Welcome to this issue of Research in Dance Education. Despite still being in the midst of the global pandemic, spring is here and there is hope, with the start of world-wide vaccination programmes and the resuming of some studio-based and education context dance practices. The journal continues to thrive with contributions from around the globe. I thank you for your continued commitment to sharing research, practice and critical debate during challenging times. I am pleased that the call for the special issue: Dance, Health and Performance has been well received and that the call has been extended.
This issue of Research in Dance Education includes dance research from the UK, Spain and the USA, with a focus on student teachers, practising teachers, dance students and education and community contexts. The articles discuss pedagogical, sociological, and scientific aspects of dance education.
The issue opens with Canales-Lacruz and Rovira’s article ‘Social interaction and group work in corporal expression activities’ that reports findings during an expressive-artistic physical activity module from students engaging in a teacher education degree. The student teaching practice diaries and comments in relation to the student experiences on the module, were content analysed and suggest that the power of social interaction should not be under-estimated in developing a sense of support and community. We stay with the experiences of pre-service teachers in ‘Off the paper and into the dance: investigating preservice elementary teachers’ experiences with dynamic spatial reasoning choreography tasks’ by authors An, Tillman and Hachey. The student teachers participated in a series of spatial reasoning activities from design using a lego-based grid worksheet to translation in movement as a geometry-themed choreography. Findings suggest that the student teachers encountered disorientation during transitioning between the paper and dance. This study could inform future work in relation to understanding and navigating spatial reasoning and movement/dance and choreography.
Next, authors Vincent, Timmons and Mulholland in their study ‘The challenges of providing a quality certificated dance education within secondary schools- findings from a comparative study exploring the experiences of eight English and Scottish dance teachers’, discuss dance education provision and qualifications in secondary schools in England and Scotland. Analysis of documentation related to qualification syllabi and specifications and interviews with practising dance teachers, revealed that there are challenges with understanding and applying the information given in examination syllabi and specifications. The study suggests that it would be helpful to undertake greater consultation with dance teachers as examination syllabi and specifications are developed in the future, and to potentially increase examination course length of study.
A longitudinal, auto-ethnographic study of aspects of Parkinson’s disease as ‘Boogieing with Mrs P: a real-life story, the link between Parkinson’s, music and the dance’ by Diane and John Connell, powerfully documents and advocates dance and the relationship to music and community as a personal journey. The following article, Joshua Hall’s ‘Afro- Latin dance as reconstructive gestural discourse: the figuration philosophy of dance on salsa’, analyses ‘salsa’ as a fusion of multiple dances from West Africa, Spain, the Caribbean and the United States and the relationship to Figuration, as partner dances for social justice, from social, historical and political perspectives. The author, Hall, suggests that the study of salsa dance has potential to reconstruct a more socially-just world.
I conclude this issue with two articles with dance science foci that are applied to dance pedagogy and practice. The first speculative study, ‘An exploration of heart rate and perceived exertion differences between class and competition in freestyle disco dance’ analysed some physiological characteristics as differences in heart-rate (HR) and ratings of perceived exertion (RPE), between class and competition freestyle-disco dance. 5 dancers aged 12–16 years took part in the study during two classes and two competitions. Although no differences were found in HR and RPE between the classes or the competitions, the authors, Salmon, Timmons and Saunders, suggest that it was worthwhile to observe an under-researched dance style. The final article in this issue ‘Heart rate variability in a collegiate dance environment: insights on overtraining for dance educators’ by DiPasquale, Wood and Edmonds, reports findings of a study measuring heart rate variability (HRV) over the period of one term (14 weeks), of 10 female students studying a dance degree. The dance students completed a weekly Recovery-Stress Questionnaire for Athletes (RESTQ-Sport), to assess variables of wellbeing such as fatigue and injury and a weekly survey of self-reported dance activity and sleep habits. HRV was also measured at the same time each morning across the study period. Results showed an increase in perceived fatigue, decreased perception of general wellbeing and a downward trend in cardiac vagal modulation over the course of the term. It is suggested that the students may have been experienced feelings of high-stress and that there are implications for dance educators in relation to planning and practice.
The articles included in this issue demonstrate a range of research contexts, approaches and methods. I am sure that you will enjoy reading, discussing and debating.