Dance classes in urban settings may have a role in health-promotion programmes seeking to increase physical activity amongst young people. However, little is so far known about the motivations, experiences or health outcomes of those participating in dance classes. This qualitative study of young people attending recreational dance classes…

In the interaction between the child and the adult, interest can be a significant motivational initiator of activities. Systematic monitoring and development of the interest in music activities enables the teachers to influence the preschool children in forming a positive attitude towards the art of music. The research involving preschool…

The chasm between science the the arts has been hotly debated during the last century. History reveals that science and theatre arts (drama and dance) have shared a successful symbiosis that has benefited society for at least two millennia. This natural partnership continues to have positive effects on our culture by providing aesthetic…

This article describes the Dancing across Disciplines (DAD) project (1998-2002), which the author conceived in the idealism of the potential of dance and music as the great levelers, in the promise of the celebration of difference through rhythm and song, funded by a $225,000, three-year grant from the US Department of Education's Fund for the…

A preschool movement through dance program is a way to open the door to numerous cultural benefits and opportunities, and preschool skill facilitation. Creating new contexts for learning enrich young children and offer them different opportunities to understand and negotiate the world. Inclusive curricular integration and parent and community…

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…

Investigating the nature and value of dance drama as an expressive idiom for elementary school children, this paper discusses foundational concerns about the nature of dance drama, aesthetic content, learnings in dance drama, and the organization of these learnings. Noting that the ideas of dance drama presented have largely emerged from a content…

This paper argues that traditional African dance can develop fitness and health particularly for those interested in both health and African culture. A discussion of fitness concludes that this quality enables the body to perform physical activities with greater efficiency and that all the qualities commonly found in notions of fitness are found…

Discusses the evolution of dance education, the national support for arts education, and the implications for dance. Considers the challenges that must be met to establish quality dance programs. Focuses on how to address the challenges both at the national and state level. Provides recommendations. (CMK)

Stresses the importance of local arts, focusing on encouraging modern dance at the local level. Addresses issues such as audience participation, sense of ownership and community, and accessibility that accompanies local art. Considers the implications for K-12 modern dance education. (CMK)

The concept of the "hidden curriculum" can reveal complex issues of gender in dance education, ones which often reinforce gender stereotypes in the larger culture. The hidden curriculum, referring to everything students are learning besides what teachers are explicitly teaching, is generated through the taken for granted structures and practices…

The author has spent six years teaching dance and movement to grades pre-kindergarten through fourth at an independent school in New York City. For five of those years, the author has had the privilege of hosting student teachers from New York University's Dance Education Program. Although the author has reflected on what the student teachers may…

Johann Paul Friedrich Richter (1763-1825) adopted the pen-name "Jean Paul" in honour of Jean Jaques Rousseau. His "Levana or the doctrine of education" ("Levana oder Erziehlehre") was once a standard text and required reading in teacher education. Outside Germany the name of Jean Paul is now little known and the…

This course outline is a guide for teaching methods and approaches to interpretive modern dance in grades 7-12. The course format includes lectures and discussion, experimentation with movement, films, and tests that focus on exploring approaches to dance creativity, danceable and communicative ideas, performing creative work in class, and…

The history and popularity of clog dancing is discussed. (MM)