Kaye West, Ph.D.

The Importance of the Arts

There have been many statements which have described how important the arts are to education, yet when school budgets are tight, the arts are often the first area of the curriculum to be dropped.

In 1994 with the passage of the Goals 2000 Legislation, the arts were included for the first time as part of the rigorous curriculum all students in the United States should experience. Specifically, the arts standards (endorsed by governors of all 50 states) specified that all students kindergarten through grade twelve (K-12) should be communicative in the four major areas of the arts (dance, music, theatre, and visual arts) and become a specialist in one. This vision remains a very worthy goal!

Children's and young adults' literature provides abundant examples of outstanding visual art and thought-inspiring information. See Developing Literacy for literature recommendations promoting cultural understanding and social justice as well as suggestions for developing skills in reading, writing, and critical thinking.

Dance is the area of the arts which is taught least in American schools There has also been a great deal of disagreement about exactly what should be taught in dance curriculum. As part of Goals 2000, national standards were developed for dance (primarily by dance educators specializing in ballet and modern dance). These standards "include concepts and skills related to movement and dance technique, improvisation and creating choreography, observing and analyzing dance, and understanding dance in the context of culture and history" but are silent on HOW TO TEACH DANCE.

Why Learn to Dance?

Cultures around the world have incorporated dance as a component which brings cohesion to the society. As the most ethnically-diverse nation on earth, the USA should promote partnership dance to develop an inclusive national culture which positively addresses many contemporary social ills. Not only is partnership dance found around the world, but also it has roots from diverse cultures on four continents (Europe, Africa, Latin America, and North America).

At a time when people in the United States need:
• physical activity to counteract obesity and a sedentary lifestyle,
• continual learning opportunities to promote healthy brain functioning and lifelong learning,
• social interaction to combat isolation,
• a sense of community to overcome national divisiveness,
• a worthwhile purpose to balance self-centeredness,
• a healthy activity which provides discontinuous time to counteract the stresses of modern living, and
• a recognition of the need for a paradigm of society which recognizes valuable contributions of co-equal genders,

... a comon-sense antidote for all of these needs is dancing, and particularly partnership dancing (including social dancing, ballroom dancing, and cued/choreographed ballroom dance which is also known as round dancing), since partnership dancing is the one dance form in which two people can participate and which can be enjoyed from childhood through senior citizenship!

Numerous benefits of dance have also been validated by research to improve the health and wellbeing of those who participate!

Two major difficulties exist today in teaching dance: sufficient personnel to teach dance to everyone and knowledge of what to teach which anyone can have ready access to. While organizations exist to help people learn to do partnership dance (including dance studios, dance societies, and a few university programs), there are other complications:
• different interpretations of how to dance various rhythms (related, for example, to style of origin as well as level of dancing skill),
• a large body of knowledge, and
• the evolving nature of dance information.

Also, the sad fact remains that everyone does not have access to learning opportunities. There are both geographial and financial limitations. And while there is a great deal of information on the internet, people often need guidane in order to appropriate it.

Everyone has the ability to learn to dance and share what they know with their friends, relatives, and neighbors. There have been individuals who have learned from observing others (in person or via the internet), and round dancing itself began with folks taking the initiative to teach what they know to others. Perhaps it is time to embrace an "each one teach one" philosophy again.

Endorsements and Promising Developments

To achieve dance as a viable aspect of the curriculum, it will take a community of participants working collectively in many different ways to help everyone learn to dance. Some promising strides in recent years include:

Arts groups created International Dance Day (1982), also called World Dance Day, which is celebrated annually on April 29 and the U.S. government established National Dance Day (2010), celebrated on the third Saturday in September each year. The goal of both is to focus on dance as a beneficial activity and make it accessible and inclusive to everyone.

In recent years ballroom dance has been added to the list of potential sports in the World Olympics, with the World DanceSport Federation (WDSF) identified as the standard for describing ten dance forms to include (five "ballroom" rhythms: Waltz, Tango, Foxtrot, Viennese Waltz, and Quickstep and five "Latin" rhythms: Rumba, Samba, Cha Cha, Paso Doble, and Jive). Thus, they essentially have adopted the "international style" common in many countries in the world over the "Amerian style" of which there are two major schools (Fred Astaire and Arthur Murray). The American and International styles are becoming more closely aligned. (Curiously, break dancing is the first dance form to appear in Olympic competition.)

Ballroom dance lessons are often extremely costly, so the majority of people do not have access to them. The International Choreographed Ballroom Dance Association (ICBDA), a dancers' organization which has grown from the grassroots (originally folk dancing and now incorporating ballroom and social dance rhythms and techniques embracing both International and American styles) along with its partner organization, Roundalab (RAL) (for round dance teachers) is a dance movement committed to promote cued/choreographed ballroom or round dancing in a fun, noncompetitive, inexpensive alternative manner.

Other organizations also promote the arts in general and dance specifically:
• "Why the Arts Matter," National Endowment for the Arts, September 23, 2015,
•Arts Action Fund Organization states "the arts are essential to the proper functioning of our society" and provides state-by-state factsheets on the impact of the arts on social issues,
•Arts Education Partnership, a national network of more than 200 organizations dedicated to advancing arts education, published Dance Counts,
•Arizona Commission on the Arts contends that "the arts are the heart of our national life" and provides resources for artists,
•Arizona Citizens for the Arts profess that "Arizona's official education policy says the arts must be taught in our K-8 schools."

Promoting Partnership Dancing

Learn to dance yourself. There is information available at Walk In, Dance Out. Teach at least one other person what you know. The best way to learn something is to teach someone else. Don't wait until you know "everything," because no one does! If each one teaches one, collectively we can make great progress in helping others learn to dance, which in turn can help create a more wholesome and happy nation!

Support dance organizations such as the International Choreographed Ballroom Dance Association (ICBDA) by becoming members (link also available in left menu of public home page), attending their convention (info in right-side banner), promoting local leaders, and helping to recruit new students or members. Encourage others to do likewise.

Dance yourself and/or promote a dance event on both International Dance Day (also called World Dance Day) and National Dance Day.