This research explored how middle school students construct meaning from their dance-making experiences in comparison to the meaning attached to these experiences by an outside observer, the researcher. An interpretive methodology was used to study two nine-week-long dance classes taught at a private K-12 school. Eleven students enrolled in the…

In response to concerns about the place and nature of dance history in British higher education curricula, a database was compiled of representative but significant examples of modules which focused directly on the teaching and learning of history, or had history as a key component. An analysis is presented of these modules in terms of the place…

Dance education experiences of boys and male youth are investigated in terms of dominant constructions of contemporary Western masculinity and the potential limitations these hegemonic discourses may place on male participation. Recent research on boys and male youth in dance, although limited, suggests prevailing social stigma, heteronormative…

This study is the second phase of a large project examining young people's experiences in dance education. It draws on multi-modal data from over 700 young people, diverse both demographically and in terms of degree and kind of dance experience. This phase focuses on data reflecting engagement and disengagement in dance, and illuminates them from…

Western aesthetics tends to maintain its long-standing preoccupation with the visual arts, music and literature. The dance, along with the arts of radio and television drama, has not yet received the attention that would seem commensurate with the cultural importance of these forms and the widespread influence they undoubtedly exert. To come upon…

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…

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…

An important outcome of Singapore's education system is the development of creative thinking skills. This project investigates the impact of a creative dance unit on a class of Primary One (seven-year-old) children's usage of bodily kinaesthetic intelligence to solve problems. One key objective was for the researchers to observe something new,…

This paper acknowledges the importance of a dancer's centre but likewise highlights the problematic nature of the communication of this concept from dance teacher to student. After a brief introduction of orthodox approaches in finding centre, this paper suggests a method of locating centre through the ancient somatic technique.

This essay investigates the collaboration between dance and choreographic practice and film/video medium in a contemporary context. By looking specifically at dance made for the camera and the proliferation of dance-film/video, critical issues will be explored that have surfaced in response to this burgeoning form. Presenting a view of avant-garde…

This paper investigates realism both as an artistic attitude within the arts, and more specifically in relation to Lloyd Newson's "Enter Achilles". There is initially a discussion of realism, focusing on the theories of Lukacs and Brecht in relation to art, and an attempt to relate these ideas more specifically to dance. Discussion of "Enter…

The purpose of the present study was to extend the findings obtained in previous reversal theory based dance research by investigating dancers' perceptions of their own arousal levels and performance and their motivational states when performing. A group of modern dancers (n = 21), performing at a dance competition, acted as volunteer…

The subjective experience of flow in professional dancers was analyzed using interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA). Flow is believed to be a psychological state in which the mind and body "just click", creating optimal performance. Unfortunately, sport and performance research have severely neglected reviewing the flow experience in…

The objective of this study is to present "The Spiral Model for the Development of Coordination" (SMDC), a learning model that reflects the complexity and possibilities embodied in the learning of movement notation Eshkol-Wachman (EWMN), an Israeli invention. This model constituted the infrastructure for a comprehensive study that examined the…

The purpose of this study was to identify and examine the methods that professional dancers use to engage fully into their work as artists. Participants (N=15) were professional dancers from five European nationalities, (7 females; 8 males), currently performing for three major Scotland-based dance companies, including two professional free-lance…