Gliding Glissade Not Grand Jeté: Elementary Classroom Teachers Teaching Dance Notes

ngoing arts education issues for dance educators concern the role of elementary school classroom teachers as dance facilitators in their classrooms, the parameters of such a role, and whether or not university dance departments can prepare them to fill it. Certainly these are not new concerns for arts educators, but they are perhaps more problematic for dance educators because dance in education is still a novelty for many states. I have been teaching “teaching dance” to veteran and preservice nondance specialist teachers for nine years at a large state university, California State University at Fullerton, and I consider elementary classroom teachers—who are trained to communicate with young people and guide their learning—a rich and too often untapped resource for initiating dance education in the schools. However, not all dance educators share this view. As one dance educator noted, “The average elementary school teacher is already overwhelmed by the content that is required by state standards and curriculums that asking them to take on the role of teaching creative dance on top of this load is just not practical. ”1 Another dance teacher asked, “Why are nondance specialists teaching dance anyway? Would we ask this of music or reading specialists? What does this say about the content we deliver as dance specialists who train for years to teach? ”2 The time management and class content quality concerns as expressed in these comments are important, but not strong enough, in my view, to eliminate inclusion of dance education in the elementary schools for a lack of dance specialists. For example, regarding subject emphasis, it is important to note that elementary classroom teachers are not usually considered specialists in history, mathematics, science, language arts, physical education, or art either. Yet often, with varying amounts of early experience in these disciplines, they are asked to introduce all of these subjects at one time or another. Additionally, in reference to time management, these teachers spend several hours each day with their students and, therefore, have the opportunity to include dance activities at applicable moments, some of which will surface unexpectedly. Yes, it is certainly not possible to expect these teachers to be dance specialists, but they can provide their students with introductory dance experiences. My position reflects my first ballet teacher’s admonishment3 that the artistry of a dancer is not determined by the number of her fouette turns or the height of her grand jetés, but rather by the fluidity of her small connecting steps, her pas de bourrées and glissades. The elementary classroom teacher is the potential connecting step with the dance specialist, and how well connections are performed can definitely influence specialists’ future successes. I have been involved with various aspects of children’s dance programming for most of my adult professional life, which now spans several decades. I became interested in elementary school age children because, as a dancer, I believed that, if dance was going to enter their lives, it should be introduced as early as possible and continue through the years. Consequently my experience has included “dancing” in many classrooms, teaching at several schools, and conducting many hands-on dance workshops for elementary educators in more than twenty states. Yes, I have seen advances for dance education. Most states, if not all, now have workable standards for arts education, including dance. Several states also have dance specialist teaching credentials. However, for many states implementation of standards is voluntary, and realities of dance specialist teaching positions are dependent on budget fluctuations. The U.S. Department of Education’s June 2002 report, Arts Education in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools: 1999–2000, stated that only about onefifth of public elementary schools offered specific instruction in dance.4 In 41 per-