Integrating emerging technologies in teaching Ugandan traditional dances in K-12 schools in New York City

Abstract

Schools in New York City have made attempts to embrace and support the strand of ‘making connections’, which is laid out in the New York City Department of Dance blueprint for teaching and learning in dance for grades PreK-12. Accordingly, some schools have integrated Ugandan traditional dances into the dance curriculum, and dance teachers have employed emerging technologies as part of instructional methodologies in teaching these dances. Anchored in the theoretical framework of constructivism and the idea of concept and realisation in constructing dance knowledge, this article reveals how the author employed emerging technologies and online platforms such as ipads, smartboards, ipods, iphones, audio recorders, YouTube and wikispace in teaching Ugandan traditional dances to: reconcile contextual and content knowledge in the classroom; engage students in reflective and interpretive analyses and deconstruction of dance songs and movements; give feedback to and receive reflections from students; and explore issues relating to learning to dance, learning through dance, and learning about dance. The author further divulges how dilemmas that relate to re/presentation and appropriation of ephemerally, culturally and contextually celebrated, embodied and defined dances imposed limitations on execution of technologically mediated class activities.

Keywords:

• emerging technologies
• Ugandan dances
• constructivism
• teaching and learning
• contextual knowledge

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Ronald Kibirige for offering to proofread the manuscripts, which culminated into this article. Special thanks also go to Lauren Rosenstein, Kate Sedlack, Randi Sloan, Deborah Damast and staff at One-to World, New York, for inviting me to teach Uganda traditional music and dances in K-12 schools in New York City. Without you this piece of writing would not have become a reality.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. Kizino is a ceremonial dance, which is performed by the Bakiga people who live in Kigezi sub-region in South Western Uganda.

2. Kimandwa is a spiritual/worship dance, which is performed by the Banyankore people of South Western Uganda.

3. Kitaguriro is a ceremonial dance, which is performed by the Banyakore people who live in South Western Uganda.

4. Maggunju is a royal dance, which is performed by members of obutiko (mushroom) clan from Buganda, central Uganda.

5. Gaze is a children's dance that is performed by communities living in West Nile in North Western Uganda bordering South Sudan and Democratic Republic of Congo.

6. See the following link for the recording that the author used to teach Kizino dance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v = OZcqABwDTrU.

7. The Banyankore people of South Western Uganda keep long horned breed of cattle. These people depend on cows for economic survival and cultural pride. See: http://gakondomedia.wordpress.com/2012/10/13/ankole-watusi-cow/

8. High-school dance students at KIPP NYC College Prep presented dances and their accompanying songs from cultures in Uganda during their 2012 summer dance concert (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v = RVBsndOKN0Q).

9. Rukiga is the native language of Bakiga people who live in Kigezi region of Uganda. All the songs of Kizino dance that is performed by these people are sung in Rukiga.

10. Runyankore is a language of Banyankore people of South Western Uganda. The songs of Kitaguriro dance performed by these people are sung in Runyankore.

11. Luganda is the native language of Baganda people from central Uganda. The songs that accompany dances from Buganda such as Maggunju are sung in Luganda.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Alfdaniels Mabingo

Alfdaniels Mabingo is currently pursuing his PhD in Dance Studies at the National Institute of Creative Arts and Industries, the University of Auckland, New Zealand, where he also serves as a Professional Teaching Fellow of East African dances. He is an Assistant Lecturer of dance at Makerere University, Uganda and has previously taught courses in East African dances and intercultural dance at New York University, U.S.A. His scholarship and research focuses on pedagogies of African dances, exchange programs in dance, dance in higher education and professions, and community dance. Mabingo's doctoral research interrogates the place and meaning of the ‘self’ and community in traditional dance pedagogies in non-academic settings in postcolonial central Uganda. His latest peer reviewed publications include NYU dance education study abroad program to Uganda: Impact on work experiences of study abroad alumni in New York City (August 2014); Teaching East African dances in higher education in the U.S: Reconciling content and pedagogy (July 2014).