A study of the perception and use of attention in undergraduate dance training classes

ABSTRACT

Deploying action research methods this article investigates how students perceive and use attention in undergraduate dance training classes. A main aim of this research has been to develop strategies for encouraging agency in young dancers’ attentional choices in order to facilitate confident navigation of the bricolage approaches that make up dance training today. I explore the contextual aspects of UK higher education dance training that impact upon practices and expectations of attention. I draw on the literature of mindfulness and pedagogic research to explore how attention flow can promote a sense of agency for dance students. This article contributes to pedagogic debates about the challenges of bricolage approaches and embodied connectedness in dance training. My research explores how a framework for attentional awareness could be beneficial to young dancers in training.

KEYWORDS:

• Dance educational research
• dance training
• bricolage
• attention
• agency

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. STAR is a choreological method for analysing the intrinsic structures of human movement and their mutual impact.

2. ChUMm is a choreological method for analysing the way that choreutic units materialise – in terms of their design, progression, projection or tension.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Catherine Seago

Dr Catherine Seago is Senior Lecturer and Programme Leader for Dance at the University of Winchester. She has studied dance in the UK and USA as a Fulbright Scholar. As director of Evolving Motion she has led collaborative projects within the UK and internationally bringing together visual, film, sound and performance artists.