Microsoft word - student bodiespres.doc
Student Bodies: Dance Pedagogy and the Soma
I was asked to write a chapter on the body in dance education. In contemplating
such a task, the first question I asked myself was “How does one write a literature review
on something like the body in dance education?” There are many bodies of literature on
the topic. Any literature review on this theme will surely be limited. Additionally, I was
faced with a word limit. So I decided to focus on a few broad areas and omit some major
bodies of literature. For example, I did not include the research in dance science, but
focused on the qualitative scholarship in dance education.
I approached the task by attempting to look for broad areas of research on the
body. Of course, I am coming from my own theoretical stance and paradigmatic
viewpoint so the trends I see will certainly be colored by my perspective. I acknowledge
that knowledge is socially constructed. So what I see will be what Patti Lather refers to
as a partial truth (1986, 1991, 1995, 1999). Thus, there is much missing from this
Moreover, I did not go into as much depth as I would have liked to (again since
there was a word limit). In the future, I would like to use this chapter as a basis for a
Thus, the structural limitations, breadth of literature on the topic, and
acknowledgement of my own biases, affect what is included and what is left out of this
literature review. With this in mind, I asked myself what stood out as the major themes in
this area. I found a number of patterns. First, I realized that the topic was clustered in
three large areas,
Somatic Dance Research,
Critical Pedagogy Research in Dance, and
Postpositivist Research and Cultural Studies. Although Cultural Studies often falls
outside the realm of dance education it certainly informs pedagogy.
I did, however recognize that the boundaries of these categories are fuzzy and fluid.
There is much overlap in these areas. Additionally, these areas are not distinct
chronological phases but rather coexist and take circuitous routes.
By titling one section of the chapter
Somatic Dance Research, I am referring to
the practices defined by Thomas Hanna as a field that generally views the body from a
first person perspective (1998). With Hanna’s ideas seeping into dance in the 1960s and
1970s, many educators explored somatic practices such as Alexander, Feldenkrais, and
Rolfing. Additionally, a number of dancers and dance educators and therapists such as
Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen (Body-Mind Centering), Lulu Sweigard (Ideokinesis), and
Elaine Summers (Kinetic Awareness) created their own somatic systems, opening the
field for research and study. Much of the theory and practice in this area were based on
the individual’s experience of body, although some somatic theorists began to explore
moving somatics to a socio-cultural context. I call this body of literature “social somatic
Moving from social somatic theory, the second category
Critical Pedagogy in
Dance Research probes how the body is socially habituated through dance training and
education. A number of scholars in this area investigate how issues such as body image,
teacher and student power relationships, and pressure to meet aesthetic and bodily ideals,
affect dance students and the ways dance is taught. As critical pedagogy tends to focus
on social justice issues and marginalization regarding levels of status such as race,
gender, culture, class, sexuality, ability, and so on, critical dance pedagogy often focuses
on how these levels of status play out in traditional western dance training.
The third category of research on the body in dance education moves from a
critical perspective to a postmodern approach. Although the lines between these two
categories can be fuzzy, basically, while critical pedagogy is concerned mainly with
inequities and injustice, postmodern research moves to a more fluid positioning and fuller
questioning of all paradigmatic stances. Postpositivist inquiry basically highlights the
multiple views and perspective of those involved in a particular research setting. A
number of dance education researchers have used poststructuralist displays, such as spilt
page formats, poetry, etc. as a way of juxtaposing ideas about the body in dance
Additionally, some dance educators have borrowed from themes in cultural
studies such as performativity and post colonialism. Like critical pedagogy, this
perspective reflects the shift in dance scholarship of operations of social and cultural
power (Desmond, 1997) and the disciplining of the body. Like the postpositivist literature
in dance education, it often addresses how the body is shaped and molded in dance.
However, with this literature comes a move back to the idea of embodiment (as in the
somatic literature). For example, Jane Desmond professes that this cultural analysis
(which is often found in humanities literature), includes, “proprioception, kinesthesia,
emotion, and the concepts of expressivity without lapsing into scientism or transcendent
conceptions of subjectivity” (p. 16). Sub-categories of performance studies,
anthropology, history, etc. (and dance education) fit into this definition and inform dance
Thus,
this
body
of
literature
employs
a
cultural
context
for
looking
at
the
body.
Since
so
many
indigenous
cultures
bring
reverence
to
the
experience
of
the
body,
this
literature
tends
to
bring
back
the
body
as
a
soma,
or
living
and
breathing
construction,
without
conceptualizing
it
as
a
static,
objectified
,
or
a
mechanical
material
entity.
The
embodied
dancer
is
recognized
and
embraced
but
with
an
awareness
that
all
bodily
experience
is
fluid
and
defined
by
the
culture
in
which
it
is
danced.
Deidre
Sklar,
for
example,
often
refers
to
somatic
experience
when
describing
her
research
methodology
as
a
cultural
ethnographer.
Her
description
of
communal
sacred
time
as
“a
somatic
mode
of
attention”
(Sklar,
2001,
p.
184)
is
similar
to
my
“somatic
sensitivity
as
a
research
tool”
(Green,
2004).
Thus,
these
ideas
move
through
and
across
fields
and
disciplines.
Although
these
authors
write
from
an
anthropological
perspective,
they
share
many
aspects
addressed
in
the
work
of
educational
and
somatic
researchers
in
dance.
Some
even
write
about
dance
training
and
institutions.
For
example,
Susan
Foster’s
experience
is
grounded
in
her
own
bodily
experience
and
dance
training
(1997).
This
allows
her
talk
about
the
body
and
dance
training
as
a
social
that
cultural
study
in
dance
may
provide
a
critical
dance
scholarship
that
asks
new
questions
about
key
concepts
of
embodiment,
identity,
and
representation,
through
an
investigation
of
the
operations
of
social
power.
It
does
not
neglect
bodily
experience,
but
questions
rigid
binaries.
It
refers
to
dance
as
an
“embodied
social
There
are
many
other
performance
scholars,
as
well
as
educational
scholars
who
write
about
the
body
in
dance
performance
and
practice.
The
field
is
ripe
and
So as I began to research these major bodies of literature, I began to notice some
trends. I will share from the published chapter to conclude my remarks and to share what
Within discussion about these rather fluid categories of
Somatic Dance Research,
Critical
Pedagogy
Research
in
Dance,
and
Postpositivist Research and Cultural
Studies, one may find some overriding trends or movements. Two major
developments/shifts may become apparent. First, there is a movement from the
body as individualistic and essentialist—devoid of social meaning and
influence—to an emphasis on an awareness of the social construction of bodies.
This social/theory/language approach is then followed by an emphasis back to the
body as an embodied (but not essentialized) concept, which still regards social
power as a major influence. Secondly, the study of the body in dance moves from
a more certain (grand theory) viewpoint through critical analysis of dominant
paradigms to more self-reflective and reflexive modes of inquiry. These
movements are not dictated by any particular area or type of research though
critical, postmodern, and cultural/social bodies of literature tend to provide these
One final point in the chapter is related to dance scholarship and categories in
general. It may be apparent that these separate categories that I discussed are used as a
device to clarify different types of scholarship from different arenas in dance. However,
these categories may be problematic as well. I trouble or problematize
categorical distinctions which directly divide the scholarly disciplines and halt the
dissemination of bodies of knowledge throughout disparate academic disciplines.
I contend that by focusing on what many in performance studies have referred to as
“dance studies,” without acknowledging the broad and relevant body of
literature in fields such as education and somatics, these “outside” disciplines may
be marginalized. I call on dance scholars to break disciplinary boundaries and include
the body in dance education in the overall work done on the body in dance. Only through
an understanding of how we can explore categories and boundaries of dance scholarship
without abusing or leaving behind any one particular field of study can we enrich the
Desmond, J. C. (1997). Introduction. In
J.
C.
Desmond
(Ed.),
Meaning
in
motion:
New
cultural
studies
of
dance
(pp.
1‐25).
Durham,
NC:
Duke
University
Press.
S.
L.
(1997).
Dancing
bodies.
In
J.
C.
Desmond
(Ed.),
Meaning
in
motion:
New
cultural
studies
of
dance
(pp.
235‐257).
Durham,
NC:
Duke
University
Press.
Green,
J.
(2004).
Postpositivist
inquiry:
Multiple
perspective
and
paradigms.
In
R.
F.
Cruz
&
C.
F.
Berrol
(Eds.),
Dance/Movement
therapists
in
action:
A
working
guide
to
research
options
(pp.
109‐124).
Springfield,
Ill:
Charles
C.
Thomas.
Hanna,
T.
(1988).
Somatics:
Reawakening
the
mind’s
control
of
movement,
flexibility,
and
health.
Reading,
MA:
Addison‐Wesley.
Lather, P. (1986). Issues of validity in openly ideological research: Between a
rock and a soft place.
Interchange, 17(4), 63-84.
Lather, Patti (1991).
Getting smart: Feminist research and pedagogy with/in the
postmodern. New York and London: Routledge.
Lather, P. (1995) Post-Critical Pedagogies:
A Feminist Reading. In: McLaren, P.
(Ed) Postmodernism, Postcolonialism and Pedagogy. Albert Park: James Nicholas Publishers, pp. 167-186.
Lather, Patti & Smithies, Chris (1997). Troubling the angels: Women living with
Sklar,
D.
(2001).
Dancing
with
the
virgin:
Body
and
faith
in
the
fiesta
of
Tortugas,
New
Mexico.
Berkeley:
University
of
California
Press.
Source: http://content4.bestthinking.com/s/1/thinkers/864/media/b8e9b65c-8113-491b-8bd6-da058686ce14.pdf
Obsessive-compulsive disorder I Heyman, D Mataix-Cols and N A Fineberg Updated information and services can be found at: References This article cites 24 articles, 10 of which can be accessed free at: Rapid responses 4 rapid responses have been posted to this article, which you can access forfree at: You can respond to this article at: Email alerting Receive free email alerts when
Cancer Chemother Pharmacol (2004) 53: 220–224DOI 10.1007/s00280-003-0716-7Eduardo Lasalvia-Prisco Æ Silvia CucchiJesu´s Va´zquez Æ Eduardo Lasalvia-GalanteWilson Golomar Æ William GordonInsulin-induced enhancement of antitumoral responseto methotrexate in breast cancer patientsReceived: 31 March 2003 / Accepted: 29 August 2003 / Published online: 4 December 2003Ó Springer-Verlag 2003Ab