Dance History: Absorb the Art

8/19/2019 Dance History: Absorb the Art

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Kayla Walker

Caroline Prohosky

Dance 460

December 14th, 2014

Absorb the Art

Does your high school see the benefits an o!!ortunities that the art of ance has to

offer" Does your high school e#en ha#e ance classes" When bugets are tightene, the school

library meia s!ecialists an$or the arts !rograms are often consiere e%!enable& As money

becomes tight, frills are cut 'i&e&, the arts(& )esearch tells us that to com!ete in a global economy

*e must think +beyon the linear, logical, an analytical skills that are easily measure by

stanarie tests- '.athan(& Daniel Pink, an American author an /ournalist, goes further,

stating that to succee in this ne* en#ironment, stuents *ill nee to create imaginati#e an

emotional beauty, recognie !atterns an o!!ortunities, e#elo! the ability to +em!athie an

unerstan the subtleties of human interaction,- to fin ha!!iness in oneself an bring it u!on

others& Perse#erance, iligence, !ractice, *orking *ith a grou!, com!assion, an learning to take

criticism are all taught in the stuy of the arts& n ance, the *illingness to +fall an reco#er- is a

common moern motif that also a!!lies in the acaemic classroom '.athan(& As stuents, *e

constantly stri#e to reach out an take risks an then come back to center an be in control *hen

necessary& he m!act of the Arts on earning re!ort !rouce in 1333 by the .ational Arts

ucation Partnershi!, the Presient5s Committee on the Arts an umanities, the 7 8un, an

the 9ohn D& an Catherine & :acArthur 8ounation, com!ile se#en ma/or stuies that !ro#ie

e#ience of enhance learning an achie#ement *hen stuents are in#ol#e in a #ariety of arts

e%!eriences& +he stuy foun that art !rograms ha#e a ramatic influence on elementary an


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high school stuents5 !erformance on stanarie tests& t is im!ortant that eucators e%!ose

stuents to the connections bet*een music an art an other acaemic sub/ects- ';oung(&

Although to most high schools the fine arts may not seem *orth the cost, ance s!ecifically

shoul not be cut because it hel!s to e#elo! oneself !hysically, mentally, an socially *hile also

being a uni#ersal language that connects cultures aroun the *orl&


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Accoring to the .ational nstitute of Arthritis an :usculoskeletal an


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*ill hel! them to stay !hysically healthy an more able to succee in their school*ork& .e*

research has isco#ere that it is im!ortant to measure both !ositi#e an negati#e cholesterol

le#els *hen etermining ho* healthy *e are& Dancing ais in +li!i control-, *hich raises our

+D 'goo cholesterol(, an lo*ers our D 'ba cholesterol(&- 'Craock( >arbara Craock,

an American !rofessional ancer an choreogra!her, also sai that ancing is great for iabetics

because it ais in bloo sugar control& herefore, ancing *oul be a great o!tion for those *ho

are suffering *ith any form of iabetes&

Dancing benefits our heart, cario#ascular system an increases our lung ca!acity&

Accoring to >arbara Craock, +the muscle e%ertion an breathing rates of ancers !erforming

in one ance com!etition is e=ui#alent to those of cyclists, s*immers an an lym!icle#el F00

meter runner&- Dancing comes *ith many health benefits an ais in the boy@s circulatory

system& t can iminish bloo !ressure, reuce cholesterol, ecrease the risk of heart isease,

enhance bones, etc& Dance assists in the treatment an !re#ention of osteo!orosis, a conition

*here !eo!le@s bones become thin an *eak, *hich is a ma/or concern for *oman, es!ecially

+uring !ostmeno!ause *here there is a significant ro! in estrogen&- his ro! is *hat sto!s

calcium from being absorbe into our bones& Dance also kee!s /oints smooth, *hich ais in the

!re#ention of arthritis& 'Craock( igh school stuents shoul be in#ol#e *ith ance because

not only oes it !re#ent all of these things from ha!!ening, but it ser#es as a treatment as *ell&

>arbara Craock goes on to say that ance im!ro#es your balance an coorination& >alancing

yourself in one !osition may be easy, but balancing in the numerous ty!es of !ositions in#ol#e

in ancing is much more ifficult& his strengthens our stabilier muscles, *hile !rotecting our

core an kee!ing us less !rone to in/ury in our aily li#es& Dancing also ais in coorination an

hel!s strengthen our refle%es& t is a great *ay to kee! our Central .er#ous


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Peri!heral .er#ous


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Dance ele#ates our moo an allo*s us to heal stress an e!ression H +t*o of our

immune system5s biggest enemies- 'Craock(& t hel!s us establish our selfconfience, self

esteem an selfisci!line& t im!ro#es the harmony bet*een our min an boy, gi#ing us a

sense of *ellbeing& Dancing not only has shortterm benefits, but also longterm benefits

because it is a great mental e%ercise for our brains& Dancers become #ery goo at learning things

=uickly an methoically because of ho* often they learn ne* ances you may see a +ancer

turn an stare into s!ace *hile mo#ing her hans an !erha!s mouthing something to herself

*hile trying to learn something&- Dancers learn to re!eat things not /ust *ith their boies, but

also *ith +their hans an in *ors&- his !rocess of re!eating *hat you /ust sa* or hear until

you5#e committe it to memory is a skill, an it ser#es ancers in all as!ects of life, both insie

the stuio an out 'anson(& he ability to memorie is a skill that stuents *ill nee an use

*here#er life takes them& Who *oul ha#e thought that the art of ance *oul be ca!able of

teaching you these !rinci!les of learning" n aition to enhance memory skills, ancers also

ten to be selfisci!line an selfmoti#ate& Dancers gro* accustome to *orking in a

structure manner to*ar a goal an realie that results ne#er come o#ernight& 8or this reason,

ancers are often highly isci!line, an carry this isci!line o#er into other as!ects of their

li#es&

Dancing is a highly sociable acti#ity, *hich makes it a great *ay to meet ne* !eo!le

es!ecially in high school& When going to the gym you may e%!ect to carry out se#eral solo

con#ersations, *hereas ancing is highly interacti#e an !ro#ies a great social net*orking

o!!ortunity that oes not in#ol#e sitting in front of a com!uter& his is !articularly beneficial to

stuents *ho *ill =uickly make ne* friens an e#elo! bons in a secure en#ironment&


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increase their social circle *ith a grou! of likemine ini#iuals&

Dance +fosters social encounter, interaction, an coo!eration&- 'Kuhlman(


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+meicine men an *omen of many .ati#e American tribes use ance as !art of their healing

rituals- 'Dance hera!y(&

Dance offers stuents the o!!ortunity to relate themsel#es to other cultures, !eo!le an

customs& ts im!act on globaliation is huge an has been for =uite some time& Dance has an

im!ortant !lace in multicultural eucation an the e#elo!ment of culturally res!onsi#e

!eagogy or eucation& hrough ance, stuents can e%!lore an e%!ress their o*n an others5

cultures an share their stories in *ays other than the s!oken an *ritten *or& >y integrating

ance into the classroom !rogram, there is an +increase connecteness bet*een teachers an

their stuents, stuents an each other, an stuents an ance- ':elchior(& istorically, ancing

has been a !art of our establishe society since the ays of the !rimiti#e man an it *ill continue

to be until the en of time& n the ol ci#iliations, ance *as al*ays a signal that something

im!ortant ha ha!!ene, *ill ha!!en or is ha!!ening& here ha#e been ances that e%!resse

their gratitue to the uni#erse for bountiful har#ests *hile there ha#e also been ances that

sought forgi#eness from rought an famine& Dances *ere also use to assemble *arriors for

*ar, to cro*n Kings an to glorify marriages&


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Dance offers !hysical, social, intellectual, artistic, an ini#iual re*ars to enhance an

enrich li#es& t has gi#en me a healthy lifestyle, *hich has allo*e me to increase my fle%ibility,

strength an coorination& >ecause of classes in 9a, ha#e learne the im!ortance of *orking

together an !roblem sol#ing& 8rom ballet ha#e learne isci!line an techni=ues, *hich allo*

me to memorie =uickly the most intricate series of ste!s& :oern ance has e#elo!e my

creati#ity, forcing me to think outsie the bo%& hese are attributes carry *ith me e#eryay as

na#igate my *ay through school an life& hey *ill continue to strengthen, eucate an lea me

to*ar reaching any goal set my min out to achie#e& Dance hel!s all high school stuents

!hysically, mentally, socially an multiculturally therefore it shoul not be cut from the school@s

curriculum&


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Works Cite

Arora, Ameya& +m!ortance of Dance in ucation- PapyrusClubs '2012( n&!ag& Web& ? .o#&

2012&

Clairenstein, 7ooy& +What Are the )easons to liminate Arts ucation Courses 8rom


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allet essons m!ro#e ;our 8ootball

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Dance History: Absorb the Art