In my investigation of dance curricula in US higher education, the dance discipline's primary pedagogical concentrations in classical ballet and Eurocentric modern dance techniques implicitly signal their centrality to the development of any academically trained dancer. This focus, in turn, generalizes and essentializes other cultural and…

This critical review aims to expose the confusion that exists in professional arts criticism in general, and dance criticism in particular--with implications for dance education. The underlying principles of formalism are outlined and its strengths and weaknesses highlighted. A demand for more interpretive, theoretical and contextual criticism is…

Ballet, the art form, is underpinned by a codified technique -- a set of movements, positions and aesthetics. For centuries, ballet technique has been used to develop movement accuracy and artistry in generations of dancers. Volumes have been written on the schema of ballet technique and pedagogical approaches to achieving dance artistry. This…

This qualitative case study examined the definitions, structure and pedagogical approaches that constituted a creative movement program as part of an artist-in-school-scheme for pre-schools. Data was collated through audio-recorded interviews with teachers, the school principal and dance instructor. Creative movement classes were video recorded…

Participation in sports may influence negative body image and Social Physique Anxiety (SPA) as there is pressure by significant others to have a certain body image. The aim of the present study was to examine possible differences in SPA and perceived pressure to be thin between female preadolescent and adolescent ballet dancers, rhythmic…

This article explores how and to what extent precarity is intertwined with a contemporary dance artist's labour, life and art in the neoliberal society. Throughout this investigation my arguments are supported by insights from an on-going qualitative study that uses in-depth interviews and observations of working processes within the Brussels…

This paper investigates the evolution of feminist consciousness in dance technique class as related to body image, the myth of the perfect body, and the development of feminist pedagogy. Western concert dance forms have often been taught in a manner where imitating the teacher is primary in the learning process. In this traditional scenario,…

The questions that this paper poses are placed at the intersection of a Liberal Arts approach to education and the pedagogy of traditional Indian dance forms. These questions are explored through my ongoing pedagogical experiment with teaching the art of "abhinaya" in the university classroom. This paper charts the journey of exploring…

This article addresses the use of the fifth position in historical and current dance training practices with particular emphasis upon examining the 180° aesthetic and its hegemonic, idealized persistence in dancing bodies, as a marker of perfection and "beauty". Historical research is interwoven with practice-based experience and dance…

This paper explores what is perceived and believed to be an ideal ballet body by young ballet dancers. Such bodily belief becomes, in Pierre Bourdieu's terms, a core part of a ballet dancer's habitus. A four year longitudinal, ethnographic, empirical study of the experiences of 12 young ballet dancers, six boys and six girls, aged between 10 and…

This paper explores how young ballet dancers' bodies are constructed and narrated through their desire to become performing ballet dancers. The schooling of the balletic body engages the young dancer in embodying the discipline of ballet and in developing a particular belief in a performing body. The embodied set of acquired dispositions that are…

The purpose of this study is to examine children's cognition within the creative process in dance and to examine how dance making affects cognitive development in children. Data on children's thinking were gathered from fifth graders participating in an artist-in-residence program in a public school in Pennsylvania. Both the inquiry and the data…

This paper reports on "Web3D dance composer" for ballet e-learning. Elementary "petit allegro" ballet steps were enumerated in collaboration with ballet teachers, digitally acquired through 3D motion capture systems, and categorised into families and sub-families. Digital data was manipulated into virtual reality modelling language (VRML) and fit…

In this essay, the author talks about the aesthetic aspects of education with some special reference to movement in different senses. First, he discusses the aesthetic and its relation to education in a general way. He then explains the concepts of expression and embodiment in the appreciation of the arts. Lastly, the author talks about the…

This essay narrates the biography and dance aesthetics of Myra Beltran, a pioneering, independent and contemporary woman dance artist in the Philippines. Featured here are the history, alternative aesthetics, philosophy, and influences of Myra Beltran's works. It comes from the point of view of an author who is also a woman, dancer, and writer…