATM)" on students' self-image and its transference to concept related dance phrases, motif based improvisations, outside training and performance, and their daily lives. As a dancer and…

These short essays address the political nature of teaching dance in higher education from various perspectives. Issues of identity, authority, power, expectation, and assumption are addressed within the context of the teacher-student paradigm. From personal perspectives, each author examines the ways in which who they are affects what and how…

The dance studio typically features a wall of mirrors; however, there has been little research on the pedagogical advantages and disadvantages of mirrors in the training environment. Psychological studies on objective self-awareness, the ability to see one's self as an object, suggest that the mirrors magnify this state. How this increased…

In the past three years, the author has taught yoga classes to students at the Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Charter Public School, in addition to her job as Dance Director. This school already is an open environment; the students are generally interested in the arts and the Pioneer Valley in Massachusetts is known for its…

Sixty-two college-aged, ballet and modern dancers evaluated their bodies and themselves in different dance and non-dance settings. In a self-report survey design, dancers' body esteem, fitness esteem, and self-esteem (an overall self-evaluation) were measured in three different contexts. Dancers rated their body esteem, fitness esteem, and…