Dance Practice Research Articles

A pilot randomized controlled clinical trial of dance practice for functionality in autistic children and adolescent with all levels of need support

ObjectiveThis study addressed dance practice intertwining communication, functional independence and social behavior in autistic children and adolescents with all levels of need support. DesignA pilot randomized clinical trial with seventy-two participants between 8 and 15 years old were assessed for eligibility. SettingTheater rehearsal room and mental health clinic. InterventionsDance group (n = 17) or control group (n = 19), 24 sessions, once a week, lasting 40 min. Main outcome measuresThe Autism Behavior Checklist (ABC), Autistic Screening Questionnaire (ASQ), Childhood Autism Rate Scale (CARS), Functional Independence Measure (FIM), and World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule (WHODAS, version 2.0, to assess mothers’ functioning) were applied at two time points: baseline and end-point. ResultsDifferences between dance and control groups were significant at post-intervention for communication (mean difference: 1.31; 99.8%CI: 0.29, 2.32, p < 0.001, d = 0.93); social cognition (mean difference: 1.01; 99.8%CI: 0.13, 1.89, p < 0.001, d = 0.82); autistic behavior (mean difference: 11.82; 99.8%CI: 17.33, −6.31, p < 0.001, d = 1.45). ConclusionsIn this preliminary study, the findings provide ways of communication and social interaction through dance practice by autistic children and adolescents with all levels of support needs. Research on neurodiversity is needed to understand its feasibility and the lifestyle appropriation.

The Liminal Space of Medieval Dance Practices: The Case of St. Eluned’s Feast Day

This article scrutinizes the use of liminality as a term to understand medieval dance practices. With the case of the feast day of St. Eluned described in Gerald of Wales Itinerarium Cambriae, I first present common ways that historians and theologians have used the term liminality in order to describe historical depictions of feasts of saints where more unruly forms of movement and dancing have happened. I then analyze this specific depiction by Gerald of Wales through a combination of a kinesic approach and a hermeneutics of suspicion and charity. This approach shows that earlier understandings of dancing always being a problematic element in traditions of Christianity in the west needs to be nuanced. After this, I turn to the critique that Caroline Bynum Walker has brought up, concerning the use of the term liminality in the medieval context. Taking her critique seriously, I return to the story of St. Eluned by focusing on the lived religion from the perspective of the female characters in the setting. Finally, I also bring in Vincent Lloyd’s distinction between rituals and liturgy, to further strengthen how theological discussions can bring in more nuanced and important additions in how we may understand chaotic forms of medieval dance in new ways.

Teaching Practice of Dragon and Lion Dance in Colleges and Universities with the Support of Big Data Technology

Colleges and universities are an important part of China’s higher education. They undertake the important task of cultivating talents and are an important part of the construction of a harmonious society. Building a harmonious campus is not only the cornerstone of building a harmonious society but also the internal need to promote the comprehensive, coordinated, and sustainable development of various undertakings in colleges and universities, but also an important goal of the construction, reform, and development of colleges and universities. Therefore, building a harmonious campus has become a new task for colleges and universities, and the construction of harmonious campus culture is the core content of building a harmonious campus. Dragon and lion dance, which originated in China, is a nationally unique art form and deeply contains broad Chinese traditional culture. Studying the role of dragon and lion dance in promoting the construction of harmonious campus culture in colleges and universities will help to strengthen the school’s sports work and enhance national unity, so as to promote the construction of a harmonious campus. Firstly, combined with the characteristics of dragon and lion dance practice, this paper expounds on the development value and strategy of dragon and lion dance in colleges and universities. Then, with the support of big data, the teaching of dragon and lion dance in colleges and universities was studied. An improved depth neural network is used to analyze the data using deep neural mapping support vector machine (DNMSVM) and cross-connected convolutional network. Simulation experiments verify the effectiveness of the model and promote the promotion and popularization of the dragon and lion dance in colleges and universities.

Detecting and Visualizing Stops in Dance Training by Neural Network Based on Velocity and Acceleration.

Various genres of dance, such as Yosakoi Soran, have contributed to the health of many people and contributed to their sense of belonging to a community. However, due to the effects of COVID-19, various face-to-face activities have been restricted and group dance practice has become difficult. Hence, there is a need to facilitate remote dance practice. In this paper, we propose a system for detecting and visualizing the very important dance motions known as stops. We measure dance movements by motion capture and calculate the features of each movement based on velocity and acceleration. Using a neural network to learn motion features, the system detects stops and visualizes them using a human-like 3D model. In an experiment using dance data, the proposed method obtained highly accurate stop detection results and demonstrated its effectiveness as an information and communication technology support for remote group dance practice.

Skinner Releasing Technique: A Movement and Dance Practice, Manny A. Emslie (ed.) (2021)

Review of: Skinner Releasing Technique: A Movement and Dance Practice, Manny A. Emslie (ed.) (2021) Charmouth: Triarchy Press, 300 pp., ISBN 978-1-91374-329-1, p/bk, £22.50

Shared space and between space: Considering Jewishness and race through interspecies dancing1

This autoethnographic text describes a dance and personal historical research process during COVID-19 quarantine and Black Lives Matter protests in 2020. As implications of a changing planet and unequal cross-cultural impacts and responsibilities become ever more clear, this research explores assimilation into Whiteness in Ashkenazi Jewish American lineage and how that relates to interspecies dancing. What is lost in this story of assimilation? What might interspecies collaborations teach us about relating cross-culturally? Whiteness and Jewishness are considered through histories of speaking and losing Yiddish and the role of Jewish dancers in early modern dance in New York. Interviews about Yiddish and assimilation are in dialogue with an improvisational dance practice with a border collie dog (whose ancestors helped colonize the United States). This interspecies movement practice and others (including complex evolutionary histories) connect to biologist Donna Haraway and anthropologist Anna Tsing for insights about collaboration across differences. In thematically bringing Jewishness into performance practice, this research unravels layers of resistance, privilege and present racial inequities. The text looks to Audre Lorde and civil rights activist Eric K. Ward for coalition building practices: finding connection and finding ourselves are to be changed by our encounters without losing ourselves in the process.

Aspects of the practice of folk dance in Bihor Region - Tradition and perspectives

Romanian folk dances are a wealth of generations that we owe to preserve, protect and leave our inheritance to our descendants as a proof of our identity and history. By practicing dance, the customs and traditions of the people are learned; young people develop harmoniously due to the various movements in which the dances are composed. Romania has a wide range of games, dances and costumes inherited from tradition, perpetuated through repertoire and ethnography, which convinced us to address and highlight the important role of the traditions, folk dances in Bihor County, the beneficial effect that they have in the personal development of the dancers. The proposed research methodology for the study addresses methods such as the survey method by applying a questionnaire and the statistical-mathematical method. The results highlight the importance of folk dances first present in the family and the fact that passion is the main motivation of dancers that drives them to practice folk dance. It is necessary to give children the opportunity to make direct contact with the sources of popular creation such as dance, music, customs and folk costume, to create optimal conditions for learning our folk dances, the priceless treasure of our people.

코로나19에 따른 대학 비대면 무용실기수업에 대한 학습자 인식 연구

Objectives This study was to explore the improvement direction for the effective implementation of dance courses by analyzing the current situation of online dance practical courses at colleges and the experiences of students due to COVID-19. The purpose of this study is to help provide high-quality lectures to students, and furthermore, to promote the stabilization and activation of non-face-to-face dance education. Methods In this study, an online survey was conducted on 121 college students who took online dance practical courses in the second semester of 2021 at 5 colleges across the country to explore the average online dance practical courses at domestic colleges. The questionnaire consisted of 7 closed-type questions in multiple-choice format and 3 open-ended questions in subjective format using the Naver form for a total of 10 questions. Results First, the most preferred platform for learners is ‘real-time class’ through ‘Zoom’. Second, ‘good points of the experience of non-face-to-face dance practice classes are ‘freedom of learning and evaluation’, ‘new learning methods and improved participation’, ‘corona prevention’, and ‘difficult points of non-face-to-face dance practice classes’ ‘Difficulty in learning’, ‘environmental difficulties’, and ‘dissatisfaction with non-face-to-face classes’ are the upper categories. As ‘points to be supplemented in non-face-to-face dance practice classes’, ‘supplementation of class format’, ‘study method complementation of instructors’, ‘environmental improvement’, and ‘satisfaction with current status’ were found. Conclusions As a result of this study, ‘real-time class through zoom’ is the most appropriate form and method of ‘non-face-to-face dance practice class’, and the autonomy of the curriculum should be emphasized. In addition, instructors must establish a feedback system and prepare and improve the digital environment for teaching, both in schools, teachers, and learners. It is necessary to have insight into the current situation of college non-face-to-face dance practice classes and the experiences of learners.

코로나19에 따른 대학 비대면 무용실기수업에 대한 학습자 인식 연구

Objectives This study was to explore the improvement direction for the effective implementation of dance courses by analyzing the current situation of online dance practical courses at colleges and the experiences of students due to COVID-19. The purpose of this study is to help provide high-quality lectures to students, and furthermore, to promote the stabilization and activation of non-face-to-face dance education. Methods In this study, an online survey was conducted on 121 college students who took online dance practical courses in the second semester of 2021 at 5 colleges across the country to explore the average online dance practical courses at domestic colleges. The questionnaire consisted of 7 closed-type questions in multiple-choice format and 3 open-ended questions in subjective format using the Naver form for a total of 10 questions. Results First, the most preferred platform for learners is ‘real-time class’ through ‘Zoom’. Second, ‘good points of the experience of non-face-to-face dance practice classes are ‘freedom of learning and evaluation’, ‘new learning methods and improved participation’, ‘corona prevention’, and ‘difficult points of non-face-to-face dance practice classes’ ‘Difficulty in learning’, ‘environmental difficulties’, and ‘dissatisfaction with non-face-to-face classes’ are the upper categories. As ‘points to be supplemented in non-face-to-face dance practice classes’, ‘supplementation of class format’, ‘study method complementation of instructors’, ‘environmental improvement’, and ‘satisfaction with current status’ were found. Conclusions As a result of this study, ‘real-time class through zoom’ is the most appropriate form and method of ‘non-face-to-face dance practice class’, and the autonomy of the curriculum should be emphasized. In addition, instructors must establish a feedback system and prepare and improve the digital environment for teaching, both in schools, teachers, and learners. It is necessary to have insight into the current situation of college non-face-to-face dance practice classes and the experiences of learners.

Peningkatan Hasil Belajar Tari Siswa Menggunakan Model Pembelajaran TAGUNTA Di Kelas III SDN 29 Ganting Utara Kota Padang

This research was motivated by the low mastery of students in learning dance practice which resulted in students' dance learning outcomes not reaching the Minimum Completeness Criteria (KKM) in class III SDN 29 Ganting Utara, Padang City. This study aims to improve student dance learning outcomes at SDN 29 Ganting Utara, Padang City. This type of research is classroom action research. The subjects in this study were class III.b students of SN 29 North Ganting, Padang City who were registered in the 2021/2022 academic year which consisted of 22 students. The results showed that the use of the TAGUNTA learning model in dance learning was able to improve student learning outcomes, enthusiasm, and student activity in learning activities, this could be seen from the increase in student activities and learning outcomes in each meeting. Student activity in the first cycle amounted to 67% and in the second cycle student activity greatly increased to 92.1%. Then it was found that the students' dance learning outcomes in the first cycle were by looking at the students' cognitive abilities (knowledge) and students' practical (psychomotor) abilities. Student learning outcomes after the written test obtained an average score of 84% while the average practical (psychomotor) ability of students was 45%, the two tests were added up so that it became an average of 64.5% with quite good criteria. Then in the second cycle, student learning outcomes according to the indiators increased to obtain an average percentage of 84% with good criteria. Thus, it can be concluded that the application of the TAGUNTA learning model can improve student dance learning outcomes at SDN 29 Ganting Utara, Padang City.

Embodied Agency

In this article I explore the experiences of three dance artists living and working in Palestine through the concept of “embodied agency.” Based on fieldwork in Palestine and a decade of professional engagement as a dancer and choreographer with the Palestinian dancing community, I examine how the body—through the practice of dance—creates movement in the artists’ lives. Th e article highlights how embodied and expressive spaces of dance expand the artists’ possibilities and room for maneuver. I argue that in the context of protracted occupation, like Palestine, where individuals have little possibility to impact their situation, zooming into the body can be a powerful way to identify spaces where it is possible to have influence on oneself and others.

Moving to Live and Migrating to Survive Through Inclusive Digital Dance Practices

Artists and educators Kim Jones and Fen Kennedy have known each other for over a decade. Kim Jones performed professionally with the Martha Graham Dance Company, makes dance and art around the world, and is an Associate Professor at University of North Carolina, Charlotte, and the Founder and Artistic Director of Movement Migration. Fen Kennedy is a dancer, scholar, and Labanotator who has restaged several of Martha Graham’s works and who teaches at the University of Alabama. They are a self-identified “professional dance geek” who happily writes, makes, performs, and organizes in many different contexts. Kim and Fen met at the Trinity Laban conservatoire in London when Kim visited in her role as Regisseur of the Martha Graham Dance Company, and during the pandemic they reconnected in Kim’s virtual dance classes. Both of them believe in making the world a better place through dancing, and this conversation—conducted in April 2021—explores how Kim’s virtual classrooms turned into spaces of inclusive community building through organizational and pedagogical approaches.

The impact of dance as a non-pharmacological adjuvant therapy cancer survivors: a clinical trial

This study aimed to investigate the impact of dance as a non-pharmacological adjuvant therapy on the quality of life (QoL), pain sensation, and depression of female cancer survivors. Method: We conducted a parallel, open-label, randomized, controlled clinical trial where cancer patients were invited to experience dance as a language. The intervention comprised two dance group classes per week for 20 weeks involving creative dance processes and light to moderate physical exercises. The participants were randomized into two groups – control (did not undergo the dance classes) and intervention (underwent the dance classes) – and answered questionnaires before, during, and after the intervention. We assessed the QoL (Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy General), pain perception (Visual Analog Scale and McGill Pain Questionnaire), and depression (Hamilton Depression Rating Scale). Results: The statistical data analyses revealed that the intervention and control groups did not present statistical differences in age, cancer type, stage of disease, surgical treatment, and scapular and pelvic involvement. The results showed an improvement in the intervention group’s QoL regarding the affective, miscellaneous, sensory, and total dimensions and decreased pain perception and depression. Conclusion: This clinical trial presented dance as a complementary non-pharmacological adjunct therapy for cancer survivors' treatment, improving quality of life and decreasing pain perception and depressive processes. Implications for cancer survivors: The practice of dance as a language is a valid intervention to help female cancer survivors face the disease's physical and psychosocial effects.

Acculturation Strategies and Dance: Identity Construction Through the Example of “Zonaradikos or Omouslamas” Dance of The Gagaouz of Thrace, Greece

The aim of this paper is to study the different manifestations of the dance practice of the Gagaouz of Inoi of Evros as tactics in search of their ethnic identity. In particular, with reference to the analysis of the main dance of the repertoire of the Gagaouz and all of Thrace, Zonaradikos or Omouslamas and based on the fluid nature of identity formation, this paper aims to investigate the attitudes with which members of this ethnic group, as subjects of social action, self-identify, construct and reconstruct their ethnic identity, depending on the circumstances, each time belonging to different ethnic groups. Data was gathered through ethnographic method as this is applied to the study of dance, while its interpretation was based on the theoretical perspective of constructivism under the analytical terms of "acculturation" according to the multicultural model proposed by Berry. From the data analysis, it is showed that the Gagaouz, through dance, choose on the one hand to have a Thracian ethnic identity and on the other Gagaouz ethnic identity and on a third level they identify themselves as Thracian Gagaouz, experiencing a social reality which seeks to have multiple identities at the same time.

Multimodality, cultural production, and the protest event: Considerations of space, politics, and affect in South Africa

The high levels of protest in South Africa have produced varied academic literature on the subject. Although political and structural determinants of protest are readily acknowledged, social actors who comprise protest events are rarely centralised within scholarly inquiry. The particularities of protests are thus less considered than the structural issues underlying protests. We therefore argue that studying the multimodality of cultural production within protests affords researchers insight into the socially embedded nature of protest from the perspective of protester as a social actor. When we understand culture as continually being remade with and against different semiotic repertoires, then protest comes to signify a series of dynamic moments wherein cultural meanings are deployed for political purposes. Accordingly, we explore protest in South Africa by examining how the cultural practices of stick-fighting, dance, and song are navigated within the protest as a politico-affective space. Our analysis of cultural production within this space does not diminish the fundamentally political nature of protest, but instead uses cultural registers to expand how we engage the political. We conclude by reflecting on how multimodal considerations push protest research to explore the internal dynamics of protests and what this means for the understanding of protests more generally.

Principles of ownership and the transmission of knowledge in contemporary dance and Irish traditional music: Social norms and legal contexts

AbstractDrawing on the contributions to this special issue, this article offers a synthetic description of the principles of ownership, sharing, and reward that guide and stimulate the creative practices of contemporary dance. Irish traditional music is also considered. The article aims to contextualize creative practices within a series of concerns around the protection and perpetuation of valuable cultural and artistic practices. This contextualization establishes the relevance and interest of the contemporary dance for other domains and attends to the contemporary conditions of cultural production, including those of intellectual property law, commercialization, and community/commons formation. I show how this work offers an illuminating model of social process in which value created in common is linked – through reputation, attribution, recognition, and innovation – to people, without private property becoming the dominant mode of ownership.

Embodied cultural property: Contemporary and traditional dance practices

AbstractThis article discusses the implications of recording and digitizing a variety of cultural and contemporary dance performance practices, core to a European project known as WhoLoDancE, which focused on issues of reuse, ownership, property, and responsibility. The recordings and subsequent processing of dance material into digital data raised questions about the responsibilities to the dancers who have contributed their material to the project, particularly when it is transformed into data visualizations that can be accessed and reused by others. The article not only focuses on how value accrues in these kinds of resources and sometimes in unexpected ways but also draws attention to how dance remains bound to the communities in which it is performed and tends to resist its abstraction from the body to be commodified as a form of cultural property. This then points to how dance, as intangible cultural heritage, is self-regulating in terms of principles of ownership and attribution.

Inventing the Reinvention? Tradition and the Body of Dancing Women

Dance practice has long been associated with complex social and political historical functions. There is a lot of evidence showing the centrality of dance in society, and it has become an inseparable part of the historical process. At the same time, dance became a site associated with women. Based on Hobsbawn's idea of the invention of tradition, this paper investigates the Jathilan Obyog tradition in Ponorogo concerning the dominant elite and the role of Jathil women. To facilitate the investigation, this paper is conducted by a qualitative method with an ethnographic approach that includes participant observation, interviews, and documentation adapted to context and needs to reach the research objectives. This research applies the concept of the invention of tradition, which was first initiated by Eric Hobsbawn and Terence Ranger as the center of analysis. Finally, this paper argues that in a hegemonic endeavor that attempts to 'discipline' the tradition, Jathil women have succeeded in determining the power to reinvent tradition in picturesque ways, especially through the body and massive support of media to create a process of reconstructing social memory and imagination.

Clinical characteristics and treatment of spinal cord injury in children and adolescents

Pediatric and adult spinal cord injuries (SCI) are distinct entities. Children and adolescents with SCI must suffer from lifelong disabilities, which is a heavy burden on patients, their families and the society. There are differences in Chinese and foreign literature reports on the incidence, injury mechanism and prognosis of SCI in children and adolescents. In addition to traumatic injuries such as car accidents and falls, the proportion of sports injuries is increasing. The most common sports injury is the backbend during dance practice. Compared with adults, children and adolescents are considered to have a greater potential for neurological improvement. The pathogenesis and treatment of pediatric SCI remains unclear. The mainstream view is that the mechanism of nerve damage in pediatric SCI include flexion, hyperextension, longitudinal distraction and ischemia. We also discuss the advantages and disadvantages of drugs such as methylprednisolone in the treatment of pediatric SCI and the indications and timing of surgery. In addition, the complications of pediatric SCI are also worthy of attention. New imaging techniques such as diffusion tensor imaging and diffusion tensor tractography may be used for diagnosis and assessment of prognosis. This article reviews the epidemiology, pathogenesis, imaging, clinical characteristics, treatment and complications of SCI in children and adolescents. Although current treatment cannot completely restore neurological function, patient quality of life can be enhanced. Continued developments and advances in the research of SCI may eventually provide a cure for children and adolescents with this kind of injury.

Employing a Dance-Somatic Methodological Approach to VR to Investigate the Sensorial Body across Physical-Virtual Terrains

This article takes a somatic dance standpoint to investigate bodily sensorial encounters with virtual reality technology (VR). Using somatic dance practices as sensory tuning methods, this article investigates the virtuality and corporeality of human and nonhuman bodies across virtual and physical environments and expanded sensory modes of seeing and feeling, using a multiperson interactive VR framework. Predicated on a dance-based sensibility and mode of engagement with VR, workshops crafted for groups of dancer and nondancer participants offer methods for the design and facilitation of VR encounters that expand ideas and expectations of both body and technology. Using autoethnographic writing and participant testimonies, alongside conceptual thinking around participation in VR, I present this methodological approach and demonstrate its potential to address new questions about VR experiences that are centred on the sensorial body.