Somatic Authority and the Myth of the Ideal Body in Dance Education

Abstract

of the body, as reflected in the mirror, objectifies the dancer's body and requires students to strive to achieve a specific "look" while being "corrected" so that the students perform "proper" dance technique. Furthermore, this traditional dance education setting reflects a particular power relationship between student and teacher. As the teacher presents specific movements that require rote learning, while students anticipate teacher praise and attention through correction and physical manipulation, the teacher is often viewed as an allknowing expert and authority. The teacher maintains control of the class through specific tacit rules that afford him/her a degree of power over the students in the class. In a sense, dance students give their bodies to their teachers.Of course, the aforementioned description reflects my own experiences in dance as well as my reaction and responses to students and research in this area. As a somatic educator, I have been concerned about body issues. I personally value proprioceptive awareness and the abilities of students to listen to the inner messages of the soma and reclaim ownership of their bodies. And as a researcher who has been interested in sociocultural issues related to the body and dance education, particularly from a critical/feminist/postmodem perspective, I have been interested in exploring postpositivist methodologies that allow me to investigate such issues within a more global context. Further, it is relevant to point out that many dance teachers do include somatic work and body awareness techniques in their classes and many educators attempt to help dancers gain ownership of their bodies. Certainly, there is much inner work being done in "release technique" dance classes.However, with these considerations in mind, the purpose of this article is to share my research regarding more typical traditional dance classes, and the general issue of somatic authority and the myth of the ideal body in the dance world. After introducing the study, discussing the theoretical framework that guided the investigation, and briefly discussing the methodology, I will present the initial findings. It may be significant to point out that this work is part of the larger study. As is common in many large and complex qualitative research projects, I will present part of a fuller investigation based on analysis around the theme of "the ideal body." Therefore, I will be unable to address some significant topics and themes such as somatic practice and the creative process (see Green 1996-d). The Study: Somatics and the Gendered Body in Dance EducationThe purpose of this project was to investigate how the bodies of participant student teachers in dance are socially inscribed in relationship to gender. In this study, somatic practice was used as a tool to investigate body perceptions and experiences of undergraduate dance education majors. The five participants took part in a somatics/creativity project within a university-level instructional setting at a state university in the south. This...

Physical Activity in Youth Dance Classes

“…Lower activity levels for adolescents might also reflect adolescent girls' fear of embarrassment and body consciousness, particularly because dance classes are almost always held in rooms with mirrored walls whereby students are often comparing their movements (and bodies) to one another. 25,26 Variation by type of dance, specifically in children, was more dramatic than age differences. Latin-F was the least active for both children and adolescents, whereas hip-hop classes were the most active for children and ballet for adolescents, although the differences across dance types were not significant in adolescents.…”

Abrigos poéticos

“…Segundo o filósofo português José Gil (2004) Alguns dos estudos sobre as transformações nas práticas pedagógicas da dança na interlocução com o pensamento somático (GREEN, 1999;FORTIN, 2003) desenvolverão suas reflexões considerando as contribuições de Foucault (2005) com a noção de corpo dócil.…”

The acquisition of pedagogical expertise in dance : a constraints-led approach

“…Previous research on dance pedagogy has discussed the need for dance teachers to acquire current knowledge about the world, educational theories, and research into human learning, in addition to social and cultural factors influencing learning and teaching (Andrzejewski, 2009;Bonbright, 1999;Green, 1999;Kahlich, 1993;Risner, 2010a;Warburton, 2008). This perspective, however, strongly contrasts with the previous traditional processes of dance teachers' learning how to teach based on replicating their previous teachers' behaviours (Bakka, 1999;Erkert, 2003;Fortin & Siedentop, 1995;Huddy & Stevens, 2014;Kimmerle & Côté-Laurence, 2003;Lakes, 2005;Paskevska, 1992).…”

“…For instance, in ballet, during the transactional teaching and learning experience, the teacher is mainly concerned with achieving technical perfection (Jackson, 2005;Morris, 2003). Green (1999) stated that traditional teaching, particularly with the aid of mirrors, obliges students to achieve a particular movement aesthetics by means of executing accurate dance technique. Often, within traditional dance teaching, the dance teacher stands in front of students while all, teacher and students, face the mirror.…”

“…Often, within traditional dance teaching, the dance teacher stands in front of students while all, teacher and students, face the mirror. The pedagogical approach of the dance teacher usually focuses on giving specific corrections relevant to body placement, efficient performance of movement, and execution of optimal technique (Green, 1999). However, it has been argued that the existence of an optimal movement pattern which all individuals should aim for, might not be possible to achieve (Brisson & Alain, 1996).…”