CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, NORTHRIDGE DANCE IMPROVISATION IN DANCE EDUCATION: ATTITUDES AND USES A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements For the degree of Master of Science in Kinesiology By Jacobi Lynn Mejia May 2015 The thesis of Jacobi Lynn Mejia is approved: ________________________________ __________________ Shana Habel, M.A. Date ________________________________ __________________ Terry Sweeting, Ph.D. Date ________________________________ __________________ Konstantinos Vrongistinos, Ph.D., Chair Date California State University, Northridge ii DEDICATION I dedicate this thesis to the Holy Spirit for enabling me to get this far in education and to become the first in my nuclear family to hold degrees in higher education. I also dedicate this thesis to Albert Durstenfeld for helping me from the start of the process to become a master’s student and being there for me throughout this journey. I additionally dedicate this thesis to my mom for motivating me to go to college and believing in me, Phyllis Grimmett, and to my recently-deceased Noel, Aunt Jeannine, and Grandmother Grace, who persevered. And lastly, I dedicate this thesis to all the great educators that have been involved in my life that have paved my way to achieve this goal. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Signature page ii Dedication iii List of Tables vi Abstract vii CHAPTER I- INTRODUCTION 1 Background 1 Problem 5 Purpose 5 Hypotheses 5 Benefits 7 CHAPTER II- LITERATURE REVIEW 8 Teachers’ Views on Improvisation 8 Attitudes: Reasons to Use Improvisation 10 Value Versus Practice 12 Attitudes: Reasons Not to Use Improvisation 13 Methodological Processes 18 Conclusion 20 CHAPTER III: METHODS 22 Research Design and Material 22 Participants 23 The Data Collection Instrument 24 Pilot Study 25 Data Collection Procedure 26 Data Analysis Procedures 27 CHAPTER IV- RESULTS 29 Regarding the Instrument 29 The Amount of Improvisation Used Among Dance Teachers 34 Reasons Dance Teachers Use Improvisation 40 How Dance Teachers Use Dance Improvisation 45 Reasons Dance Teachers May Not Use Improvisation 49 Additional Beliefs and Attitudes 56 CHAPTER V- DISCUSSION 62 Aim 62 Key Findings 64 Limitations 70 Future Research 72 References 74 Appendix A 83 iv Appendix B 91 Appendix C 94 Appendix D 112 v LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Categories and subcategories of the theme “survey reflection” 30 Table 2. Questions that resulted with primarily the same response 31 Table 3. Participants who avoided questions 33 Table 4. Statements that confirm uses and frequency of improvisation 34 Table 5. The amount of improvisation used within a lesson 36 Table 6. The kinds of improvisation experienced 37 Table 7. The kinds of improvisation used 37 Table 8. Those who received training in improvisation in education 39 Table 9. Categories and subcategories of the theme “benefits” 41 Table 10. Comparison of training on, and use of, improvisation 44 Table 11. Improvisation as performance 44 Table 12. Categories and subcategories of the theme “how to deliver” 45 Table 13. Categories and subcategories of the theme “what it entails” 46 Table 14. Categories and subcategories of the theme “different elements” 47 Table 15. Categories and subcategories of the theme “different activities” 48 Table 16. Categories and subcategories of the theme ‘student reluctance’ 51 Table 17. Categories and subcategories of the theme ‘negative remarks’ 52 Table 16. Difference in perspective of those who were classroom teachers 57 Table 17. Categories and subcategories of the theme “advantages” 60 vi ABSTRACT DANCE IMPROVISATION IN DANCE EDUCATION: ATTITUDES AND USES By Jacobi Lynn Mejia Master of Science in Kinesiology Statistical (quantitative) research has not been done on dance educators’ beliefs and attitudes towards dance improvisation. The purpose of this study was to fill that gap and to examine dance educators’ uses of dance improvisation. A questionnaire was developed from the literature review and input from the researcher’s committee. The addition of several open-ended questions allowed for both quantitative and qualitative analysis. Twenty kindergarten through twelfth grade Los Angeles, California dance educators participated in the survey through an online website. The survey went through a pilot process based on a two week interval and then was quantitatively analyzed using SPSS computer software, followed by qualitative investigation to discover emerging themes. The questionnaire successfully gathered information on uses and attitudes towards particular statements relating to dance improvisation. However, the findings also demonstrated the need to modify some survey questions to better focus response and to strengthen results. A key finding revealed that elementary dance educators tend to use dance improvisation more than secondary dance educators. Most secondary dance educators use vii improvisation sometimes or not at all and when they do use it, it is for 10% or less of their lesson time. Possible causes for this limited use could relate to a feeling of lacking time to incorporate improvisation into instruction, lacking the training to teach it, or they did not experience training in dance improvisation in their own secondary education. The dance educators were more likely to use dance improvisation in instruction if they received training in improvisation in secondary education. The majority of dance educators in their 30’s also claimed to have used most of their instructional time teaching improvisation. Some dance educators, however, use improvisation only for specific groups. Positive attitudes appeared to exist towards dance improvisation overall, but contact improvisation and dance improvisation for performance, specifically, appeared to be used least by the dance educators. Participants who had been classroom teachers prior to being full-time dance educators had higher regard for dance technique as compared to dance improvisation. viii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Background Dance improvisation is an integral part of the educational dance content standards in California and is defined as, “Movement created spontaneously that ranges from free- form to highly structured environments, always including an element of chance” (California State Board of Education, 2001, p. 37). In a recent study by Biasutti (2013), improvisation has been described as being, “spontaneous, creative, and non-planned movement characterized by the expression of emotions and body feelings” (p. 7). In literature it has also been described as being part of a creative process (McCutchen, 2006), and a technique (Schwartz, 2000), used to compose dance for either performance or self-discovery of movement (Minton, 2007). Dance improvisation is seen in many different cultures around the world. For instance, Jewish solo dances in Eastern Europe are highly regarded because of the dancers’ improvisational skills (Friedland, 1985). In Latin America, dances such as Argentine tango, salsa, and samba depend highly on improvisation to execute social ballroom movements (McMains, 2001). Improvisation is widely used in Africa to demonstrate dancers’ skills when performing spiritual or ceremonial dance (Welsh, 2010). In Western America, improvisation is required to perform such styles as break dancing (Shimizu & Okada, 2012), swing dancing (Gentry, Wall, Oakley, & Murray- Smith, 2003), and modern dance (Minton, 2007). The place of improvisation in American dance education has been greatly influenced by a number of individuals. One of these individuals is Mary Wigman (1886- 1 1973), who was a “leading figure in the concert art form known in prefascist Germany as Ausdruckstanz, or dance of expression” (Wigman, 2003, p. ix). Thimey (2000), one of Wigman’s students has recalled that, “Very much in contrast to the ballet, improvisation was important in the Wigman School,” to gain sensitivity to space and the weight of movement (p. 59). Another student of Wigman, Hanya Holm (1893-1992), who became her successor and who “maintained a common language that united them” (p. xxv), supported the idea of teaching improvisation to draw out movement from dancers and use it to compose (Wigman, 2003, p. 165). Holm emigrated from Germany to New York in 1931 and opened an American branch of the Wigman School (Craine & Mackrell, 2010). One of Holm’s students was Alwin Nikolais. According to Gitelman and Martin (2007), he became a renowned American choreographer (p. 132) whose company, “In November 1949… acquired the name the Playhouse Dance Company, sometimes the Henry Street Playhouse Dance Company” (p. 249). Nikolais taught a “daily two-hour technique class [which] was followed by an hour-long theory class four days a week. Theory class usually, though not invariably, included improvisation. New students were led through exercises to introduce them to the requirements of improvisation” (p.35). He also became one of few male contributors to early dance education in America; according to Wilson, Hagood, and Brennan (2006), “Dance in education has been a feminine movement except for artist, teacher and philosopher Alwin Nikolais (p. 110). Thus, improvisation has an important legacy in, and is a traditional aspect of, American dance education. Improvisation tends to be closely associated with the term “creative”. The simplest definition of “creative” is, “to make or do something in a new way” (Inc. The 2 McGraw-Hill Companies, 2010). “Creative” is also defined as using imagination, problem solving, or aesthetic capabilities (Barron & Harrington, 1981). Furthermore,