Crossing cultural boundaries through dance and movement
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Authors
Hunter, April
Issue Date
1995
Type
Capstone
Language
en
Keywords
Psychology
Alternative Title
Abstract
Research has been done on dance, movement, and multicultural awareness. There is a wealth of information on each subject separately. In this study, research was done to examine the impact of all these variables together and to examine what kinds of things people learn by participating in ethnic dance or movement. How could this information be used to foster multicultural learning and understanding?
A qualitative study based on open-ended interviews was conducted with a group of 12 individuals who were ethnic dance teachers, ethnic dance performers, and dance students. A thematic analysis was conducted on the interview material and six themes were most prominent. The themes were: (1) cultural awareness, (2) teamwork in diverse groups, (3) developing self-awareness and self-esteem, (4) crossing age and gender boundaries, (5) valuing cultural similarities and differences, and (6) dance and movement as a non-verbal communication skill.
This study concluded with recommendations on future research using the visual aid of video to explore this research further.