Continuing Dance in College: Educating Young Dancers About the Benefits of Pursuing Dance in Higher Education
Loading...
Date
2017-05
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
The Ohio State University
Abstract
The goal of my research is to educate high school aged dancers about how dance is benefitting them both physically and mentally, and further to understand how easy and fun it can be to continue reaping those benefits once they get to college. When I was in high school, I was extremely fortunate to have a mentor who was fully invested in the continuation of my dance education at the university level. She walked me through many different kinds of programs and guided me on where to audition. This kind of opportunity is currently afforded to very few students. Having worked towards an education focus while in the Department of Dance, while also possessing a strong desire to educate young dancers and own a studio of my own someday, this research became my ideal capstone. The process began with gathering information about mental and physical health benefits of dance, as well as the details of dance majors, dance minors, and various student organizations that involve dancing. I then complied this information into a workshop that I have presented at three different dance studios. I am seeing a significant increase in participants using vocabulary that I use with them in the workshop in their post workshop questionnaires. Further, after completing the workshop, a portion of dancers that reported prior to the workshop having no interest in continuing dance, reported that they now did want to continue dancing. I believe there are very few other programs in place that educate high school dancers like this. It’s vital that these students receive this information, not only for their own mental and physical health benefits, but also for the growth in the breadth of dance in universities across the country.
Description
Keywords
Dance, Education, High School, Mental and Physical Health Benefits, Ways to Continue Dance in College