Online Dance Therapy for People With Parkinson’s Disease: Feasibility and Impact on Consumer Engagement

Background Therapeutic dancing can be beneficial for people living with Parkinson’s disease (PD), yet community-based classes can be difficult to access. Objective To evaluate the feasibility and impact of online therapeutic dancing classes for people in the early to mid-stages of PD. Methods Co-produced with people living with PD, physiotherapists, dance teachers and the local PD association, the ‘ParkinDANCE’ program was adapted to enable online delivery during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants completed 8 one-hour sessions of online therapeutic dancing. Each person was assigned their own dance teacher and together they selected music for the classes. A mixed-methods design enabled analysis of feasibility and impact. Feasibility was quantified by attendance and adverse events. Impact was determined from individual narratives pertaining to consumer experiences and engagement, analysed with qualitative methods through a phenomenological lens. Results Attendance was high, with people attending 100% sessions. There were no adverse events. Impact was illustrated by the key themes from the in-depth interviews: (i) a sense of achievement, enjoyment and mastery occurred with online dance; (ii) project co-design facilitated participant engagement; (iii) dance instructor capabilities, knowledge and skills facilitated positive outcomes; (iv) music choices were key; and (v) participants were able to quickly adapt to online delivery with support and resources. Conclusions Online dance therapy was safe, feasible and perceived to be of benefit in this sample of early adopters. During the pandemic, it was a viable form of structured physical activity. For the future, online dance may afford benefits to health, well-being and social engagement.

Peningkatan Pembelajaran Seni Tari Materi Gerak Tari Alam Semesta Melalui Pendekatan SAVI

<p><em>The purpose</em><em> of this research is to improve the quality of learning, especially the students activity learning and learning result on materr motion of the nature of dance learning applying SAVI (Somatic, Auditory, Visual, Intellectual) approach in grade II elementary school. This research is Classroom Action Research with two cycles collaborated with the dance teacher of 2nd grade, with each cycle consisting of two meetings. The stages of each cycle are planning, action, observing, and reflection. Based on the analysis of data, the average scores of student learning from 83,61 on first cycle increased become 89,84 in second cycle. The tally showed an increase in the learning from first cycle to second cycle. Therefore, it can be concluced that the implementation of a SAVI approach can increased the matter of motion of the nature in dance learning on 2nd grade of Sumilir 1 Elementary School District of Purbalingga.</em></p>

THE SPECIFICS OF A DANCE TEACHER’S WORK IN THE CRISIS OF 2020

The 2020 has been a year of many challenges in many professions and also for dance teachers. The daily challenge is to replace existing dance classes with a totally different class structure, which is defined by the governmental restrictions. The dance teachers must react to these restrictions immediately and without any methodological materials and support. In the crisis the dance teachers must use such learning organizational forms as: group, individual and online, and use them as alternatives to one another. Can a dance teacher reach their professional (curriculum) goals by alternating components of the study process? How do the changing circumstances affect dancers and their attendance? The aim of this article is to analyse the possibilities of a dance teacher to reach their professional goals with group, individual and online classes and to determine the dancers satisfaction with these classes. The research is realized in terms of one dance studio and in two stages. The first stage (March-July 2020) were an experimental video-instruction independent training analysis. 40 video materials were grouped in 20 classes and sent to 20 dancers. The second stage (September-January 2020) were group, individual and online class analysis from the teacher’s and dancers perspective. In the second stage 27 dancers and 5 dance teachers were surveyed.

How Teacher Can Develop Children’s Creativity through Facilitating Possibility Thinking in Chinese Folk Dance Classroom

In recent decades, people has gradually focused on creativity especially in education and society. Through teaching activities, students may be able to use possibility thinking in their classes for developing creativity. Hence, it is important that understanding how teachers can develop children’s creativity by supporting possibility thinking. As a dance teacher, I am looking forward to bringing this knowledge into my teaching. Through a theoretical analysis and experiential combination, this paper aims to explore how teachers can cultivate children’s creativity by facilitating possibility thinking.

The Regime of Passion

In the second fiction of the trilogy, Simón, Davíd, and Inés cannot find a satisfactory school for their unusual boy and so they “exile” themselves again, leaving Novilla in an unauthorized way, fleeing north to a smaller town, Estrella. There they eventually enroll Davíd in an unusual school, which teaches only music and dance. The teachers at the school claim that dance can “call down” numbers and embody them, and Davíd turns out to be their star pupil, an excellent dancer. The central event in the fiction is the murder of the dance teacher by a strange, shady character, Dmitri. The murder seems inexplicable and has a profound effect on Davíd (who finds the body) and his adoptive parents. The thematic core of the fiction involves how art might render abstractions intelligible in a way that philosophy cannot, an issue that connects with the relation between reason and passion introduced in the two fictions.

Perceptions of Strength Training in Dance

The aim of this study was to ascertain current perceptions of strength training (ST) in dance from the viewpoint of the professional dancer, dance teacher, and student dancers across dance genres. A total of 168 responses (149 females, 19 males) to the modified Training Information Survey (TIS) were analyzed for differences in perceptions of ST between dance students, professional dancers, and dance teachers. Some significant differences were found between professionals and teachers (p > 0.05) and between students and teachers (p > 0.001). In all instances, dance teachers were less likely to agree with the following: ST is essential to my overall development as a dancer, women should participate in ST, men should participate in ST, ST should be part of every training program regardless of dance style, ST is beneficial to women, and ST increases bodyweight. It is evident that perceptions of ST still vary across the dance sector, and it is postulated that further education for dancers on the role ST has to play on the development of a dancer would help to break down barriers to participation. From this investigation, it can also be concluded that the perception that dancers have a fear of muscle hypertrophy and a negative impact on aesthetics is no longer widely prevalent, although it still permeates throughout the dance sector.

Integrating Dance and Language Education: A Pedagogical Epiphany

Dance fulfils several educational purposes, particularly in the context of second language teaching and learning. Nevertheless, challenges to implementing dance as an approach to teach and learn a second language do exist. For teachers, it is essential to develop varied pedagogical approaches to suit different student cohorts. But it is not reasonable to expect that every language teacher is a born expert and connoisseur of dance or every dance teacher a born expert and connoisseur of the target language. Moreover, we have not seen studies focus on the development of the pedagogy of using dance as an approach for teaching and learning a second language. In this article, we assembled autoethnography and educational connoisseurship and criticism to investigate Nan’s experience through the process of generating descriptive narration, interrogating reflective analysis, evaluating understandings, and discerning themes. The themes discussed were communicative and intercultural competence, language acquisition and immersion, cognitive learning transfer, and multiple accesses. This study offers empirical evidence for the benefits that dance activities can make to students’ second language competence development and affords pedagogical insights for teachers who want to employ dance as an approach to teach a second language.

Of Grit and Grace: Negotiating Puberty, Surviving, and Succeeding in Professional Ballet

Experiences of puberty and how individuals adapt to puberty may be integral to success in ballet; however, there is a paucity of current research in this area. This study explores the lived experiences of nine professional ballet dancers to capture the journey of negotiating puberty in a ballet context. An interpretative phenomenological analysis approach was employed with semistructured interviews utilized to gather rich, descriptive accounts from nine professional ballet dancers from the United Kingdom and United States. Lived experiences were characterized by conflict and struggle, coming to terms with physical changes and possessing grit and grace in order to successfully negotiate puberty, and to succeed and survive in professional ballet. Accepting physical and esthetic strengths and weaknesses and learning how to adapt or how to compensate for weaknesses was described as pivotal. Factors such as social support, the timing and extent of pubertal changes, dance teacher behaviors, and the ballet training context influenced the extent to which dancers experienced conflict and struggle and how easily they were able to come to terms with their adult physique. Further research is needed to explore the implications of maturing and developing within the context of ballet training and to develop strategies to better facilitate healthy development in ballet.