This article reflects on observations as a dance pedagogue, adapting Gilbert's BrainDance to a range of learning and teaching opportunities in intergenerational classroom contexts. Initially applied in an early childhood education context, BrainDance provided a point of departure into conversations and observations with teachers on how the…

It is my belief that a prevailing colonial mentality in higher education dance spaces, as it relates to jazz dance, is responsible for the lack of serious engagement and appropriate regard. This article makes the argument for the decolonization of higher education spaces, advocating for fuller engagement with the jazz genre and positioning it to…

Dance Education and Music Education are not the same, but are often considered together as Arts Education along with Theatre Education and Art Education. The history of Dance Education as a discipline is much shorter than Music Education, so Dance Education often looks to music education for leadership as well as scholarship. Remixing the…

This paper argues that Liz Lerman's and Larry Lavender's approaches to mentoring student choreographers denote a shift in the philosophy of choreographic mentorship in higher education, because they reflect current concerns in critical pedagogy. My particular interest is in the relationship established between student artist and educator when a…

This paper explores the use of performance in a college-level course that teaches education majors how to use drama, dance, and music in their instruction. Students engage in drama activities such as improvisation and playbuilding in an effort to experience firsthand the benefits of such practices for their future classrooms. The essay shares some…

Stefan Ramaekers and Joris Vlieghe's "Infants, childhood and language in Agamben and Cavell: education as transformation" is an insightful discussion of an important facet of educational experience. In the article, they consider a Fred Astaire dance sequence from the 1953 Vincente Minnelli film, "The Band Wagon," in combination…

The necessity for engaging the body in learning, the need for students to move throughout the school day, and the positive effects that dance has on students' development are all good reasons for dance to be included in the elementary curriculum. There are many ways for teachers to integrate movement into the school day, using math, science,…

This article revisits ideas put forward at the beginning of an academic career and discusses the ways in which time and experience within academe has shifted the author's perspective. Specifically, focusing on the balance of artistic thinking with the widely perceived need to justify the arts in higher education, the author explores questions…

In this article, I argue for an acknowledgement of the significance of the dancer's role in the creation of independent contemporary dance. I propose the term "moving identity" to outline the independent contemporary dancer's "way of moving" which could be perceived as the accumulation of various factors including training approaches,…

This is a viewpoint that discusses the criteria applied for an objective, academic assessment of dance education and comments upon the status of dance education both in secondary education schools and professional dance schools in Greece today. The viewpoint concludes by proposing the need for an independent undergraduate dance degree to be…

Media arts has been familiar to many through television, film, and digital graphics, and often appears as an extension of the four traditional arts disciplines: music, arts, theatre, and dance. As media arts continues to acquire its own unique identity, particularly through technological means, it has been included as a stand-alone discipline in…

"Perspectives" is a special feature included in this issue of the Journal of Creativity in Mental Health. It provides mental health professionals with an opportunity to discuss their positions on a variety of creativity-related topics. In this column, Thania Acaron, board-certified dance/movement therapist, dancer, educator, and curriculum…

Alex U. Inn is the co-founder and one of the two MCs of the hip-hop drag king group, Momma's Boyz. Momma's Boyz celebrated their tenth anniversary in 2014. Carmen Morrison is the offstage name of Alex U. Inn, though "Carmen" now goes by Alex offstage, as well. Within this interview, the names "Carmen" and "Alex" are…

This paper offers a way of rethinking Howard Gardner's theory of Multiple Intelligences. The bodily-kinesthetic intelligence is used as the point of critique. The author provides a detailed discussion of the act of dancing as counterpoint to Gardner's understanding of the intelligence. The author critiques Gardner's exemplar and evolutionary…

At Arts Advocacy Day 2009 in Washington, over 500 citizens educated, advocated, and lobbied for federal support for the arts and its positive impact on the U.S. economy. This year the Nancy Hanks Lecture was given by Wynton Marsalis, whose extraordinary address voiced the potential of the arts in this new era of hope. For dance educators, Marsalis…