Dance education is at a critical juncture in the United States. Even though it has gained wide acceptance as a valuable educational discipline and has achieved such victories as inclusion in the National Education Goals, its future remains uncertain. Educational reform, budget cuts, and conflicting views on the relevance of arts education all bring into question how—and if—dance should be taught in our schools.
In Partnering Dance and Education, Dr. Judith Lynne Hanna presents a compelling argument for making dance central to every student's education. She examines current trends and issues in education to show how dance can be successfully justified and taught in today's changing educational environment.
Rich with examples from arts magnet schools, arts organization offerings, dance company programs, public school instruction, and programs for at-risk youth, the book addresses difficult questions, including:
- Is dance education in and of itself worthwhile?
- What are the ways of providing dance education?
- Who should teach dance in public schools?
- Why and how should we connect dance to other bodies of knowledge?
- What can be learned in, about, and through dance?
- Does dance education benefit at-risk youth?
- Do we teach gender roles in dance education?
- What are the advantages and problems with cultural diversity in dance education?
Divided into two parts, Partnering Dance and Education is full of information and insights that readers will find both illuminating and thought provoking.
Part I recognizes dance as a discipline in its own right with a distinct body of knowledge. Chapters discuss the benefits and methods of providing dance education, ways dance education can develop within the education reform movement, and who should teach dance.
Part II addresses how dance education, while meaningful in itself, has broader relevance. Chapters discuss how dance can be used to teach academic and workplace skills, help at-risk youth, promote national identity while preserving cultural diversity, and help people cope with stress. It explains how children's dance during free play can be used as a teaching tool, and it looks at the role of dance in teaching students about gender.
A special appendix poses challenging discussion questions for students and teachers. An extensive dance resources appendix includes suggested readings, as well as the addresses and phone numbers of leading dance organizations, programs, and schools.
Judith Lynne Hanna has spent a half-century dancing, researching, writing, and teaching others about dance in community centers, schools, and universities. After teaching English and social studies for the Los Angeles City School System, she held positions at Michigan State University, American University, Fordham University, and the University of Texas at Dallas. She has conducted field research on dance and other subjects in countries around the world. Currently, she is a Senior Research Scholar at the University of Maryland and an expert court witness nationwide on cases concerning freedom of expression through dance.
Hanna has long been a leading advocate to make dance an essential component of children's education. In 1972, at Gill/St. Bernard's Upper School in Bernardsville, NJ, she offered an interdisciplinary dance-centered course. Between 1989 and 1993, Hanna worked for the United States Department of Education, where she was able to assess what is happening in dance education throughout the United States.
Hanna received her PhD in anthropology from Columbia University in 1976. She has explored how knowledge in the arts, humanities, and social and behavioral sciences helps us understand dance. Her books include To Dance Is Human: A Theory of Nonverbal Communication; Dance, Sex, and Gender: Signs of Identity, Dominance, Defiance, and Desire; The Performer–Audience Connection: Emotion to Metaphor in Dance and Society; Dance and Stress: Resistance, Reduction, and Euphoria; and Disruptive School Behavior: Class Race and Culture. Hanna's articles have appeared in Dance Teacher Now, Ballet Review, Stagebill, Education Week, Dance Magazine, Anthropology and Education, and The Washington Post.
Hanna's numerous awards include a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship and the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance's Anderson Award for significant publications.
