Inclusive Dance Research Articles

Improving student–student interactions in early childhood classrooms using inclusive dance activities

ABSTRACT The social and functional diversity of public educational centres requires continuous assessment of the school organisation and searching for effective methods that generate new forms of communication between students. This case study aimed to evaluate an inclusive dance programme involving group activities included four public early childhood education centres in Spain from the public network where the Barenboim-Said Public Foundation (BSPF) implemented the Children’s Musical Education Project. The methodology used was based on a group interview and the formation of four discussion groups of a total of 15 preschool teachers and four BSPF specialists. The results correspond to the analysis and categorisation of the data collected and recorded in notebooks by teachers during fieldwork. These provide information on external and internal factors that improve student – student interactions and cooperative skills in the classroom and establish an ideal framework for using approaches involving physical contact, movement, and music by preschool teachers.

Who is taking dance electives, when, and for how long? Adolescents’ dance participation and persistence in middle and high school

ABSTRACT Inclusive and equitable dance education practices remain an important issue in United States public school settings. We explore adolescents’ participation in public school dance electives through the examination of an ethnically diverse, longitudinal sample of students living in Miami, Florida (N = 24,368), as they progress through secondary school between the 2009–2010 and 2015–2016 academic years. We describe participation rates in dance electives and give results from linear probability regression models showing the characteristics (demographics, school readiness skills, prior school suspension, attendance, and academic achievement) of adolescents who enroll and persist in dance electives between middle and high school. We found that 14% of students enrolled in a dance elective during middle school and only 2% of students did so in high school. The highest levels of uptake in dance electives occurred in 7th and 9th grade. Most adolescents enrolled in a dance elective for only one academic year. Ethnicity, gender, disability status, and prior academic performance were significant predictors of initially selecting into a dance elective in middle school, and for persisting in a dance elective in high school. These results prompt further discussion of the integration of inclusive dance pedagogy in public school contexts.

Wheelchair Dance: Exploring a Novel Approach to Enhance Wheelchair Skills, Belongingness and Inclusion among Children with Mobility Limitations

Playful approaches are recommended to enhance wheelchair skills training with young people. Inclusive dance allows participants to discover motor skills and improve social participation. Integrating wheelchair skills training into dance has not been evaluated. This study aimed to explore participants’ experiences in dance while integrating wheelchair skills, and the influence of dance on wheelchair skills and wheelchair use confidence in young people. A convergent mixed-methods design was used during a one-week dance camp. Data collection combined observations, two focus groups (with young dancers who used manual wheelchairs and with professional dancers without disabilities), and evaluation of wheelchair skills and confidence. Data analyses included deductive thematic analysis guided by the Quality Parasport Participation Framework, merged with pre–post comparisons in wheelchair skills and confidence. Three young female dancers were 11, 12 and 15 years of age and three professional female dancers were 22, 27 and 27 years of age. Emergent themes included skill mastery, belongingness, and supportive environments. There were improvements in wheelchair skills and confidence (16.7%, 19.4%, 16.7%; 0.8%, 11.4%, 4.5%, respectively). Participants described overall positive experiences with the dance camp and perceived enhanced skills and confidence. This study advances knowledge about innovative approaches to integrate wheelchair skills training for young people. Future larger-scale controlled studies are needed to determine efficacy.

“They really looked, looked and looked:” Contemporary dance, disability and the circulation of emotions

Over the past decade, several inclusive dance projects, in which professional dancers with and without disabilities collaborate, have been started in Sweden. The article explores disabled and able-bodied dancers’ and leaders’ experiences of and strategies for managing gazes and emotions – in encounters with the audience and other surrounding people – from a phenomenological perspective. Eleven qualitative interviews were conducted. The interviewees meet gazes filled with benevolence, surprise, pity and fascination. The emotions stick to the disabled dancers’ bodies, distance them from their own bodies and arouse uneasiness that needs to be handled. However, disabled dancers and disabled persons in the audience may also meet in the gaze of recognition. The companies’ internal gazes are important, too. When disabled dancers are only physically integrated or when differences are hidden, the potential for change gets lost. If choreographers and audiences succeed in looking beyond the body itself, an empathetic identification may take place. Another strategy is to completely break with voyeurism by blocking all gazes. The companies show new ways of interacting, thus expanding the possibilities for both able and disabled bodies.

Performing/Informing Rights: Mixing Inclusive Dance and Human Rights Education for Disabled People in Sri Lanka and Nepal

Abstract Over several years, the German/Sri Lankan NGO VisAbility has been pioneering a mix of inclusive dance with rights education and advocacy to empower persons with conflict-related, physical impairments, first in Sri Lanka and, more recently, in Nepal. This article captures both the benefits and challenges of using dance for more transformative human rights education in informal settings.

A Exploratory Study for Safe, Equitable, and Inclusive Dance Education After #MeToo

A Exploratory Study for Safe, Equitable, and Inclusive Dance Education After #MeToo

Kinesthetic empathic witnessing in relation to embodied and extended cognition in inclusive dance audiences

This paper explores the connection between kinesthetic empathy, embodied cognition, and abstract thought and language as a form of extended cognition in audiences of inclusive dance. The exploration grounds itself in the analysis of primary data collected from interviews with audience members of an inclusive dance performance that studied their critical engagement with the concept of disability. Drawn from the interviews are specific choreographic moments and emotions evoked in those audience members, and associates the choreography and emotions with possible experiences of kinesthetic empathy and ways of understanding ability and disability in the context of dance. The analysis contributes to a greater understanding of the impact that takes place when watching inclusive dance performances, and other dance performances that resist or challenge dominant social identity categories. The research contributes to the reduction of the intrinsic instrumental divide in creative work, expanding the spaces into which cultural value can be considered.

The Experience of Dancing Among Individuals with Cerebral Palsy at an Inclusive Dance Group: A Qualitative Study.

Art practices such as dance have the potential to support people with disabilities. It is possible that through dancing, bodies that may be regarded as "deficient" can be strengthened while enhancing their personal and cultural identities. It is also possible that inclusive group dance classes can enable the integration of people with disabilities in their social context. However, there is limited research on how these potential benefits are experienced by participants. The purpose of this research is to describe the experience of people with cerebral palsy participating in regular dance classes. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six participants with cerebral palsy who participated in an inclusive dance group that was informed by the creative approach of Laban. The interviews were transcribed, coded, and analyzed according to the thematic analysis of Braun and Clarke. The qualitative analysis software program ATLAS.TI version 8 was used for organizing and data analysis. The six interviews were analyzed and codified in four main categories: (1) the experience of cerebral palsy (the body does not help); (2) dance as a form of relationship with myself and the other; (3) the value of dancing and; (4) the dancer. These categories led to the creation of two subthemes: (a) the "unlocking" concerning the therapeutic effect of dance and (b) the "acquisition of a dancer's identity" by engaging with dance as an artform. An overall theme also emerged, "the passage from darkness to light." Individuals with cerebral palsy, while taking the risk of being physically "exposed" in dance classes and dance group performances, managed to unlock their bodies, develop connections with others, acquire the identity of a dancer, and move from "darkness" to "light."

Escape, expand, embrace: the transformational lived experience of rediscovering the self and the other while dancing with Parkinson’s or Multiple Sclerosis

ABSTRACT Purpose The purpose of this study was to explore the lived experience of dancing with Parkinson’s and Multiple Sclerosis in an inclusive dance group called ReDiscoverMe (RDM). Methods Participatory research approaches and interpretative phenomenological analysis were used to make sense of the lived experience captured in interviews and observations. Arthur Frank’s conceptual framework on embodied storytelling from his book The Wounded Storyteller was the study’s theoretical lens. Themes are both described and represented in images made by an RDM participant. Findings Dancing in a nonjudgmental environment was described by participants as a way to rediscover themselves while continually adapting to living with chronic illness. We interpreted this experience of rediscovery as an active, recursive process involving three “movements”: escaping, expanding, and embracing. Through these movements, participants could rise above the self and illness. Conclusions The lived experience of dancing in this group was characterized by transformations of the body, self, and life. Through escaping, expanding, and embracing, participants could more easily embrace the body’s contingency, integrate the self and body by becoming dancers, connect with others living with illness, and produce desire through passion. Participants could therefore experience illness as a journey and gain something from the experience.

Neurophysiological Response of Adults with Cerebral Palsy during Inclusive Dance with Wheelchair.

A total of 16 adults with cerebral palsy (age = 37.50 (7.78)) participated in this cross-sectional study. The electroencephalographic (EEG) data were recorded under three conditions: (1) baseline; (2) while listening to music; (3) while performing inclusive dance choreography with wheelchair. EEG data was banded into theta (4-7 Hz), alpha (8-12 Hz), and beta (13-30 Hz). Significantly higher values of theta, alpha, and beta bands were found in dance conditions than in the baseline. Significant differences between baseline and listening to music conditions were not found in any of the power spectrum bands. Differences between listening to music conditions and inclusive dance with wheelchair were observed in theta and beta power spectrum band studies in the F4 electrode. Inclusive dance with wheelchair increases theta, alpha, and beta power spectra when compared to baseline. In addition, the beta power spectrum is greater only during inclusive dance conditions, which could be modulated by emotions. However, future studies should corroborate this hypothesis.

Inquiry and Reverse Chronology Pedagogies for Social Inclusion in School-based Dance Programs

ABSTRACT In this article, two pedagogical approaches intended to foster social inclusion in school-based dance programs are described: inquiry and reverse chronology. The inclusion of inquiry and reverse chronology as featured pedagogies in Queensland, Australia’s statewide General Senior Dance Syllabus is discussed, including the combined use of these pedagogies to promote more inclusive dance classrooms and dance teaching practices. In particular, the author highlights an approach to curriculum organization that features key questions and presents an alternative to traditional, style-based approaches to dance curriculum organization.

Parental Perspectives on Inclusive Dance Program: Their Child’s Experiences and Outcomes

Abstract Date Presented 04/02/2022 Children with disabilities have limited access to leisure and recreation activities. This study explored parental perspectives of inclusion and the impact of an adaptive dance program on their children. Interviews and a focus group were conducted. Results indicated that parents define inclusion as acceptance and expressed gratitude for the benefits and funding of the program. Findings highlight the need for more inclusive recreation and evidence to procure funding for sustainable programming. Primary Author and Speaker: Susan L. Iliff Additional Authors and Speakers: Hannah Mariani, Gabriela Swiecki, Pooja Patel, Shauna Rocha, Brooke Edwards, Morgan Sondergeld, Taylor Downey

Experiences and motivations of dancers with and without disabilities in inclusive dance

ABSTRACT Research has indicated that understanding experiences, motivations and the social environments of dancers without disabilities is essential for developing effective dance training [Quested, E., & Duda, J. L. (2010). Exploring the social-environmental determinants of well-and ill-being in dancers: A test of basic needs theory. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 32(1), 39–60]. However, research examining these elements in professional inclusive dance settings has been limited. The purposes of this qualitative study were to explore: (1) experiences and motivations of dancers with and without disabilities in an inclusive professional dance company and (2) important program features related to inclusive dance performances. Interviews were completed with dancers with (N = 3) and without (N = 7) disabilities performing with an inclusive dance company. As an inductive qualitative study, thematic analysis was utilized to analyze and clarify data. Three themes developed: fascination with inclusive dance, supportive environment and differences in perspectives. Findings support: (a) use of self-determination theory (SDT) to gain an understanding of the experiences and social environments in inclusive settings and (b) importance of the development of a supportive environment in inclusive dance. Implications for inclusive dance programs include recognition of the motivating power of viewing performances and dancing with professional inclusive dance companies, and recognition of differences of perceptions of dancers with and without disabilities in inclusive dance settings with emphasis on perspectives of dancers with disabilities.

Artificial intelligence in dance education: Dance for students with special educational needs

Participation in inclusive dance can have positive results for different groups of people with special needs, including those with mobility impairments. The purpose of study is to analyze the level of physical development and psychomotor skills of students with developmental disorders of the musculoskeletal system at different stages of inclusive dance classes. A model of a teacher using a Bayesian network has been developed to assess the level of physical fitness at different stages of training. The study involved 30 participants. There were two groups of students aged 17–19. Group 1included students engaged in inclusive dance classes for six months while Group 2 consisted of students having attended 2–3 classes before the study. The students were interviewed. In terms of the level of physical fitness, significant differences were revealed between Group 1 and Group 2 in favor of Group 1. Regular inclusive dance classes help to improve students' physical fitness and, consequently, their overall coordination of movements. Improvement in overall physical health should be explored more deeply in further research.

Dancing with Diversity: Performing Possibilities, Transforming Disabilities

This paper enquires into the significance and potential of inclusive dance through the working process of a dance piece developed by a mixed team of professional dancers and dancers with disabilities. It is a self-reflective piece on what it means to live with a disability. The interplays between the artistic work and reality that emerged during rehearsals disrupted categories such as reality and fiction, process and performance, difference and normality. It analyses the mechanisms of reality that are put to work, and the aesthetic strategies that are used on the basis of examples from practice.

Being the Facilitator: A Brief Research Report on the Motivation of the Choreographer and Dance Maker to Work With Heterogeneous Groups in a Community Dance Setting

In inclusive dance settings, where people with different abilities and talents come together, the role of facilitators is essential in guiding the process of inclusion. Their behavior gives sensitive information to the individual about one’s status within the own-group affiliation (De Cremer, 2002, p. 1336). Even today, very little research on the motivation for facilitating inclusivity in dance contexts exists. This case study will examine the facilitator’s motivation by juxtaposing current theory next to experiences of seven experts of contemporary dance facilitation in Europe. Good opportunities for meaningful interactions can be created in a dance setting: it promotes a deeper sense of community, gives us the feeling of belonging, generates respect and inclusion, and helps to prevent the feeling of loneliness (Elin and Boswell, 2004; Kaufmann, 2006; Whatley, 2007). This research report sheds light on the motivation of being the facilitator of dance for heterogeneous groups and reveals three factors from the data. First, to be led by an artistic motivation, second, to have a vision in terms of changing the society, and third, to have another personal motivation. The motivation of the facilitator is regarded as highly important for inclusive work, as the person who facilitates plays a key role in these successful processes of inclusion (Miesera et al., 2019).

Opening pathways to training for young disabled dancers: an action research approach

There are numerous barriers to dance for disabled people but one which has received increasing attention in recent years is the lack of systematic training available. The aim of this project was to explore how private dance studio syllabi could be made more accessible for young disabled people, in order to open pathways to dance. Three private studio teachers were matched with three specialists in inclusive dance to translate particular syllabi for their groups of disabled learners. Various actions and strategies were designed by the teachers and specialists, which were reviewed and revised over the course of the project. Data collection included class observations, interviews with the teachers, specialists, young dancers, and their parents, and online diary entries by the teachers and specialists after each class. Analyses revealed that while each group was unique, common strategies included determining the key principles of each exercise, differentiation, setting high expectations, and a flexible class structure. Multiple forms of improvement among the participants were noted, including increased teacher confidence, and improvements in students’ technical abilities, confidence, and social skills. Overall, the findings of this study attest to both the viability and value of providing progression opportunities for young disabled dancers.

Learning in Difference: Difference as a Pedagogical Tool

ABSTRACT This article calls educators to continue using accessible language to support dancers with disabilities and promote disability esthetic in dance. I will draw from my experience working in “inclusive dance,” a term that will be discussed and problematized. The article also challenges the idea of the “ideal” body in dance. It provides both practical and theoretical examples of terminology for working with dancers with and without disabilities as a way to make the dance studio and classroom more inclusive and accessible.

Everyone Choreographs: A Process of Inclusive Dance Making

Choreographing for the first time can be a vulnerable experience for dance students. With an open invitation for anyone to choreograph, students feel welcome to participate in as many choreographic experiences as possible during their college career. The following article includes a model for organizing a showcase and a structure of choreographic mentorship that allows students to create dances and grow as artists regardless of their experience and comfort level.

Development of a performance evaluation tool to track progress in an inclusive dance syllabus

ABSTRACT The lack of systematic training available for young dancers with disabilities has previously presented a barrier for those wishing to develop their skills and pursue a career in dance. Recently, a number of initiatives have launched to help bridge this gap; however, currently no established assessment measures exist that are sensitive to the needs of young dancers with disabilities while providing evidence of their competencies. The aim of this study was to develop a performance evaluation tool to allow tracking of progress in technique and performance skills in young dancers with a range of physical and/or intellectual disabilities. The tool allows scoring on a Likert-type scale on eleven criteria, including control of movement, coordination, spatial awareness, timing and rhythm, and surface or partner work. Six dancers were filmed during classes to allow retrospective evaluation of their performance by four judges. Intra-Class Correlation Coefficients (ICCs) for inter-rater and test–retest reliability demonstrated good reliability. Inconsistencies in scoring reduced and ICCs strengthened when trial one was removed from analysis; therefore, a familiarisation trial is recommended for future uses of this tool. Overall, this appears to be a reliable tool for evaluating elements of dance technique and performance in young dancers with disabilities.