Decolonizing Dance Teacher Education

ABSTRACT

Indigenous dances in communities that underwent European colonialism and Christianization are currently practiced in environments that still carry colonial legacies. Without formal dance teachers’ training programs and frameworks, individuals in postcolonial Africa have leveraged local resources, social experiences, and individual innovation to transform into indigenous dance teachers and decolonize their pedagogies. This article draws on narrative inquiry to critically examine reflections of four teachers of indigenous African dances. It investigates how they have constructed teaching competencies in local communities of dance practice. The analysis shows that the complex contexts of practice, participation and agency in dance activities, and reflections on practices framed pathways for self-guided discovery and formulation of decolonized and decolonizing pedagogic philosophies. The various contexts of practice unveil unique experiences and opportunities that individuals leverage to construct and contextualize dance pedagogies. The article offers perspectives that individuals dance educators and dance education institutions can use to decolonize dance education, dance teacher training, and professional development.