Creative Dance in the Education Curriculum: Justifying the Unambiguous

Abstract

The inclusion of creative dance in the education curriculum has been variously justified in terms of its value as art, as movement, as therapy, and as a component of an integrated curriculum. Although creative dance is currently justified in different curricula for contra- dictory and ambivalent reasons, there is a need for an unambiguous inclusion of creative dance as a legitimate art form in the curriculum. I evaluate the various justifications for creative dance as movement, therapy, integration, and art and examine how these thwart or do not thwart the need for an unambiguous inclusion of creative dance as an art form. Pour justifier l’integration de la danse creative dans les programmes scolaires, on invoque sa valeur comme art, comme mouvement et comme therapie, ou encore sa place au sein d’un programme integre. Il faut que la danse creative soit incluse d’une maniere non ambigue dans les programmes scolaires en tant qu’expression artistique ayant droit de cite. Actuellement, on justifie l’integration de la danse creative dans divers programmes scolaires en faisant appel a des raisons contradictoires et ambivalentes. L’auteure evalue les divers moyens de justifier la danse creative comme mouvement, therapie, integration et art, et analyse comment ces diverses justifications vont ou non a l’encontre du besoin d’inclure sans ambiguite dans les programmes scolaires la danse creative comme ex- pression artistique.