This paper describes new approaches to assessment in dance and dance education. The first part examines assumptions behind traditional models of evaluation in academic and performing arts contexts. I consider whether it is useful to understand human ability as unitary or if it is meaningful to evaluate people according to a single dimension of competence, such as a general intelligence or a unique talent. I argue that pluralistic models of human intelligent performance--and "intelligence-fair" assessments--more accurately portray the richness, multidimensionality, and diversity in human behaviour. The second part uses this theoretical meta-structure to define key requirements for multidimensional assessment. Recent approaches to assessment in dance are considered in light of these requirements: the United Kingdom's National Curriculum (1988), United States' National Assessment of Educational Progress (1998), and Warburton's (2000a) Multidimensional Assessment in Dance. Implications for dance and dance education are discussed.