Research as Art: New Directions for Dance Educators (1985)

Abstract

This chapter documents the lack of research in dance education in 1985, when it was originally delivered at a conference of Dance and the Child: International (daCi). While acknowledging that some of the dearth of publication in dance education might be credited to lack of a journal dedicated to dance education, the author suggests that the low interest in research among dance educators might be partially due to the incompatibility of traditional research models with the most significant questions in the field. Beginning with a careful discussion of traditional empirical research methodology, the author describes its limitations in terms of research into the nature and meaning of children’s dance. At the same time, she cites a number of theorists who find commonalities between the quest of the scientist and that of the artist, recognizing that both face the task of making meaning out of a multitude of forms and experiences which may at first seem unrelated. Proposing some alternative ways of thinking about research which may prove more fruitful for the dance educator, the author briefly presents several different approaches to research regarding the nature and meaning of children’s dance, specifically phenomenological research, hermeneutics, autobiography, ethnography, and criticism.