Leadership and Gender in Postsecondary Dance

Chapter 9 presents data from a larger mixed method empirical study that investigated the professional lives of administrative leaders in postsecondary dance programs in the United States, with the purpose of developing a status report on administrative leadership, with particular attention to gender. The study employed reviews of literature in postsecondary dance leadership and administration, analysis of data assembled annually by Higher Education Arts Data Services (HEADS) in conjunction with the National Association of Schools of Dance (NASD) from 1994–2014, and findings from the authors’ mixed method study of dance administrators (n=75) in postsecondary institutions, including an extensive online survey that generated quantitative and qualitative data from participants across the United States. Survey data included information about demographics, workload, responsibilities and salary; support and work satisfaction; administrator purpose, strengths and challenges; influential experiences and people; quality of professional lives, and work-life balance. Narrative comments based on open-ended questions are presented. When appropriate, gender asymmetries and divergences are discussed.

Friendship Formation among Professional Male Dancers

The purpose of this study was to examine the formation of friendships among 12 current professional male ballet and modern dancers. In-depth semi-structured interviews regarding the nature and quality of their friendships with men and women in their respective dance companies were conducted. Four emergent themes are discussed: (a) relational challenges early in life; (b) sexuality and friendship formation; (c) culture of dance; and (d) competition among male dancers. The findings provide insight into the ways in which male ballet and modern dancers connect and/or disconnect with both male and female dancers and how gender and sexuality influences social interactions and relationships.

Behind the Curtain

Chapter 3 assembles data and renders visible gender hierarchies among choreographers in concert dance in the United States today. Recent statistics in the field are explored to establish a baseline for understanding gender in dance on a broader scale. An analysis of gender representation among choreographers is presented through an examination of the 2012, 2013, and 2014 performance seasons at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, the American Dance Festival, and the Brooklyn Academy of Music. The stratified programming of each venue provides a multi-case study for understanding how female choreographers fare within the various levels of public recognition in the dance field, creating a foundation for further discussion of gender in dance. The author’s primary questions ask whether men and women are represented in numbers that reflect their respective populations in the field of dance, and how the production of dance illuminates or undermines gender disparity among dance creators.

“Boys are Morons” … “Girls are Gross”

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 future of gender in dance and life. Research findings are presented thematically, followed by dialogue with pertinent theory and reflection. Experiential themes include dance in/and the family, dancing is for girls, shall we not dance, outside the box, and communities of practice.

Sassy Girls and Hard-Hitting Boys

Through participating in dance competitions, adolescent dancers can potentially learn valuable lessons about responsibility, teamwork, dealing with criticism, and performing under pressure. At the same time, dance competitions can convey strong messages about how participants should look, move, act, and how gender should be performed. This chapter establishes a broad understanding of gender in dance competitions by examining, articulating, and contextualizing female adolescent participants’ experiences with and beliefs about gender in dance competitions by using a mixed method research approach implementing a sequential explanatory strategy. Analysing adolescent dancers’ perspectives about gender in this context provides insight into what makes dance competitions increasingly compelling to the general public as well as imparts valuable information about the expectations and attributes of dancers from this background.

Engendered

Regendered movement refers to a process where choreographic material is created or adapted with the intention that it may be performed by either male or female dancers with little or no change to the original steps. This practice-led research project investigated the choreographer’s creative process for regendering contemporary ballet choreography and the dancers’ experiences of the rehearsal process and performance, and audience perception of meaning in the ballets. The research project sought to investigate the “in-born” and “natural” gender binaries of classical ballet by applying gender theory (Butler 1990, 2004; Polhemus 1993; Wulff 2008) and feminist critique of classical ballet (Daly 1987; Copeland 1993; Anderson 1997; Banes 1998). A mixed method, studio-based action research methodology was employed. Recent critical debate on gender in dance (Macaulay 2010, 2013; Jennings 2013, 2014), existing contemporary ballet, and its impact on the creative process of the choreographer are discussed.

An Introduction to Dance and Gender

Chapter 1 introduces the relationship between dance and gender, inquiring into the ways dance is gendered in Western society today and the significance of these findings. An extensive review of literature covers feminist perspectives, social construction of gender, gender equity, men in dance, queer theory and GLBT studies, plus gender roles in modern dance, ballet, social, religious, popular and recreational dance. Two of the most-discussed issues within the literature since the mid-1990s are the presentation of women’s bodies onstage, and how male dancers disrupt traditional ideas of masculinity. Dance outside the gender binary is also considered. Gender roles onstage, in class, in rehearsal, in company leadership, in postsecondary dance departments, and in choreographer funding are sites of inquiry within this book of empirical research studies and essays.

Dance in America

A variety of data show that men now lead the concert dance field in the United States. Not only do they receive jobs as performers and choreographers out of proportion to their representation as dance students, they also more readily achieve acclaim and financial security. Men stand out among dance artists because there is a paucity of them, giving them a professional advantage. This chapter examines funding at the state and national level, including Guggenheim Fellowships, MacArthur Grants, and National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships to see to whom funding goes. Various awards are also scrutinized for gender equity, including the Dance Magazine Award, Capezio Dance Award, Kennedy Center Honors Award, and the National Medal of the Arts. In addition, teaching and choreographing opportunities for men and women are compared.

Boys Only!

This ethnographic case study discusses the experiences of nine competitive male hip hop dancers as they participated in an all-male jazz technique class, which was taught by the researcher, in a private Canadian dance studio. Questionnaires were distributed to the male students and their three dance teachers to identify both the students’ and teachers’ perceptions of gender in competitive dance education. This chapter critically examines pedagogical practices that masculinize dance movement and teaching strategies in a private dance school with the intention of encouraging male enrollment. It challenges dance educators to assess how their own gendered assumptions influence their pedagogies, and to consider the potential effects they may have on their students’ experiences.