Dance : much more than mere movement

Abstract

This dissertation has been concerned with illustrating the different roles of dance. One can see dance as a form of exercise - aerobic dancing, tap and as in the case of Jazz. Dance can also be a means of popular entertainment, such as musicals. It can have a completely different meaning, a form of religious worship or a part of cultural rituals, such as the Greek wedding dance. Most people, however, express dance as a social and recreational outlet. This is usually enjoyed in discos or ballroom clubs. In my dissertation, I also commented about the means of expressing national or tribal loyalty during traditional folk dances. A very essential role of dance is that of dance therapy, which offers emotional and physical benefits to both adults and children with special needs. However, a most common role found is that of a profession, for example, a choreographer, a teacher or a performer. I went on to discuss Dance Education and its important aspects. This next part of my dissertation tackles dance in secondary education and its impressive progress. This is followed by an analysis of some questionnaires for students discussing the different roles of dance tackled in Maltese secondary schools. In the third chapter, I commented on the technical skills that are essential for eleven and twelve year old girls taking dance classes. Another analysis of questionnaires, this time for teachers is discussed in the last chapter. Here I compared the creative interaction between teacher and students and the local methods of teaching dance in secondary schools. Finally, as a conclusion, suggestions based mainly on the results obtained are put forward which, in my opinion, if considered seriously, would improve the general quality of dance as part of the physical education teaching in local secondary schools.