Experience Every Moment: Aesthetically significant dance education

Abstract

This paper describes the breadth of emerging issues and concerns from an ongoing qualitative research study into dance education. The initial focus of the study has been to review the nature of aesthetic experiences in dance education, aiming to promote a coherent view of dance education as a distinct and humanising pedagogy. Central to this approach is the development of the individual through increased aesthetic awareness, whereby opportunities are offered for the enhancement of reasoning processes with increasing perceptual and conceptual range in an atmosphere of exploration. In support of this, the concept of the aesthetic and its relevance to dance as part of an arts or humanities education profile is examined. The discussion proceeds with an exploration of the teaching and learning involved in aesthetically significant dance education, reviewing ways forward for research in dance education, by means of dance creation, performance and appreciation. The paper concludes by urging the adoption of a broad approach to qualitative research methodology, to investigate the issues revealed by the ongoing research study.