Conference theme

The conference, Contemporary Dance Didactics: Explorations in Theory and Practice, has three different but partly overlapping themes - theoretical aspects of dance didactics, practical aspects that answers the question "how is it done?" and dance education in a social context.

The first theme deals with theoretical aspects of dance didactics. In other forms of art it is sometimes said that the focus in teaching and learning has shifted from conveying a tradition into innovative thinking and creativity. If that is the case also within dance, how does this affect different pedagogical methods? Do these new perspectives also change how we define the profession and the pedagogues’ vocational competency; and how we conceive of dance theory and practice? Conversely, if dance teaching is still focused on conveying a tradition-based physical technique, as is often the case in classical ballet, how does it adapt to the modern academic approach to teaching and the students’ abilities of critical reflection?

The second theme deals with practical aspects that answer the question “How is it done?” This will be demonstrated, tried out and discussed. If dance pedagogy no longer is focused on master/student-relationships, what other methods are used to convey choreography and technique to the students? In situations where the focus is to develop a meticulous knowledge of movement, as is the case in various somatic practices, the dance teacher faces problems of transforming individual instruction into group instructions and to lead the students into creative situations. How is this achieved?

The third theme deals with dance education in a social context. For example dance pedagogy and gender, dance for young people and community dancing. Dance classes attract mostly girls - is it a good idea to set up special classes for boys or not? Does dance pedagogy discriminate gender by tradition or not? Do you have to adapt the dance teaching depending on the teachers’ and students’ cultural background? In that case, are there ethical aspects to think about, and if so, what are they? Furthermore, how does the pedagogue relate to them? What are the society’s views on dance and disability? How do you encourage differently-abled persons and children as well as adults with health problems to join in and express themselves through dance? What are the priorities for including dance in the school curricula, seen from an historical context as well as today?