Democratic and Feminist Pedagogy in the Ballet Technique Class

Abstract

ABSTRACT Whereas traditional ballet classes have been seen as authoritarian and patriarchal in the past, the recent shift toward more feminist and democratic teaching and learning styles within the context of higher education allows for new ways of learning and teaching to emerge. To contribute to the discussion surrounding alternative ways of learning and teaching, a somatic imagery intervention was used as a tool to support a more democratic way of teaching ballet. Through the development and employment of such a tool in an undergraduate ballet technique class, findings indicated that it was successful in improving students’ approach to movement and engagement in the process of learning ballet.This research takes place within a UK higher education (HE) institution that offers, as one program of study, an undergraduate degree in ballet education. The purpose of the degree is to train ballet students to become ballet teachers in a world where pedagogical aims and desires are continually shifting.