Name of Faculty Sponsor
Dr. Holmes
Faculty Sponsor Email
sholme39@kennesaw.edu
Publication Date
October 2017
Abstract
Abstract:
Many pre-professional dance studios have become consumer driven in response to the growing economic practice of neoliberalism. Neoliberal values have become more prominent in today’s economy and inevitably seeped into the lives of dancers and instructors, creating consumer based pre-professional training schools. This paper argues that the current neoliberal state of the United States is negatively affecting dance education by reducing specialized and therapeutic training and as a result numbing the creative mind and the artist’s entrepreneurial abilities. This research begins with the basic definition of neoliberalism and discusses how the theory of homo politicus and homo economicus individuals are responsible for the recent development of what could be called the “superstore” dance school. The “superstore” dance school is a one-stop shop that offers many different styles of dance including combo classes and does not focus on a central technique. The immense disadvantages of the “superstore” approach to dance education lead to the project’s examination of the pedagogies of dance in Israel, where dance is thriving. The project discusses both the United States’ and Israel’s economies and school systems in relation to teaching styles. It studies the differences in pedagogies and theorizes why they vary in approach regarding each country’s economies. Once determined differences are established, the project will propose a solution through a marketable lesson plan that offers pedagogical techniques and approaches similar to those found in Israel that negate the neoliberal economy and its effects on education.
Keywords: neoliberalism, dance education, Israeli education, artistry
Included in
Dance Commons, Education Economics Commons, International and Comparative Education Commons
