ERIC Number: EJ1160858
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2017
Pages: 11
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1529-0824
EISSN: N/A
Ballet as Somatic Practice: A Case Study Exploring the Integration of Somatic Practices in Ballet Pedagogy
Journal of Dance Education, v17 n4 p147-157 2017
This case study explores one teacher's integration of Alexander Technique and the work of neuromuscular retrainer Irene Dowd in ballet pedagogy to establish a somatic approach to teaching, learning, and performing ballet technique. This case study highlights the teacher's unique teaching method called IMAGE TECH for dancers (ITD) and offers evidence to support ITD as a somatic approach to ballet pedagogy. The personal perspectives of the teacher and students in this ethnographic study support my observations that ITD integrates principles of somatic practices in ballet pedagogy. Additionally, these data illustrate the pedagogical innovation involved in the teacher's communication with her ballet students, which moves away from traditional authoritarian teaching practices. With ITD concepts communicated in such a way that the students feel confident to individually adapt the material, internal authority becomes established and ballet students can claim autonomy in their training and future careers.
Descriptors: Dance Education, Teaching Methods, Case Studies, Ethnography, Instructional Innovation, Student Centered Learning, Foreign Countries, Teacher Student Relationship, Observation, Dance, Kinesthetic Perception
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: France
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A