The purpose of this study was to explore the potential of capture systems in improving high school students' dancing skills through the use of experimental design. The major findings were as follows: First, using a MoCap system and high-speed camera to document dancers' movements can provide reference materials for students to improve their skills…

This article presents a critical consideration of the ways in which specialist dance teachers in New Zealand state secondary schools respond to curriculum expectations to incorporate Maori arts content into their lessons. Disparity between Maori and non-Maori achievement is evident in the state schooling system. More than 20% of students in New…

It has been almost twenty years since Namasagali College, a co-educational secondary school in Eastern Uganda, staged its last performance, yet the memory of these musical theater productions are recalled with the nostalgia of a lost renaissance. These transdisciplinary productions that utilized modern dance, acting and mimed songs transformed the…

Whilst the fight for the inclusion of dance in schools has been an ongoing struggle, current government directives and educational policies present an even greater threat to the future of quality dance education in schools and this needs to be addressed. This paper begins to explore the certificated dance education currently on offer in the United…

Using practice as research as my methodology I examine whether it is possible to choreograph "Hairspray - the Musical" while staying true to the movement principles developed by Kurt Jooss and Sigurd Leeder in the Jooss-Leeder Method. In discussing the process and the product I explore also the difficulties in choreographing for, and…

The aim of this study is to illuminate and discuss assessment within dance education in Swedish upper secondary schools through teachers' reflections. The study investigates how teachers reflect upon the range of possibilities explored and difficulties encountered in their assessment practice. In order to be able to comprehend the phenomenon of…

This study sought to develop a system for observing dance activities in the classroom environment (SODANCE) based on the system for observing fitness instructional time (SOFIT). SODANCE utilizes direct observation to quantify the physical activity intensity of dance activities. Female students aged 11-17 years participated in an activity protocol…

This article provides an example of teacher research conducted by a dance educator at an elite independent boarding school in the Northeastern USA. The research was conducted during the second year of a two-year master's degree program at a large Northeastern university and the article is co-written by the former master's student/teaching fellow…

This article deals with didactics, dance and teacher knowing in an upper secondary school context in Sweden. Dance is referred to as a western theatrical art form as well as to a subject mainly defined through its curriculum. A qualitative interview study with experienced dance teachers constitutes the base on which two overarching theoretical…

The aim of the study is to examine how dance teachers express themselves verbally in teaching situations where movement training is combined with "expression". The empirical material consists of films and tapes from a 130 min long dance class at upper secondary school, and a taped conversation with the teacher about episodes from the…

In 2000, teaching about culturally diverse dances from contextual perspectives became an expectation for New Zealand schools with the inaugural The Arts in the New Zealand Curriculum. Responding to the new curriculum the author, as dance lecturer for K-12 generalist teachers attending a seven day in-service dance and drama education course, faced…

This is a viewpoint that discusses the criteria applied for an objective, academic assessment of dance education and comments upon the status of dance education both in secondary education schools and professional dance schools in Greece today. The viewpoint concludes by proposing the need for an independent undergraduate dance degree to be…

This paper describes a teaching model, "The Teaching Artist", developed to address the pedagogical and cultural divide between the traditional dance teacher and the dance artist who teaches: traditionally, one teaching about dance and the other, teaching through dance. The "Teaching Artist" model was developed through the…

The purpose of this study was to assess the physiological and psychological impact of contemporary dance classes on adolescent females. Fifty-five females, aged 14 were recruited from secondary schools in the UK. The intervention constituted a program of contemporary dance classes with an emphasis on building muscular strength. Full ethics…

Teachers' narratives, when viewed as a form of critical inquiry, can allow teachers to tell and retell stories from their evolving points of view and contextual positions, with the goal of better understanding the complexity and depth of the experiences that have informed their teaching. This narrative, which weaves the voices of the author and…