Creative Dance Education: The Need for Creative Dance Programs in Public Education

“From the earliest moments of life, man lives in his body-he is from birth to death continuously in action. The range and variety of his motion are enormous. His body is the unique instrument for living his life. It is more than that; it is the center of his experience, for it is not only fundamental to his perception and conceptualization but reflects what has been perceived and conceptualized” (Haberman and Meisel 2-3). If movement and action are essential elements in living life why is it that school children get little movement in school other than physical education classes twice a week? It would be beneficial for schools to provide an opportunity for children to physically express themselves during the day. Studies in creative dance are not only a healthy outlet for emotion and movement, but can also be a holistic approach to teaching students basic life skills. Creative dance should be taught in the public education system because of its value to the growth and development of all youth.

Here are some definitions of terms to prevent confusion when using words or phases with specific intentions within this paper. The first is public education. In this paper public education will refer specifically to grades K-6 taught within the American public education system. Many ideas can be applied outside this system and at different age levels, but for the purposes here it will refer to this group of students. The second phrase to define is creative dance. Martin Haberman and Tobie Meisel , who wrote Dance-An Art in Academia, explain that, “a dance is movement put into rhythmic and spatial form, a succession of movements which start, proceed, and finish” (96). In many of the books referred to in writing this paper creative dance has also been called movement activities or rhythmic movement. These will also fall into the same definition as creative dance. The third and final term to define is kinesthetic awareness. Anne Ingram, who wrote Moving With Music defines it in this way “The kinesthetic sense is the muscular awareness of body placement, an awareness relayed to the brain by nerve endings in the muscles and joints” (27). With this in mind this paper will continue the argument for creative dance in the public education system.

Creative dancing can help to strengthen a child’s mind. In a collaborative effort Richard Kraus, Sarah Hilsendager, and Barbara Dixon stated that “Creative modern dance in particular may be taught as a problem-solving experience in which students seek solutions to assigned movement tasks involving the elements of energy, time, and space; or combinations of movement directions and levels; or uses of different parts of the body” (314). Creative dance can help train students to use their concentration as they strive to use problem solving skills. As students explore areas of choreographed dance from other countries they can learn more about that people’s art and culture (315). They can also improve memory as they learn sequences of movement and are expected to understand and execute them. As children solve problems within their own movement and explore the movement of other’s they exercise and enlarge their brainpower.

The discipline learned while exploring creative dance can be extremely beneficial throughout a student’s life. Creative dance can be done individually, with a partner, or in groups where students can learn appropriate social behavior. While dancing with their pupils, students must be mindful of good social decorum to be successful in their own movement as well as the movement of the group. Creative dance also provides opportunities for students to accept and apply constructive criticism to themselves and others and see more immediate affects. Students must also learn to exercise self-control in their dancing. Once a student has learned the necessity of self-control within creative dance he or she can also begin to apply this to other areas of his or her life. A good foundation in social behavior and self-control in creative dance will help a student practice these characteristics in all other aspects of his or her life.

While dance is considered one of the fine arts, in most schools where it exists, it has been included in the physical education department. Until recently Brigham Young University even held the Dance and Dance Education majors within the school of Health and Human Performance. Creative dance does have a strong place in the athletic field. It takes balance, agility, and strength to dance. A kinesthetic sense is developed through creative dance as a students learn the capabilities of their bodies and how to control them. These elements can contribute to the physical health of students as they cultivate these skills.

Dance is widely accepted as an art and can be used as a creative expression within school. C. Madeleine Dixon stated, “Self-expression has a place in modern education. The dance that does not allow a free flow of emotional expression is failing in one of its most important functions” (7). She taught in many schools and observed that when students were given time to improvise many individuals choose to improvise an emotion they were feeling whether it be anger, fear, worry, happiness, or joy. During times of free improvisation students can express their emotions in a structured way through an artistic medium.

There are several reasons creative dance should be taught within the schools rather than be left to private studios. One of the most important is that an education in dance can be expensive for a family or individual to provide. It can be costly both in time and money creating a difficulty for some to pursue. Another reason to include dance within school is that it provides variety and interest. Creative dance allows the students to get up out of their desks to move and get out of logistical thought to create. Martin Haberman and Tobie Meisel explain, “Education for young children is not a preparation for living- it is living […] Since education is living, it cannot be acquired without involvement of the mind, body, and emotions” (138). Creative dance strengthens all three: the mind, the body, and emotions through discipline, creativity, athleticism, and artistry.

It is this ability to strengthen in all three of these areas that makes dance special. David Rockefeller, Jr. stated, “Dance is surely a most extraordinary fusion of thinking, doing, and feeling. If we are concerned about the health of a child’s mind, body, and spirit, then how can we ignore the education force of an art form which addresses all three at once” (Gibb 22). As explained previously dance adequately teaches the student as a whole in multiple areas. Not many other areas of study have the ability to provide this kind of learning.

There have been many arguments against including dance in the public education system. Many administrations complain of lack of space and insufficient funds to implement a dance program at their school. They argue that children are uninterested and therefore it is not worth the investment. Too many boys find the subject matter feminine or frilly. Sports within the physical education department are said to be sufficient movement experience for children. Each of these arguments is inadequate to eradicate creative dance programs within public education.

Each one of these areas has a counter argument. The worth of creative dance education has already been argued throughout this paper. As for the lack of student interest, this is generally due to a teacher or parent’s negative attitude toward the subject matter (Haselbach 25). Contrary to common belief dance can also be quite masculine. During the founding of West Point, a military academy for boys, it was proposed that dance be a required subject and is still an optional class today (Kraus, Hilsendager, and Dixon 295). “One technique that has been used to promote male involvement in dance has been to encourage members of the athletic teams to join dance classes. It has been long recognized that dance training can be extremely helpful to athletes in developing coordination and related qualities” (329-330). A growth in Kinesthetic sense though creative dance can help athletes to be better aware of their bodies and use them more effectively. It can be seen that creative dance education holds high value and is irreplaceable by other subject matter.

Many individuals have had great impact on introducing creative dance into education thus far. Francois Delsarte was one of the first to introduce creative dance to education and emphasized freedom of movement. Gertrude Colby was the next to influence the world of creative dance education with what she called natural dance, which put more emphasis on personal expression of emotion. Following Colby, Bird Larson contributed a more technical study of dance, which looked toward scientific knowledge of how the body works and movesto form a program of dance. One of the most influential women in the introduction of dance into public education was Margaret H’Doubler. She established the first dance major at the University of Wisconsin. She also wrote many texts, which would be used in forming dance programs across the nation (Kraus, Hilsendager, and Dixon 296-300). Many other teachers since these have been influential in developing their own pedagogies for teaching creative dance to children.

There are a few ways in which creative dance programs can be implemented into a school’s curriculum. Both Dance-An Art in Academia and Dance Education suggest a school specialist in dance. This specialist would be someone trained in dance that could train regular classroom teachers in creative dance lessons to teach their students. The specialists would also serve as supervisors and teach classes according to the needs of the school. There have also been more recent studies in a web-based learning program for teaching creative dance in more rural locations. It can be hard to find a dance teacher willing to transfer to a rural town, but with web-based learning using videoconferencing they would be able to teach from a location convenient to them with occasional visits to the school for live classes. A group at Arizona State University implemented this program with some rural communities in Arizona to research its effectiveness. The teachers commented on how it made it much more convenient than the commute to the rural school would have otherwise been (Parish 199). Although this method is not preferable to having a live teacher, it can be used when other means are not conveniently acquired. These are just two, of many ways, that creative dance education can be incorporated into schools.

Teachers with good training can make creative dance within schools more successful. Anne Ingram suggests that, ““[…] a teacher may: 1) demonstrate with music; 2) use concise explanations of the action; and 3) give verbal or rhythmic cues. A prospective teacher should learn to do these things, beginning first with learning to dance well in time with the music” (28). When a teacher uses all three of these to teach a sequence or convey and idea she can reach more students who learn in a wide variety of ways. Ingram also suggests that a teacher be well versed in child psychology and interests as well as a genuine love of children (97). Instructors should also be able to teach in progression, building skill upon skill. By doing so children can work to becoming more successful at higher skill levels. When a teacher does all that he or she can to reach as many students as possible with enthusiasm, he or she can be successful.

Through creative dance in the public education system teachers can develop the whole student. Creative dance at a young age develops characteristics and skills a child can carry with him for the rest of his life. Sarah Lee Gibb stated, “As educators in America our objective should be to provide equal opportunities for all students to explore, discover, and develop abilities in the cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains of learning. With this in mind, dance as an art becomes and integral element rather than a tolerated appendage in the educational process” (23)

This paper has been an incredible learning experience for me. I chose this topic because I have just been accepted to the dance education major so I felt it would be beneficial to learn more about my area of study. It is also a subject that I am very passionate about. I would love to see more dance in the public education systems. Because I am so passionate about dance I would love to see it be a required school subject, but even if I could just see dance offered in more schools it would warm my heart. I found the article I read on web-based leaning with videoconferencing particularly interesting because research was done by my home state university and because it introduced a very new way of teaching dance I hadn’t really considered much before. During my research I had the opportunity to read a lot more information than was really necessary to include in my paper, but I enjoyed it and found it all beneficial, especially the sections on how to go about teaching dance as this is what I’m particularly interested in. Overall I feel this paper really helped me to explore a subject area of great interest to me and it has been very beneficial to my learning as a dance education major.

Provo, UT; December 2, 2009

Works Cited

Dixon, C. Madeleine. The Power of Dance. New York: The John Day Company, 1939. Print.

Gibb, Sara Lee. "Dance-An Intergral Element In Education." Utah Journal of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance. (1983): 22-23. Print.

Haberman, Martin and Tobie Garth Meisel. Dance-An Art in Academe. New York, New York: Teacher’s College Press, 1970. Print.

Haselbach, Barbara. Dance Education. London: Schott & Co. Ltd., 1971. Print.

Ingram, Anne Gayle. Moving With Music. Carrollton, Georgia: Dance Workshop, 1969. Print.

Kraus, Richard, Sarah Chapman Hilsendager, and Brenda Dixon. History of the Dance in Art and Education. 3rd. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1969. 292-342. Print.

Parrish, Mila. "Dancing the Distance: iDance Arizona videoconferencing reaches rural communities." Research in Dance Education. 9.2 (2008): 187-207. Print.