The World Dance Heritage Research Center calls belly dance a global phenomenon. This study highli... more The World Dance Heritage Research Center calls belly dance a global phenomenon. This study highlights meanings of belly dancing in a multi-generational, inter-cultural group of women citizens of the state of Israel. Twenty-two women, ages 25–60, participated in a 6-week series of once-weekly, 90 min belly dancing sessions run by the Women’s Forum at Ben Gurion University (BGU). This chapter revisits original qualitative data to advance a “site specific” personal-to-political analysis in dialogue with the growing body of literature on belly dance’s global status as a mode of “empowerment” across genders. Aligning with historical and contemporary literature on the functions and effects of belly dance for women, participants in the study describe experiences that move beyond belly dance’s recreational and commercial value, touching on areas of subjective knowing (bodily-affective experiences, memories of childhood), intersubjective and intercultural meanings, and political agency.
This dissertation illuminates the nature of pedagogical quality as revealed in higher dance educa... more This dissertation illuminates the nature of pedagogical quality as revealed in higher dance education. Thirty-five teachers in six countries (Brazil, Canada, Jamaica, Portugal, Turkey and United States) participated in the study. Each teacher, the majority of whom were at an advanced stage of their careers, contributed two stories about contrasting teaching experiences, one in which they felt ‘effective’ and another in which they felt ‘ineffective.’ The study employs a qualitative research methodology informed by phenomenological hermeneutics, experiential inquiry, and interpretive biography. Data include the 70 teaching stories and additional material provided by participants through subsequent email dialogue. Teacher narratives and dialogic texts were analyzed through progressive cycles of qualitative analysis, yielding five categories of description and three experiential themes. Experiential findings of the study are presented first by category of description, as follows: bodily experiences, emotions and feelings, metaphysical and naturalistic perceptions, interactions with students and colleagues, and self-assessment. Meanings are amplified through poetic depiction, reflective commentary on selected whole stories, and discussion of emergent themes of complexity, transformation, and embodiment. The text is interwoven with my own experiential knowledge as a teacher in higher dance education. Presentation of findings is followed by an extended dialogue with relevant literature on both quality of teaching and emergent themes. The dissertation proceeds to a summing up of key findings and recommendations for educational praxis and future research. I close with reflections on my own embodied research process, including some resting words. As a whole, the study celebrates the complex and infinite possibility of teaching as embodied transformation.
Dance and Gender: An Evidence Based Approach, 2017
Chapter 8 focuses on student meanings of gender as found in a dance studio course titled “Embodyi... more Chapter 8 focuses on student meanings of gender as found in a dance studio course titled “Embodying Pluralism.” Since 2008 the course has fulfilled Temple University’s general education requirement in race and diversity. The study is based on 348 students’ Blackboard gender discussions in seventeen sections of the course over 2008 to 2014. Prompted by a reading on gender in children’s dance, students write a 300-word response to this (or similar) question: “What messages about gender did you receive as a child…?” This prompt encourages description and memoir. In its concern with lived experience, gender, ethics and human possibility, the study aligns philosophically with feminist phenomenology. Qualitative analysis procedures were adapted from phenomenologist Max van Manen’s (2014) methods for isolating themes. As well as highlighting students’ lived experiences of gender, the study illuminates participant theories (beliefs, assumptions, critical perspectives) and hopes for the futu...
ABSTRACT This paper offers a selective retrospective of a professional career in which teaching a... more ABSTRACT This paper offers a selective retrospective of a professional career in which teaching and scholarship have been inseparably interwoven. Elaborating on the length and breadth of Susan W. Stinson’s contribution to the field, acknowledged in 2012 through NDEO’s Lifetime Achievement Award, the paper is based on a plenary address given at the 2012 Congress on Research in Dance (CORD) conference where Stinson was honored with CORD’s Award for Outstanding Scholarly Contribution to Dance Research. She has been a strong contributor to the Journal of Dance Education, publishing four significant articles since the journal’s inception in 2001 and serving as mentor for emerging writers. The article begins with the author’s first encounter with Stinson 29 years ago, describing some memorable moments of our long association. These reflections add a dialogic, autobiographical dimension to the paper. It also touches on the importance of dance education research to the field, addressing how dance education research has been represented in CORD’s Dance Research Journal, one of the field’s premier scholarly journals. Overall, the article highlights Stinson’s emphasis on reflection, questioning and social issues, giving a sense of the passionate and inquiring mind that has driven her teaching and scholarly life. ________________________________________________________________________________________
Revista do Programa de Pós-graduação em Artes da EBA/UFMG. v.7, n.14: nov.2017, 2017
To understand aspects of the interactions between higher education dance teachers and their stude... more To understand aspects of the interactions between higher education dance teachers and their students, this study is guided by hermeneutic phenomenology, experiential research and the biographical interpretative method. The category of analysis "Embodied Interactions" presents descriptions of relational intentionality and specific exchanges – about feelings and bodily states – that dance in a continuum whose poles are a strong connection and 'missing connection.' The results suggest there is a need to discuss all aspects of the phenomenon of the interaction between art teachers and students, particularly the education of body states and emotions, intrinsic to dance education, making this a challenging theme for education in general.
Para compreender aspectos das interações entre professores de dança em nível superior e seus alunos, este estudo se orienta pela fenomenologia hermenêutica, pesquisa experiencial e o método interpretativo biográfico. A categoria de análise “Interações Corporificadas” apresenta descrições de intencionalidade relacional e trocas específicas ─ acerca de sentimentos e estados corporais ─ que dançam num contínuo cujos polos são forte conexão e ‘perda de conexão.’ Resultados apontam para a necessidade de se discutir todos os aspectos do fenômeno da interação entre docentes de arte e discentes, particularmente a educação de estados corporais e emoções, intrínsecos ao ensino da dança, fazendo dessa uma temática desafiadora para a educação em geral.
The World Dance Heritage Research Center calls belly dance a global phenomenon. This study highli... more The World Dance Heritage Research Center calls belly dance a global phenomenon. This study highlights meanings of belly dancing in a multi-generational, inter-cultural group of women citizens of the state of Israel. Twenty-two women, ages 25–60, participated in a 6-week series of once-weekly, 90 min belly dancing sessions run by the Women’s Forum at Ben Gurion University (BGU). This chapter revisits original qualitative data to advance a “site specific” personal-to-political analysis in dialogue with the growing body of literature on belly dance’s global status as a mode of “empowerment” across genders. Aligning with historical and contemporary literature on the functions and effects of belly dance for women, participants in the study describe experiences that move beyond belly dance’s recreational and commercial value, touching on areas of subjective knowing (bodily-affective experiences, memories of childhood), intersubjective and intercultural meanings, and political agency.
This dissertation illuminates the nature of pedagogical quality as revealed in higher dance educa... more This dissertation illuminates the nature of pedagogical quality as revealed in higher dance education. Thirty-five teachers in six countries (Brazil, Canada, Jamaica, Portugal, Turkey and United States) participated in the study. Each teacher, the majority of whom were at an advanced stage of their careers, contributed two stories about contrasting teaching experiences, one in which they felt ‘effective’ and another in which they felt ‘ineffective.’ The study employs a qualitative research methodology informed by phenomenological hermeneutics, experiential inquiry, and interpretive biography. Data include the 70 teaching stories and additional material provided by participants through subsequent email dialogue. Teacher narratives and dialogic texts were analyzed through progressive cycles of qualitative analysis, yielding five categories of description and three experiential themes. Experiential findings of the study are presented first by category of description, as follows: bodily experiences, emotions and feelings, metaphysical and naturalistic perceptions, interactions with students and colleagues, and self-assessment. Meanings are amplified through poetic depiction, reflective commentary on selected whole stories, and discussion of emergent themes of complexity, transformation, and embodiment. The text is interwoven with my own experiential knowledge as a teacher in higher dance education. Presentation of findings is followed by an extended dialogue with relevant literature on both quality of teaching and emergent themes. The dissertation proceeds to a summing up of key findings and recommendations for educational praxis and future research. I close with reflections on my own embodied research process, including some resting words. As a whole, the study celebrates the complex and infinite possibility of teaching as embodied transformation.
Dance and Gender: An Evidence Based Approach, 2017
Chapter 8 focuses on student meanings of gender as found in a dance studio course titled “Embodyi... more Chapter 8 focuses on student meanings of gender as found in a dance studio course titled “Embodying Pluralism.” Since 2008 the course has fulfilled Temple University’s general education requirement in race and diversity. The study is based on 348 students’ Blackboard gender discussions in seventeen sections of the course over 2008 to 2014. Prompted by a reading on gender in children’s dance, students write a 300-word response to this (or similar) question: “What messages about gender did you receive as a child…?” This prompt encourages description and memoir. In its concern with lived experience, gender, ethics and human possibility, the study aligns philosophically with feminist phenomenology. Qualitative analysis procedures were adapted from phenomenologist Max van Manen’s (2014) methods for isolating themes. As well as highlighting students’ lived experiences of gender, the study illuminates participant theories (beliefs, assumptions, critical perspectives) and hopes for the futu...
ABSTRACT This paper offers a selective retrospective of a professional career in which teaching a... more ABSTRACT This paper offers a selective retrospective of a professional career in which teaching and scholarship have been inseparably interwoven. Elaborating on the length and breadth of Susan W. Stinson’s contribution to the field, acknowledged in 2012 through NDEO’s Lifetime Achievement Award, the paper is based on a plenary address given at the 2012 Congress on Research in Dance (CORD) conference where Stinson was honored with CORD’s Award for Outstanding Scholarly Contribution to Dance Research. She has been a strong contributor to the Journal of Dance Education, publishing four significant articles since the journal’s inception in 2001 and serving as mentor for emerging writers. The article begins with the author’s first encounter with Stinson 29 years ago, describing some memorable moments of our long association. These reflections add a dialogic, autobiographical dimension to the paper. It also touches on the importance of dance education research to the field, addressing how dance education research has been represented in CORD’s Dance Research Journal, one of the field’s premier scholarly journals. Overall, the article highlights Stinson’s emphasis on reflection, questioning and social issues, giving a sense of the passionate and inquiring mind that has driven her teaching and scholarly life. ________________________________________________________________________________________
Revista do Programa de Pós-graduação em Artes da EBA/UFMG. v.7, n.14: nov.2017, 2017
To understand aspects of the interactions between higher education dance teachers and their stude... more To understand aspects of the interactions between higher education dance teachers and their students, this study is guided by hermeneutic phenomenology, experiential research and the biographical interpretative method. The category of analysis "Embodied Interactions" presents descriptions of relational intentionality and specific exchanges – about feelings and bodily states – that dance in a continuum whose poles are a strong connection and 'missing connection.' The results suggest there is a need to discuss all aspects of the phenomenon of the interaction between art teachers and students, particularly the education of body states and emotions, intrinsic to dance education, making this a challenging theme for education in general.
Para compreender aspectos das interações entre professores de dança em nível superior e seus alunos, este estudo se orienta pela fenomenologia hermenêutica, pesquisa experiencial e o método interpretativo biográfico. A categoria de análise “Interações Corporificadas” apresenta descrições de intencionalidade relacional e trocas específicas ─ acerca de sentimentos e estados corporais ─ que dançam num contínuo cujos polos são forte conexão e ‘perda de conexão.’ Resultados apontam para a necessidade de se discutir todos os aspectos do fenômeno da interação entre docentes de arte e discentes, particularmente a educação de estados corporais e emoções, intrínsecos ao ensino da dança, fazendo dessa uma temática desafiadora para a educação em geral.
This dissertation illuminates the nature of pedagogical quality as revealed in higher dance educa... more This dissertation illuminates the nature of pedagogical quality as revealed in higher dance education. Thirty-five teachers in six countries (Brazil, Canada, Jamaica, Portugal, Turkey and United States) participated in the study. Each teacher, the majority of whom were at an advanced stage of their careers, contributed two stories about contrasting teaching experiences, one in which they felt ‘effective’ and another in which they felt ‘ineffective.’ The study employs a qualitative research methodology informed by phenomenological hermeneutics, experiential inquiry, and interpretive biography. Data include the 70 teaching stories and additional material provided by participants through subsequent email dialogue. Teacher narratives and dialogic texts were analyzed through progressive cycles of qualitative analysis, yielding five categories of description and three experiential themes. Experiential findings of the study are presented first by category of description, as follows: bodily experiences, emotions and feelings, metaphysical and naturalistic perceptions, interactions with students and colleagues, and self-assessment. Meanings are amplified through poetic depiction, reflective commentary on selected whole stories, and discussion of emergent themes of complexity, transformation, and embodiment. The text is interwoven with my own experiential knowledge as a teacher in higher dance education. Presentation of findings is followed by an extended dialogue with relevant literature on both quality of teaching and emergent themes. The dissertation proceeds to a summing up of key findings and recommendations for educational praxis and future research. I close with reflections on my own embodied research process, including some resting words. As a whole, the study celebrates the complex and infinite possibility of teaching as embodied transformation.
Abstract
Around 15 years ago, I made an extended effort to unearth a history of childhood dance f... more Abstract Around 15 years ago, I made an extended effort to unearth a history of childhood dance for a daCi keynote address (Canada, 2000). I was surprised by the lack of available literature and challenged the field to improve the status of children’s dance as a vital area of historical research. In 2015, I am once again asking, “Is there a history of children’s dance?” Can we see an increase of interest and activity in this area of scholarship within daCi and within the academic field of dance studies? Or has little changed since Marion Van Tuyl recounted the following response to her suggestion to create an issue on dance for children for the 1957 Impulse: Annual of Contemporary Dance: “Why do that? Art is for adults.”
Perhaps unsurprisingly, a major finding of the study is that tomorrow’s (as well as yesterday’s) history of a dancing childhood is being made on the Internet via YouTube, Facebook, image archives, historical society websites, forums, and blogs. Similar to the participatory “curatorial me” phenomenon in art production and consumption, generally, a vast resource on the dance of childhood is accumulating on and through new media; this resource has burgeoned since 2000. This paper overviews developments in children’s dance historical research and writing over the past 15 years (since daCi 2000), including my own contributions toward minding the literary gap.
K. Bond (ed.), Dance and the Quality of Life, Social Indicators Research Series
Belly dance has been called “a global phenomenon” (World Dance Heritage, 2014,
n.p.). This study ... more Belly dance has been called “a global phenomenon” (World Dance Heritage, 2014, n.p.). This study highlights meanings of belly dancing in a multi-generational, inter-cultural group of women citizens of the state of Israel. As discussed initially in Huss and Haimovich (2011), 22 women, ages 25–60, participated in a 6-week series of once-weekly, 90 min belly dancing sessions run by the Women’s Forum at Ben Gurion University (BGU). This chapter revisits the original study to extend its “site specific” personal-to-political analysis in dialogue with the growing body of literature on belly dance’s global status as a mode of “empowerment” across genders (Hobin, 2015; Sellers-Young, 2016a, 2016b). BGU is located in Beer-Sheva, a small university town in the Negev Desert of southern Israel with a largely Sephardic (Arab) and immigrant population. Like most Israeli universities, BGU has a mostly female administrative staff and a predominantly male academic profile (Hazan, 2008). Ashkenazi (European) students outnumber Sephardic by about three to one (Meir, 2005). Approximately half of the 22 participants in the study were Jews of Ashkenazi origin while the rest were Sephardic Jews and one Arab Muslim woman. Participants, most of whom were mothers, presented a range of body sizes and levels of fitness. In Israel, as elsewhere, belly dance is often practiced as a leisure dance form in sports clubs and extra-curricular settings, with enough interest to support an annual competition in Tel Aviv (www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueZPtZLwMiI). Aligning with historical and contemporary literature on the functions and effects of belly dance for women, participants in the present study described experiences that move beyond belly dance’s recreational and commercial value, touching on areas of
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Papers by Karen Bond
Para compreender aspectos das interações entre professores de dança em nível superior e seus alunos, este estudo se orienta pela fenomenologia hermenêutica, pesquisa experiencial e o método interpretativo biográfico. A categoria de análise “Interações Corporificadas” apresenta descrições de intencionalidade relacional e trocas específicas ─ acerca de sentimentos e estados corporais ─ que dançam num contínuo cujos polos são forte conexão e ‘perda de conexão.’ Resultados apontam para a necessidade de se discutir todos os aspectos do fenômeno da interação entre docentes de arte e discentes, particularmente a educação de estados corporais e emoções, intrínsecos ao ensino da dança, fazendo dessa uma temática desafiadora para a educação em geral.
Para compreender aspectos das interações entre professores de dança em nível superior e seus alunos, este estudo se orienta pela fenomenologia hermenêutica, pesquisa experiencial e o método interpretativo biográfico. A categoria de análise “Interações Corporificadas” apresenta descrições de intencionalidade relacional e trocas específicas ─ acerca de sentimentos e estados corporais ─ que dançam num contínuo cujos polos são forte conexão e ‘perda de conexão.’ Resultados apontam para a necessidade de se discutir todos os aspectos do fenômeno da interação entre docentes de arte e discentes, particularmente a educação de estados corporais e emoções, intrínsecos ao ensino da dança, fazendo dessa uma temática desafiadora para a educação em geral.
The study employs a qualitative research methodology informed by phenomenological hermeneutics, experiential inquiry, and interpretive biography. Data include the 70 teaching stories and additional material provided by participants through subsequent email dialogue. Teacher narratives and dialogic texts were analyzed through progressive cycles of qualitative analysis, yielding five categories of description and three experiential themes.
Experiential findings of the study are presented first by category of description, as follows: bodily experiences, emotions and feelings, metaphysical and naturalistic perceptions, interactions with students and colleagues, and self-assessment. Meanings are amplified through poetic depiction, reflective commentary on selected whole stories, and discussion of emergent themes of complexity, transformation, and embodiment. The text is interwoven with my own experiential knowledge as a teacher in higher dance education.
Presentation of findings is followed by an extended dialogue with relevant literature on both quality of teaching and emergent themes. The dissertation proceeds to a summing up of key findings and recommendations for educational praxis and future research. I close with reflections on my own embodied research process, including some resting words. As a whole, the study celebrates the complex and infinite possibility of teaching as embodied transformation.
Around 15 years ago, I made an extended effort to unearth a history of childhood dance for a daCi keynote address (Canada, 2000). I was surprised by the lack of available literature and challenged the field to improve the status of children’s dance as a vital area of historical research. In 2015, I am once again asking, “Is there a history of children’s dance?” Can we see an increase of interest and activity in this area of scholarship within daCi and within the academic field of dance studies? Or has little changed since Marion Van Tuyl recounted the following response to her suggestion to create an issue on dance for children for the 1957 Impulse: Annual of Contemporary Dance: “Why do that? Art is for adults.”
Perhaps unsurprisingly, a major finding of the study is that tomorrow’s (as well as yesterday’s) history of a dancing childhood is being made on the Internet via YouTube, Facebook, image archives, historical society websites, forums, and blogs. Similar to the participatory “curatorial me” phenomenon in art production and consumption, generally, a vast resource on the dance of childhood is accumulating on and through new media; this resource has burgeoned since 2000. This paper overviews developments in children’s dance historical research and writing over the past 15 years (since daCi 2000), including my own contributions toward minding the literary gap.
n.p.). This study highlights meanings of belly dancing in a multi-generational, inter-cultural
group of women citizens of the state of Israel. As discussed initially in Huss
and Haimovich (2011), 22 women, ages 25–60, participated in a 6-week series of
once-weekly, 90 min belly dancing sessions run by the Women’s Forum at Ben
Gurion University (BGU). This chapter revisits the original study to extend its “site
specific” personal-to-political analysis in dialogue with the growing body of literature
on belly dance’s global status as a mode of “empowerment” across genders
(Hobin, 2015; Sellers-Young, 2016a, 2016b).
BGU is located in Beer-Sheva, a small university town in the Negev Desert of
southern Israel with a largely Sephardic (Arab) and immigrant population. Like
most Israeli universities, BGU has a mostly female administrative staff and a predominantly
male academic profile (Hazan, 2008). Ashkenazi (European) students
outnumber Sephardic by about three to one (Meir, 2005). Approximately half of the
22 participants in the study were Jews of Ashkenazi origin while the rest were
Sephardic Jews and one Arab Muslim woman. Participants, most of whom were
mothers, presented a range of body sizes and levels of fitness.
In Israel, as elsewhere, belly dance is often practiced as a leisure dance form in
sports clubs and extra-curricular settings, with enough interest to support an annual
competition in Tel Aviv (www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueZPtZLwMiI). Aligning
with historical and contemporary literature on the functions and effects of belly
dance for women, participants in the present study described experiences that move
beyond belly dance’s recreational and commercial value, touching on areas of