Abstract
Australia is proud of its rich and varied array of the Arts depicting a range of cultural diversity formed by ongoing migration. Although the complex issues of dance, culture and identity are interconnected, forming a multicultural society in Australia, dance education is a powerful platform to transmit and promote togetherness where understanding and respect is shared in dance practice. The focus of this article is on dance education as part of multicultural arts education within teacher education courses at Deakin University (Melbourne) Australia. It forms part of my ongoing wider study that started in 2010 regarding Attitudes and perceptions of Arts Education Students: Preparing culturally responsive teachers across two continents (Australia and South Africa ). In 2011, I interviewed the dance educator and will report on two themes from her interview data: multicultural dance and the inclusion of African dance within multicultural dance practice. I argue that the inclusion of innovative and immersive practice of dance where authentic teaching and learning can be facilitated is a powerful platform to share multicultural dance practice in tertiary education.
Highlights
Education serves as an effective vehicle to explore and expand our ways of understanding and knowing about ‘others’ and ‘self’ through Arts education
The complex issues of dance, culture and identity are interconnected, forming a multicultural society in Australia, dance education is a powerful platform to transmit and promote togetherness where understanding and respect is shared in dance practice
The focus of my discussion is on African dance as she continues to undertake ongoing professional development in Africa where she has as a “white dance educator immerse[d] herself in the historical context in order to understand it before she disseminates it” (Kerr-Berry2004: 46)
Summary
Education serves as an effective vehicle to explore and expand our ways of understanding and knowing about ‘others’ and ‘self’ through Arts education (dance, drama, media, music and visual arts). Writing about Dance curriculum in Victoria (Australia), there are two dimensions in VELS (2011): ‘Creating and Making’ (“focuses on making and sharing dance and movement works within the classroom” whereby “sharing can involve talking about movements they [students] are using, why they are using them and how they are communicating meaning through the movements”) and ‘Exploring and Responding’ (“investigate and comment on a diverse range of dance styles, learning about different expressive ways of moving and ways in which the meanings behind movements may change according to cultural and historical context and discuss the importance of dance in their lives and the contribution of different styles of contemporary dance to local and global cultures”) (VELS 2012). These dimensions are incorporated within the BA/BTeach and the MTeach where students can specialise as a secondary dance teacher through years 7-12
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