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HANDLE WITH CARE: A PEDAGOGICAL THEORY OF TOUCH 
IN TEACHING DANCE TECHNIQUE 
BASED ON FOUR CASE STUDIES  
A DISSERTATION SUBMIITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT 
OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF 
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY 
IN THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF 
THE TEXAS W OM AN' S UNIVERSITY  
COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES 
SCHOOL OF THE ARTS 
DEPARTMENT OF DANCE  
BY 
ROBIN LATSHAW COLLEN, B.A., M..S., C.M.A.  
DENTON, TEXAS 
DECEMBER, 2002 
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UMI Number: 3069356  
Copyrriightt 2003 by 
Collen, Robin Latshaw 
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li ilil 
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ACKNOW\VLEDGEMENTS 
First and foremost, [I  thank the four teachers whose w ork and ideas form 
the basis o f this study: Ste\v'en J. Chattffield, Ph.D., Ed Grofff, Laurie Sanda, and 
M ary Seerreiiter. [I thank them for theiir generrosiity and willllininggnneesss to share their 
experiences w ith  me, and for trusting me to observ\'e them teach, and to interact 
w ith  theiir students. I1  thank theiir students, whose candid remarks have givne•n nmwe 
invaluable insights into the student experience. r1 am gratefful to the departments 
and institu tioons whose doors opened to me: the Department o f Dance at the 
U niv\'ersiity  o f Oregon, the Perrfform ing Arts Department at Lane C om m uniity  
Colleege, the Department of Health and Human Performance at Iowa State 
Universiity, and the Modern Dance Department at the Universiity o f Utah. And, I  
thank the friieends who generrouslly opened theiir homes to me during  m y 
fie ldw ork: David and Jan W hite in Eugene, Oregon, Laurie Sanda in Ames, 
Iowa, and Ms. Rheba Vetter and Mr. K im  M orris  in Sallt Lake C ity, Utah. I  th.amnl-k.. 
Dr. Penelope Hanstein, for her efforts on my behallf as the chaiir o f m y committteee, 
for her curiosiity  about my work, and fo r her abiillity  to open my eyes and ears ton 
the emerrging ideas in  my data which were dancing right in  front o f me, singing 
loud ly. I am gratteffu l to Dr. Maisie Kashka and Professor M ary \WVilliiffoorrd - 
Shaaddee—-rmny other committteee membbeersrs—- who generrouslly shared their tim e .arndJ 
insights w ith  me. Finallly, I  thank Bruce Broownnlele—e- my life parttnneerr—-ffo r his love, 
faith, and support as I  pursued this project. 
iv 
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ABSTRACT  
Handle vwviitth  Care: A Pedagogiical Theory o f Touch in Teaching Dance Technique  
Based on Four Case Studies  
Robin La1tshaw Collen 
December 2002 
The purpose o f this study \wVaas to investigate how human touch mayv ble• 
used w ith in  a modern d,arnce technique class to facilittaate effective teaching ,arnd 
learning. This inqu iry  was based on tw o in itia l assuumpttiions: (a) touch is an 
efffel•ctiv,·e teaching and learning tool for modern dance, and (b) a m odern darnKcel' 
technique cl,a1sss defines its mowvn culture w ith in  which pedagogiical touch can be ,a\ 
natural and integral experience. 
Tw o quallita tive traditions o f inq u iry  were used: the phenomennoollogical 
study and the m ulltip le  case study. F ie ldw ork took place at ifour institu tiioons of 
higher educattion. Mt-.e1eththooddology centered on intervieews, parrticipant obseerrvv.a.ition, 
and questtionnaires. Memos \wVeere w ritttteen  from  transcribed intervieews, 
questtionnaires, and videeottaaped obserrvations. A list o f relevant coding categories 
o f emergent themes was developed. Nel Noddings' theory o f care in  m oral 
educattion was used as an in itia l fram e\wvork for a theory models approach to 
anallysis and interpretation o f the data. Laban Movement Analysis was used as 
an anallytical tool. 
Vv 
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The effective use o f touch requires teachers to acknowledge theiir own 
philoossophiees o f teaching and learning, and to recognize the importtaance o f 
students' backgrmounds w ith  touch and dance. In this context teachers develop 
environm ents for learning through touch. Teachers m entor touch, enablling 
students to fu lly  engage in the learning process as touchers and touchees. 
Teachers develop mel'thods for integrating touch into the flo w  o f theiir classes. An 
emphasis on studentt-to-student-touch experieences engages students in tactile 
dialogue, p rov id ing  students w ith  practice in caring, paying attention, remaiin ing 
flexible, culltiv,·ating  relationships, searrching for appropria te  responses, and 
kinesthetic empathy.  
A pedagtolgical theory of touch was de\v·eloped. Three core constructs are: 
(a) tthhee  iinsiide//oubtsiide  nnaattuurree  ooff d d,ranncciinngg,,  aanndd  ooff  lleeaarrnniinngg  moovveemeenntt;;  ((bb))  tthhee  
importtaance o f student histonries; and (c) the signifiiccaance o f intentional touch. T lhwe 
necesssiity for teachers to account for these foundattional elements to insure the 
effective use o f touch, was stressed. 
Mte'ltta1-da1n1cce Practice is a teaching and learning theory which iw.vaas developed 
in this study. This theory—-wwhhiich describes and explains touch-baased teaching 
and learning experieences that move beyond dance techniquee—--rreessiides w ith in  thLe' 
paradigm  o f consttrructtiiv ist learning and embodies themes o f moral educattion.  
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TABLE OF CONTENTS  
COPYRIIGHT ........................................................................................................................................ iii 
AC KN O W LEODCG EM EN TS ....................................................................................................... iv 
ABSTRACTT ....................................................................................................................................................... v 
LUIST OF FIGURES 
Figure l1. Conceptual Framework for a Study o f Touch as a 
Teaching and Leamrning Strategy for M odern Dance ............. h6.31 
CHAPTERS  
I. IN T R O D U C TIIO N .............................................................................................................. I1 
The Use o f Touch to Faciilittate Learning ......................................................... 29 
M oral Educattiion .............................................................................................................. 8  
The Ethic o f Care and Meta-Daance Practtice ............................................... 113 
Touch in the lM'voloddeern  Dance Technique C lass .......................................... I1 5=i 
The Inflluueence o f Soma tics ....................................................................................... 16 
The Studio is N ot Your Aveerage Classroom: Contexting  
Touch in the C u ltu re  o f the M odern Dance Class ................. 1IV9 
Connectting the Parts and Consttructing the Whole: 
Touching to Learn ........................................................................................ 2h6 
Framing the Study: The Ethic of Care in M oral Education  ............ 28 
II. M E TH O D O LOCGYY ......................................................................................................... J31ll) 
A Burgeoning Interest Leads to a Piilot Sttuddyy .......................................... 30 
W hat is G oing on Here? Exploring the Enigma o f Touch .. ............ 32 
The Phenomennoollogiical Study:  
A Q uallita tive  Tradiition  of In q uiirry ................................................... 33 
The Case Sttudy ................................................................................................. ............ 133, 
M aking Contact: Entering Four W orlds .........................................................4r n8 
Pallpatting W ith  the Eyes: Parrttiicipating as an O bseerrvveerr .................. 50 
Touching Base: lIn te rv iew ing  the Parrttiic ipantts ........................................ 52 
Student Q uessttiionnaaiirress .......................................................................................... 56 
Documentts ........................................................................................................................ 59 
Retracing and U nravelling  the Spiiral o f In fo rm attiionn ............................ 59 
The Theory Models Approach to Discovering T h eoorryy ...................... 6-4l 
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The Theory Models Approach to D iscovering Theory  .................... 6-4l 
UHLI. META  MEANS 'SIITUATED BEH IlN DD’—'-SSHH APIIN G  THE 
FO UN D ATIO N  FOR TOUCH TH R O U G H  CONTEXTING , 
MENTORING, A N D  E N G A GIIN G ......................................................................... 71 
What Teachers Bring W ith  Them: Personal Pedagogies ......................... 713 
The Dance Student Diaspora ....................................................................................... 8-4l 
The C ulture  o f the Modermn Dance Technique C lasss ............................... 89 
M entoring Touch ............................................................................................................... .106 
Leaning Backward, Pushing Forw arrd ............................................................ I1 13 
IV. META  M EANS '’DEVELOPMENT A N D  T R A N S F ORRMMAATTIIO N'-  
R EM AIN IN G  'PRESENT' FOR GROW TH A N D  C HAN G E 
THROUGH APPULICA  TION, D IALO G UE A N D  
C O N FIIR M A TIIO N ............................................................................................................. .I1 1l 6 
Application: Taking the Time to T o ucchh ......................................................... . I1 17 
Dialogue: Engaging in Tactile C onverrssaattiioonn ............................................ I1: 2S8 
Conffirm ation: W ittnneessing Another''s Uniqueness ................................. 15-4l 
Remaiining Availaable to the M u ltip lee Layers  
o f Perrcceeppttiioonn ..................................................................................................... .I1 c5;9 
V. META M EANS 'LATTEERR'—'-''A  MORE SPEECCIIALIZED FORMM - '-
CONSTRUCTING EMBODIED KNOW LEDGE: 
A PEDAGOGY OF T O U C H ....................................................................................1 6I r2l2 
Creatting an Environment for Touch ................................................................... .l1h6-4l 
Theory and Practice: The Praxis o f Touch ....................................................... .182 
YVI. META  M EANS 'M O V IN G  B E Y O N D'-
ENCOURAGING TO UCH FO RW ARD .......................................................... 2111 
Sum m arry ................................................................................................................................ 211 
Signifiiccaance o f the Sttuddyy ........................................................................................... 213 
Further S tudy ....................................................................................................................... 216 
REFERENCESS ..................................................................................................................................................... 23l0) 
APPENDIIXES ...................................................................................................................................................... 2-413 
APPENDIIX A Letter o f In troducttiion ................................................................................... 2-4l-4l 
v iii 
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APPENDlIX B  CCoonnsseenntt  FFoorrmm::  TTeeaacchheerr  PPaarttiicciippaanttss. ................................................ .2--41-66 
APPENDIlX C Coonnsseenntt  FFoorrm::  SSttuuddeenntt  PPartiicciippaants. ................................................. 250 
APPENDlIX D TTeexxaass  W oommaann’'ss  U nniivveerrssiittyy 
lInsttitu tiona l Review Board Approva l Letterr.. ................................ 255 
APPENDlIX E  Ilnntteerrvvieieww G Guuididee::  TTeeaacchheerr P Paartiicciippaants. ........................................... 257 
APPENDIIX F Ilnntteerrvvieieww G Guuididee::  SSttuuddeenntt P Paartiicciippaants ............................................ 2590 
APPENDIX G Questionnairree. ..................................................................................................... 2bl  
APPENDlIX H Sampllee  o ff  Fiieelldd  Nootteess  w iitthh  M ootiff  D eescrip tiioonn. ...................... 2<6,0ll 
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CHAPTER I[ 
INTRODUCTION  
"Handle w ith  care" is a usefful metaphorrical adm oniition  to alll teachers, of 
any subject matter, w ith  any age group o f students. For dance teachers who 
include touch in theiir pedagogy, this metaphorrical idea becomes concrete as 
w elll. Consider the fo llo w in g  scenarriio: A male teacher o f m odern dance 
technique approaches a female student, stands behind her, places his hands on 
the student's shoulders, m olds his hands around the bones and musculature, 
presses dmowvn firm ly , and then lig h tly  and swiiftly  swipes his fingertips laterr,1ally 
across the student's upper back. D uring this event a subbsst,tmantit,i1a1l am ount of 
inform ation is communicated. W ithou t a w\Voord being uttered, the non-verbal 
behaviior m ight be translated as: "You are an im portant member o f this dclass. I 
have noticed you. I1  care about you. I'd like you to release the tension in your 
shoulders. Widen your upper back rather than pinching yo u r scapulae togel'ther. 
I understand that you are tense because you are learning som etth ing brand new. 
You have a myriad o f choices fo r movement in your shoulders. I''d like to help 
you feell that you can choose to be released. Change is good. Remember to 
breathe. When \wVe touch another person, we should do so w ith  respectt."  
An efffective use o f touch requires a teacher to understand the com pllexiity 
o f tacttile interactions, and to create a learning environm ent w h ich  is conducive to 
the use o f touch. Requiisite fo r such an environment is a teacher's (a) abiillity  to 
touch w ith  clear intent, (b) acknowleedgement o f the student's background, ,amnd  
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(c) uunnddeerrsstatannddiningg  ththaat td daanncciing—-aanndd  leleaarnrniningg m moovementt—- i ninvvoollvvee b boothth  ininnneerr  
proceessses and outer manifestations. I f  one reads the above desccrriiption and 
substtituttees a female teacher and a male studeennt—t- or a teacher and student o f the 
same sex—-tthe com pllexiity o f touch becomes even clearer. 
The Use o f Touch to Faciilittate Leamrning  
This s tudyy—-iin its broadest applicatiioonn—-ininvvessttiigated human touch ,arnd 
the posssiibbiillity  for human beings, through touching and being touched, to 
become more aware o f themselves and others. W hile this m ay read as a uttoopp1,i1a1n1 
vision, it  is acttualllly undergirded by very practical and hands-on expeerrieienncecse—s- 
litterallly . The setttings for this study were modermn dance technique classes in lfio'luir 
colleeges in the United States. The subjects were dance teachers and theiir 
students. Through this study it has come ton light that human touch among 
teachers and students in a modern dance class has the potenttial to teach students 
not on ly  how to develop into better dancers, but into enriched, m ullttii-­
d im ensional human beinggss—-mmoomra/l human beings. \WVe shalll come to better 
understand the use o f the Ww ot)rd  'm orall' through a discussion on moral eddlluLc\1altiico1n. 
This in q u iry  determ ined that human touch informs ind iv idua l dance educattii,o 1n11 
and personal development.  
In  this document there is substtanttiial discussion about what deksec besides 
dance is taught through the use o f touch in a modern dance class. It is im porta.mnt 
to note, however, that despiite the frequent reference to wlhzat delsce, alll leamrning 
w h ich  incluuddees and goes beyond dance technique occurs because o f dance. This 
learning potenttia l is inherent w ith in  dance. The autthennttiiciity o f the pedagogy of 
this study 's teacher partiiccipipaanntst—s-and o f this research and theorryy—-iis gronunded  
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in danciing, dance--teachiing, and dance--making. The dancing body houses ot)ur 
aestthettic intentions and ideas. It inffoorrmmss—- and is infoorrm eed by—-- our experieences. 
Sondra Horton Fraleigh (1987) notes that danccee—-mmoovvement detached from 
instrumental usefuulnlneesss—- has an aestthettic intent and is an inroad to knmowvlel•ddge 
o f onesellf. Fraleigh writtees, 
We dance to become acquainted w ith  that which cannot be known by any 
other meaannss—-tto find ou t what can be known through the body as a 
mentall, physical, spiir itua l whole. Thus vwve acquire a kind o f knowledgte• 
we m ight designate as cexppcerricie1n1tial. Indeed, we com m only speak o f skiilll in 
dance as a form  o f knowleedge and also speak o f kinesthetic intellligencc1e• .1is~ 
an aspect o f skiilllfu l danciing. But dance involvees more than just k1n1owii1n1g 
lhzow to do a movement. [It also involvees knowing how to express the 
aestthettiic intent o f the movement and how to create aestthettic movement 
imagery. A ll o f these forms o f know ing how are forms o f bodiily  liivne•d 
(experriienttiiall) knomwvleedge. As such, they are avenues for sellf-knowlleedget',. 
(p..  26}) 
A t the outset o f this study [I proceeded to uncover, through the words and 
actions o f students and teachers, how touch helps students lea.irn to dance. The 
research was based on tw o assumpttions: (a) touch is an effective teaching .arnd 
learning tool for modermn dance and (b) a modern dance technique class definees 
its own culture w ith in  which pedagogiical touch can be a natural and integral 
experience. These assumpttions were based on discussions w ith , and 
obserrvations o f eiight dance teachheerrss—-ffou r from a p ilo t s tudy and four from  this 
current studyy—-aand from  my ow n  experieences as a teacher. 
[I began m y research by asking the fo llow ing questions w hich functionte•d 
as a b lueprin t for data gathering and anallysis: 
1. What is the role and signifiiccaance o f touch as a kind o f human interaction 
and type o f dialoguee?  
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2. What is the purpose of touch in modern dance education?  
3. H ow  does touch affect the student's abiillity  to learn the funccttioionn4a1l 
and expressive elements o f dance?  
-4!. H ow  do various touch relationships affect the learning proceesss?  
5. H ow  do teachers deall w ith  the lim iittaattiioonnss o f touch as a teaching 
strategy, its appropriaatteeneess or inappropriiaatteenneesss, and students' 
com fort//d diisscom fort w ith  it? 
6. What issues regarding gender, perceived hierarchical status, .arnd 
culture shLoluld be considered \wVhheen teaching dance through touch?  
7. \W\'hat are the types of touch, and the ir functions, which may bte.• used in 
a modern dance class? 
8. H onw  can the theories regarding the use o f touch move beyvond knowlleedge 
\wVhhiich is taciit, inn.a1tte, or second-nature to in fo rm  pedagogiical practice in 
the modern dance class? 
The data revealed a plethora o f inform ation on the hlrmowl' o f touch. But, 
agaiin, what loomed even larger than /lziomw1• was what ec/lssce—- what else besides da.rncne• 
was being taught and learned through touch. Meta-dancce practiicce is a term 
which I have devised to descrribe dance teaching and learning w hich  goes 
beyond, transcends, and is more comprehensive than on ly  develloping the 
techniicalllly profic ient dance performer.  
What also became clear was that pedagogiical touch and meta-dance 
practice fit  w ith in  the educattiional paradigm  of co1n1ssttruncttfirv.1isism. In its most basic 
sense, consttrructtiivism , accorrding to Bradford S. Woods and P. Karen M urphy 
(2002) is an educattiional theory thhaat"t . . .  adheres to a bellie f that in d iv iiddu a l  
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consttructions o f knowleedge and the environmental variablees that mold these 
consttructions should be the true  objects of epiistemollogy" (p. -4199). The authors 
note that consttrructtiivist theory is not just one idea. [It invo lvvees variiaattioionns—s-or sub-­
genres: (a) Sociiall co1n1ssttructivz,iissm  proposses that interpersonal relaattiioonnss—-vverrsus 
intrap ersonal cogniitive creatiioonn—-iis the most viable explanation o f knowleedge 
consttruction (p. 51 ); (b) Siituated coglnlitioun "  . . .  is grounded in the experriienttial 
cornerstone of consttrructtiv issm  [focusing onl| . . .  the signifiiccaance o f the temporal 
relation of hum ankind to the percepttible environment [and t haat!t  j . . .  i1n1sstta1n1cce is 
essence (p. 52); and (c) Radical co1nlsltrruucctiti.i•viiss1m1t is the most extreme verrssioionn—- 
denying a singular realiityty—-iin  w h ich  adherents believe "the creattion of 
knowleedge structurees is situated sollelly in the minds o f the in diiviid uaal.l. .."   and 
that these structurees can never be accurattelly communicated (p. 52). 
Kathryn A leesandrriin i and Linda Larson (2002) propose five basic tenets to 
consttrructtiivism: (a) Learning results from exploration and discovery, (b) lea.urning 
is a com m uniity acttiiv ity  faciliittaatted by shared inqu iry, (c) learning occurs during 
the consttrructtiivist process, (d) learning results from parrtic ipa tion  in authenttic 
acttiivitiiees, and (e) outcomes o f consttrructtiivist acttiivitiiees are unique and varied 
(pp. 118-119). Each o f these precepts is germane to the effective use o f touch in 
teaching dance. 
Time is an im portant p rinc ip le  o f consttructtivissm noted in the litteerraature 
w hich is parrtticularly pertinent to the appllication o f touch in teaching dance. 
Integrating touch into a dance class is time consuming and—-wwhen 
consciienttiiouslly appliieedd—- can indeed be welll worth the time. Paul Vermette 
(2001) writtees, "When students are given time to explore interesting and relevant 
5 
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probleems they can create m eanniingffu l connections and reach higher sttanndd<a1rrds" 
(Vermette et al., p. 89). 
Retturning to the concept o f meta-dance practice, an explanation 
regarding the \wvord 'practice' is necessarry. In the w orld  of dance, dancers 
practice theiir art by parrttic ipating in any num ber of acttivittiiees inc lud ing 
perrform ing, sttudying, choreographing, im prov\'is ing, and teaching. Dance 
practice has a number of meanings. It is the appllication or performaance o f one's 
knowleedge of, or in, dance. It is one's method o f performing, studying, 
choreographing, im pro\v'is ing, o r teaching dance. It is also s im plvy the do inngg—-tthe 
exercise o f the proffeessssioionn—- of dance, just as one would practice law or medicine. 
That a dancer has studied or perform ed w ith  a particular teacher impliiees both 
the style o f teaching and the body o f m.a1tterial absorbed by the student.  
For example, if  a dancer has practiced her or his art w ith  modern d,alnCcel'r, 
M urray Louis, [I—-aas a teacher, and a form er student at the N iko laaiss/Loou iss 
stud ioo—-uunnddeerrssttand at least some o f what was entailed in the technique cla,1ssset•s. 
Classes include such elements as dancing to liv,·e drumm ing, and p.a1rtiicuul<la1r typel's 
o f floor sequences. I  also surmisse that Louis has fosstteerreedd—- and this da1nKcel'r has 
gainneedd—- a keen awareness o f space, and the abiillity  to move ligh tly , suddenlly, 
and make rapid directional changes; the dancer probably also has an 
appreciiattion for im provisation and comptolsiition, as welll as technique. A ll o f 
these elements comprise, in part, M urray Louiss''s teaching practice, and the 
student's learning (and pottenttiialllly) perrform ing practice. W ith this in m ind, 
meta-dance practice refers to both w hat is taught and what is learned in a 
modern dance technique class. 
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I started this research w ith  a 'near' focuuss—--on touch. As I began to 
understand and interpret the data, I ventured 'fa r''—-aat tteemppttiing to comprehend 
touch in the larger educattiional context in w hich it was revealling itsellf. This led 
to an investigation o f moral educattion, and its historical signifiiccaance in  dance 
educattion. The inform ation herein is an interplay o f nearr //fa r, and ins ide / 
outside. lIt unravels (a) some of w hat can be understood about how touch 
inforrm s sensattiion and awareness o f the m oving body, and (b) the ways in which 
such awareness is manifeested in performance, and in one's overalll educattion.  
Pedagogiical touch has the potenttia l to provide dancers w ith  educcaatitoionn.1aIl 
experieences which reach beyond the ir skiilll development in dance, and conttrriibuttte• 
to theiir g row th  in other areas. According to Richard Kraus, Sarah Chapma,mn 
H illsseendager, and Brenda Dixon (1991), du ring  the period between the l1930tbs ,arnd 
the 1950s dance in educattion was situated p rim arriily  w ith in  the field o f physical 
educattion and w,a1s expected to contribute to a number of areas o f a student's 
g row th  inc lud ing  "personall-social devellopm entt" (p. 309). However, w ith in  thlwe 
context o f physical educattion, dance was stressed less as an art form  than as .a1 
way to gu ide students to become more fu lly  functiioonnaall—-ppeerrssoonnaallly and as a rp,a, rt 
o f sociiety. This is not the case today. C urrenttly , in colleeges and universitiees, 
dance students have the opporrttuniity  to develop high levels o f aestthettic 
expresssiivviity and technical v irttuosity , as w elll as neuromuscular awareness and 
interpersonall/in ttrraapersonal skiills. Using H ow ard  Gardner's (1993) deffin itiioons, 
"inntteerrppeersonal intelliiggeence" is the a biillity  to understand other people and to bt.e_• 
able to w o rk  w ith  them; "innttrraappeersonal intelliiggeence" is the capacciity to form  an 
accurate model o f onesellf and use it to operate effectively in life (p. 9). 
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Some teachers o f modern dance technique, indeed, address the 'moral 
educattion' and 'meta-dance' (beyond dance) aspects o f theiir teaching to the ir 
students. They often raise issues of respoonnssibibiilliity, care, spiir itu allity , and 
receppttiiviity. M oral educattion is a concept o f educattiional ph ilossophy which 
stresses the importtaance o f a student's g row th  ;a:i~s~ a human being in tandem w ith  
the acquiisiition o f knowleedge in parrtticular subject areas. M odern dance teachers 
may or may not be aware o f this other level o f educattion they are prlowvid ing. 
However, when they inv ittee their students to touch each other in class to faciillit.a1tte 
learniinngg—-bbased on m y interactions w ith  teachers and studenttss—-mmeettaa--dance 
practice is taking place. 
The idea o f dance educattion teaching more tha.mn dance is not a new onte.'. 
W\Vhat is new, however, is expllo ring this th rough the vehicle o f touch. Dance 
educattor, lM\targaret H 'D oub le r ( 194-W0/1 19962) included the folllLo)wWiinng  as beneffits of 
dance experiences: sellf-knowlleedge, sellf-d irection, seccuurriity, and the abiillity  to 
make choices. H 'D oub le r writtees:  
Dance in educattion does not exist just fo r the pleasure o f danciing, but 
through creative effort in g iv ing  aestthettic forms to siign ificcaant experriienccte.' it 
is hoped students w ii l l  develop the ir creattive power and in  turmn im prove 
themselves as persons . . .  [Dancel] is a means o f becoming senssiittive to 
qualliity  values in one's enviironmeenntt . . .  [v alues thatt] can be observed in 
nature and hum an relations,. (p. xxvi) 
Moral Education  
Meta-dance practice and moral educattion share a num ber of im portant 
themes and goals inc lud ing  (a) "wiiddee--aawaakeeness" (Greene, 1978), (b) sellf 
understanding, (c) autonom y, (d) respect fo r others, (e) acceptance of 
respoonnssibibiilliity for one's choices, (f) the abiillity  to revise /transform  a siituation,  
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(g) a sense o f care for people, and (h) open dialogue. M oral educattion is a 
complex concept about w h ich  to speak or w ritte. The w ord moral is weighted 
heavviily w ith  a sense o f critic iissm  about what the 'other' is do ing  \v"eerrssus what 'we' 
are doing: w rong versus right. ,n..e,eoople on alll sides o f pollitica l and religioous 
issues such as heallth care, welfare, and aborrtion claim to be taking the only 
m orallly  correct stand. In publlic  educattion religious freedom is a prim ary value; 
this may lead some educators to champion a stand which they believe to be 
value-neutral. For example, a frieend recenttlly told me that her ch ild ''s preschool 
chose not to display any ho liday ornamentattion during  the m onth o f December 
(or any other time o f year) in order to avoid inculcating the students w ith  the 
values o f Christianiity, Judaism, or another faith. This may acttualllly  be to the 
dettrim ent o f childrreen''s opportun itiiees to learn tolerance and understanding of 
other peopllee—-- two com m onlly  held principllees of moral educattion.  
According to John Snareyv (1992) alll teachers, by \v'irrttuue  o f who they Marel', 
d isp lay theiir values. Snarey notes that even when moral values are not h ighlvy 
objecttified, they are sttiilll part o f an unspoken, or even unintentional moral 
curricu lum . He states that, since value neuttrralliity is a falllaaccyy,, " . . .  eduuccaatotro!:r>s .arndJ 
policcymaakers do have a legitiimaate role in moral educattiion" (p. 856). O ur 
understanding o f meta-dance practice can be assiisted through the desccrriiptions lo)f 
m oral educattion by a num ber o f educattiional philoossophers w ho reveal how the 
tw o fields share numerous goals or outcomes. 
The German w ord , Bildwunzg describes the idea o f educattion prov id ing  
more than knowleedge o f the parrticular subject matter. B illddung, according to 
Frederrick Beiser (1998) siignifiiees tw o procceessseess—-lleeaarrniing and personal growth.  
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For the earrllyv German Romantics (in  the 19th centtury) educattion was considered 
in h igh esteem and a part lo1f the general process o f sellf-realization. Billddung 
refers to an approach to educattion in whiicchh " . . .  learning is taken to be 
consttiitutiv\'e o f personal de\v'elopment, as part and parcel o f how we become a 
human being in general and a specciiffic ind iv\·iidual in parrtticu la r" (p. 286). Rudollf 
Laban was centtral to the German modern dance and dance educattion 
mov\'ements during  the first hallf o f the twentieth century. He also stressed the 
importtaance o f sellf-knowlleedge. Sellf-understanding w\Vaas foundational to Laban''s 
bellief in the \v'alue o f the human experience of mov\'ement. For Laban, the art of 
mo\v'ement enables humans to begin to take the first steps toward fu lfilllliinngg "" . . .  
theiir nattural purpose, and understanding the reason for . . .  [their!) . ...  v\·ery 
existence" (Thornton, 1971, p. 30). 
Howard Gardner has also grappled w ith  the concepts o f m orallity  and 
moral intelliiggeence. He conceptualizes an intellliiggeence as "  . . .  a biopsyycchhoolologgicic,1a1l 
potenttial t,o) proncess inform ation that can be activated in a cu ltural setttting to solvHe· 
problems or create products that are o f \v'alue in a cu ltu re" (1999, pp. 33--3-41). Thlwe 
orig ina l se\v'en intellliiggeennccees \wVhhiich he delineated were musical, logical- 
mathemattiicall, linguistic, spattiial, bodiily-kiinneesthetic, interpersonal, and 
intraapersonal (Gardner, 1983). Each o f theessee—-tto greater or lesser degrees—-plpalya:y:*, 
a role in meta-dance practice. Gardner (1999) has since extended his list to 
include a natturallist intelliiggeence and, in  part, a spiir ittuuaall//e exxiisstteentia l intellliiggeence. 
However, he states that he is not w illiinng  to include a moral intellliiggeence. For 
Gardner, 'moral' is not an intelliiggeence, but it is "  . . .  about the kind o f person one 
has developed to be . . .  M o rallity  is . . .  a statement about personalliity,  
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in d iv id u allity , w ill, charracctteerr. . . .( "1 (919 99,, p. 77). Whether there exists a moral 
intellliiggeence or not, what is centtral to the idea o f a moral reallmm—-ffo r Gardner and 
fo r meta-dance praacctticiec—e-iis a sense o f personal agency and a conscioussneess about 
how  one relates towards others.  
Maxine Greene (1978) associates a moral life w ith  freedom and autonomvy, 
and the abiillity  to be aware of, and take respoonnssibibiilliity for one's choices (p. 155). 
She uses A lfrreed Schutz's term wide-aiweakeness to describe a tvype o f awareness in 
w h ich  one can attend fu lly  to life  (p. -4t2). Wiiddee--aavwvakeness is expressed through 
sellf understandiinngg—-kknnoow ing yo u r preferences and being able to reflect on them 
(p. 153). The importtaance o f understanding onesellf and other people is also ntol tLe1d 
by D avid N. Aspin (1991) w ho justifiieess music educattion, in part because it 
develops personal autonomy, w elll inforrmed judgments, and respect for others 
(p. 221). John Dewey, (as cited in  W\Vinn, 1959) describes morals as dealling w ith  
alll a cttiiv ity  into which alternative posssiibiilitiiees enter. Dewey writtees, " A l l  moral 
judgm ent is experimental and subject to revision" (p. 86). Greene extends 
Dewey's idea o f revising, statting that the abiillity  to make choices hinges on 
breaking the notion that the w o rld  is finiisshed and predefined (p. 155). 
Belenky, Clinchy, Goldberger, and Tarule (1997) address the concept o f 
moral imperatives as seen through a consttrructtiiv ist w orld  view. C onsttrructtiv issm  is 
a paradigm  in which a situation m ust be contextualized in alll its aspects in order 
to be understood as a whole; these aspects include the experiences w hich 
particippaants bring to a situation. The authors stress an approach to m orallity  
w h ich  is orientated around ret!sponsiibiility. They also note that, fo r consttructtivissts, 
a caring response is a moral response. A  moral a ttittude is one w h ich  involvveess 
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not onlly care, bu t also an afffin ity  for people in the \w,·o rld  (p. 149). The authors 
offer a style o f m oral educattiion, a wayv o f teaching through a consttrructtii\v'ist fraame 
termed ctomn1n1etcxted teaacclihi1in1g. Connected teaching prov\'iiddees an en\v' ironm ent in 
which particippaants nurture each other, where d ia logue between students and 
teachers is encouraged, and where publlic  d ia logue replaces a sense of secrecyv 
about knowleedge (p. 149). 
Pattricia H ii l l  C olllins (1993) ind irec tly  approaches the issue of moral 
educattion in her proposal o f an A frrocentric fem inist epistemollogy. This 
paradigm m igh t p rom pt a teacher or student to ask, " I f  educattion is the proceesss 
o f reallizing knowleedge, should wvve not closelly scrutin ize just exacttlly what m,a11k'Le·ss 
sometthing a true o r false knowleedge claim?"” She states that \wViitthhin  the 
Eurocenttric masccuulliin ist knowledge-\v'allidation process, the scholar m aking thlwe 
claim must convince an academiic com m uniity  contro lleed by w hitte men that a 
parrticular claim  is justifiieed. She writtees, "B laack wom en are more like ly to chot 1ot >::e-.l' 
an allternativ\'e epiistem ollogy for  assesssiing know leedge claims, one using diiffte.'rte.•nt 
standards that are consistent w ith  Black wom en's criteria  for substtantiated 
knomwvlleedge and w ith  ou r criteria for m etthodollogical adequacy" (p. 95). The 
parameters o f her A frrocentric feminist epiistem ology include (a) concrete 
experience as a crite rion  o f meaniing; (b) the use o f dialogue to assess knovw,:leleddgge 
claims; (c) the etth ic o f carring, an emphasis o f w hich is ind iv idua l uniqueeness; 
and (d) the etthic o f personal accoouunnttaabbililiity. Each o f these is a consttituent o f 
tacttile interaction in  a dance class, and o f meta-dance practice.  
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The Ethic o f Care and [M\,efetata--Daannce Practice 
Nel Noddings's (198-4l,, 11991, l1-9N92, 1998, 2002) w o rk  focuses on the ethic 1of 
care as the key to moral educattion. She w rittees, "The p rim ary  aim of every 
educattional institu tion  and o f every educattiional efffo rt must be the maintenance 
and enhancement o f carring" (198-4l, p. 172). Accord ing to Noddings, moral 
educattion from the perspecttive o f care contains fou r majjor components: 
modelling, dialovguec, practice, and confirmation (1998, p. 190). Each of these four 
elemeenntsts—- as Noddings applies them to the g row th  o f students as carers and 
cared--t’toorrss—-ddiirreccttlly relates to the g row th  o f dancers as touchers and those being 
touched (htomuchl,cees). N odd ings·’s theory o f the ethic o f care has provided an idee<a1l 
lens through which to explore meta-dance practice and touch. However, it has 
u ltim ate ly inspired the creattion o f a new theory w hich m odifiiees and augments 
some o f Noddings·’s ideas to more clearrly represent and frame the use o f touch 
between dance teachers and students.  
Mentoring 
This theme has evolved from  Noddings's concept o f modelling. lM\fodLe'rn 
dance teachers mentor touch behaviior p rim arriily  in htwvo wavys. First, they do so 
when they touch themselves. For example, a teacher may place one hand on 
each side o f her own head, guide her head forw ard in a curv ing  action to show 
students where in the body a movement should in ittiiaatte. Teacherr--sellff-touch 
magniifiees and ampllifiiees w hat teachers hope to convey to students. It shows 
students how they can touch themselves to receive proprioceptive feeedbbaacckk—- 
sensory inform ation in one's body about muscle contraction, tensiion, stretch, and 
jo in t posiition (Fitt, 1996, p. 268). Second, teachers m entor touch behaviior when  
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they touch a student. This demonstrates to alll students how  to enter another 
person's kineesphere and create a tactile relationship that is respeccttfful and 
conveys/receives usefful inform ation. (Kinecsphlzearce,, a term from  Laban Moveement 
Analysis, is com m onlly defined as the distance an ind iv iddua l can reach into the 
space around the body w ith o u t taking a step. O ther terms used are pcerrssoomn1a/l sp,a1Lc·e 
and personall bubble.) Effective m enttoring requires teachers tou be senssiittiv\·e to 
issues o f gender, power, and empowerment.  
Tacttiile  Dialogue 
Developed from  Noddings's concepts o f d ia logue and confirmation, tactile 
dialogue is central to an integrated use o f touch in a modern dance techniiqute.' 
class. It may occur th rough teacherr--to-student-touch, studentt-to-teacher-touuch, 
and studentt-to-student-touch. Tacttile dialogue is a complex engagement 
invo l\v·ing  meaniing-making through m ulltip lee layers, simulttaneouslly. Fnor the 
purposses o f this study, these layers include: (a) an a ttittude o f care, (b) .aicts ouf 
paying attenttion, (c) a search for appropriate responses, (d) a flexible apprno,aKch, 
(e) the culltivation o f relationships, 
(tf) confirmation, and (g) kinesthettic empathy.  
Application 
This concept is an evollu tion  o f Noddings''s notion o f practice. Teachers 
have a m yriad o f choices regarding how to put touch into practice in their 
classes. [If  modern dance teachers w ant the ir students to learn from touching .arnd 
being touched, and to develop skiilll and sennssititiiv ity fo r fu rther hands-on work, 
students need the tim e fo r practticing touch, and retf1leecting on that practice. 
Teachers conttiinuallly seek a balance between g iv ing  the ir students enough timte.' 
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w ith  a touch experience to gain its fulll beneffiit, and m aiintaining the momentum 
and conttiinuiity  o f the class. There is no fixed w ay in which this works. Teachers 
have choices such as (a) m aiin ta in ing the same partner or sw itching partners;  
(b) p rovid ing  a b rie f o r a long period for tactile problem sollving and \v·erbal 
debrriieffing; (c) touching a m oving partner or touching during stilllnneesss, and 
(d) using studentt--sellf-touch, studentt-to-student-touch, studentt-to-teacher-touch, 
or teacherr--to-student-touch to accompllish parrticu lar goals. 
Touch in the Modern Dance Technique Class 
The prim ary concern in teaching or learning in a modern dance technique 
class is teclhmnique. Very siim p ly  put, technique is a tw o-fo ld  idea. Technique 
teaches the body to perfo rm  certain actions properrly and saffelly, such as balancel's,. 
turns, and leaps. H ow ever, u nttiil the dancer '’owns'’ the technique and c.a1n fret•elyv 
use it (or not), the expressive and aestthettic consequences o f it w iil l not be fu lly  
reallized. For a num ber o f reasons, the modern dance technique class is an idel'al 
environment in w hich  to use touch as a teaching and learning tool. One reason i:s-- 
that modermn dance classses are h igh ly  varied in content and format. This ,v·a.irriieetty\  
depends in part on the teacher's background and interests, the experience lenv.e·Il 
o f the students, and the tim e frame fo r the class. There is opporrttuniitvy for 
experimentation w ith  touch experiences in a modern dance class. 
This is not to say that touch is necesssaarriilly avoided or abandoned in the 
teaching o f other stylees o f dance. Indeed, touch is used in the teaching o f other 
dance forms such as ballle t (Mosss &  Leopold, 1999), classiical Japanese dance 
(Hahn, 1996), Skinner Releasing Technique (Skura, 1990), contact im provissation 
(Novak, 1988), and Baliinneesse dance (de Zoete &  Spies, 1973), to name a few. 
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Howe\v'er, modem dance was borne out o f an experimental sennssibibiilliity, and it 
maintains an inherent fle xiibiillity  suited for the use o f touch. According to M~farcia 
Siegel (as cited in Prestton--Dunlop, 1995) modermn dance has been de\v·eloping 
through a tradiition w hich discards esttabllished requirreements o f form; each 
choreographic w ork involvees esttabllishing new principllees and makes its own 
form  via " . . .  resistance to the past, its response to the present, [and!j its constt,arnt 
redeffin ing o f the idea o f dancee. ... . "  (p. 17). M~fodem  dance is conttinuallly  
redeffin ing itsellf, on stage and in the way teachers approach the ir w ork w ith  
students. As teachers have refined and redefined what it means to teach modermn 
dance technique they have incorporated other mov\'ement arts includ ing yvog.a1, 
m arrttia l arts, and a variety o f body therapies. 
The Inflluueence o f Soma tics 
One o f the prim ary ways in which touch has become an integral tool o f 
modern dance pedagogy for manyv teachers is through the inflluueence of som.1attiicc-^... 
Somatics is a fie ld o f study in  w hich one uses the direct experience o f one'’s own 
body—-ppeercrceeiviviing the body from  a _fifrirsst pte·rrssuo1n1 persspeeccttiviie.'—e-as a central inroad to 
awareness and to healling (L ich lytter, 1999, p. -4l; Johnson, D. H., 1997, pp. 9-10). 
Modern dancers have gra\v' ittated towards a melange o f somatics practices which 
u tiliizze  hands-on work. Tw o o f the systems w hich have infoorrm eed the w ork  o f the 
teacher particippaants in this s tudy are Barrtete11niielf°f Fundamentals and Bodyy-M-Mi1in1d 
Centerring. 
Barteniiefff Fundamentals, de\v'eloped by Irm gard Barteniiefff is described by 
Peggy Hackney (1998) as "  . . .  an approach to basic body tra in ing  that deals w ith  
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patttern ing connections in the body' according to principllees of efficient monve~ment 
function ing  w ith in  a context w hich encourages personal expression and fu ll 
psychophysiical invo lveem ent" (p. 31). The practice o f Barteniiefff Fundamentals 
gives partic ippaants an awareness o f the m ulltip lee posssiibiilitiiees and options they 
have for m aking changes in theiir movement style and range. For example, a 
teacher o f Barteniiefff Fundamentals can use touch to transfer knowleedge by  
(a) m o ld ing  around a student's body to co1nwvey a three-dimensional shape,  
(b) ho ld ing  and gu id ing  an arm  in a pathway to find  range o f m otion in thet' 
shoulder jo in t, (c) placing a hand on the sternum to encourage a qualliitvy o f 
y ie ld ing, and (d) revealling the relationship between bony landmarks. 
Consiidering bony' landmarks, in parrticular, a teacher might use touch to 
'encourage' the greater trochanter o f the fem ur to move closer to the ischhi.i1aIl 
tuberositty' o f the pellvis to facilittaate outw ard rotation o f the thigh. 
B ody-M ind Centtering (BMC}), developed bvy Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen i.::s-
an approach to movement anallysis and reeducattion which has been broug~ht intou 
the dance technique class. This soma tics sy'sttemni incluuddees a h igh ly detailed  
theory and practice o f touch. Cohen's w ork  is usefful for dancers in a m u ltittuuddee 
of ways inc lud ing  repattemrn ing movement habits as welll as faciilittating awareness  
of breatthing, movement in itiiaation , and movement quallitiees. Cohen writtees,  
When we touch someone, they touch us equalllly. The subtle intteerpllaayy' 
between body and m ind  can be experienced clearly through touching 
o th errss ... .  In hands-on w ork, through touching in difffeerent rhythms, 
th rough placement o f attention w ith in  specciiffic layers o f the body', th rough 
fo llo w ing  existing linees o f force and suggestting new ones, and through  
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changes in the pressure and qualliity  o f our touch, vwve come into harmony 
w ith  the d iffeerent tisssues and the ir associated quallitiiees o f m ind. (1 993, 
p. 6) 
lM'votovveemmeenntt//ddaannce educators and somatics practitiioonneers ha,fvfe taken their 
studies o f Barteniiefff Fundamentals, Body-M ind Centering, and other systems in 
new directions. They have denv~eIloped the ir own theories and practices for 
hands-on work. Irene D ow d is one such practitioner. P ro foundly inflluueenced byv 
her teacher, Dr. Lulu E. Sweigard (Dowd, 1995), she has developed detailed 
desccrriiptions and practices o f the use o f touch to facilittaate movement. She worrk~s 
w ith  diversse populations, inc lud ing  dancers, athletes, and musicians. Dowd 
(199-4l) w rittees about the imponrttaance o f a toucher's intent. W\-Vhheen she puts her 
hands on the surface o f a person's bodyv Dowd engages in  a h igh ly specciiffic and 
purposeffu l movement com m uniication between hersellf and the other person; 
this, she terms, "inttentional tto>uuch" (p. -4188). D owd''s focus on intention is 
parrttiicu la rly  germane to the notion that on ly when we touch w ith  clear intention 
can we gain the comfort and trust o f the person we are touching.  
\WVhen used efffecttively in the context on f somatics practiccees and meta-dance 
practice, touching is never a thoughtleess, random act. A  few of the common 
theorettical underpinnings o f the practices o f Barteniiefff Fundamentals, Bodyv- 
M ind  Centtering, and touch in a dance class include (a) the importtaance of active 
involveem ent o f both the toucher and the touucchheee—-aalltthough to be 'acttii\v·e·’ may 
enttaiil any degree of stilllnneesss or movement, (b) the cogniitive element which 
w orks in tandem w ith  the ta cttiile /in tu itivee element, (c) the flex ibiility  o f approach, 
(d) tthhee  iimppoorrttanccee o off r reellaattiioonnsshhipip,, a anndd  ((ee) ) tthhee  nneeeedd  ffoorr a a  cclleeaarr  iinntteenntt  ttoo  moottii\v·atte  
actions in the relationship. 
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The Studio is N ot Your Aveeraage Classroom:  
Contexting Touch in the Culture o f the M odem  Dance Claass 
Before proceeding, a clarificcation of the use o f the w ord  c1utllt1utrrec is in order. 
C ulture  consists o f ou r language and symbols, in c lud ing  the languages and 
symbols o f dance. [It entaiils the ways in which 1w.vee create produucctsts—-bboth 
practical and artistic. C ulture  determines how we live  ou r liv,·ees as ind ividua.ilss 
and function w ith in , and as societies; it is the fram ew ork fo r our belliefs and 
values. Students and teachers engage in the cu ltu ra l life  o f the modern dance 
class through such acttiivitiiees as touching, mo,v·ing, dancing, speakiing, obserrving, 
c ritiqu ing , im provis ing, perrform ing and refleecttiinngg—--on the past, present, and 
future. 
There are ,v·ery few situations in monst colleege classes du ring  which 
students w ou ld  be asked to touch each nother in o rde r to facilittaate the learning 
process. 1H-ofowweevveer, a touch-inclusive mondern dance stud io  and a non--ttmou1Cching 
classroom environm ent frequenttlly shh<a1rre an im porrtt,a:rnt approach to learning. 
Cooperattive learning and cuooperattive problleem --ssoollvviningg—- w hich are parrttiicull.ai rly 
prevalent d u rin g  studentt-to-student touch activ itiiteiess—- can occur in both the 
classroom and the studio. [In the context o f classroom experience, cooperative 
learning involvees (a) w ork ing  in peer groups, (b) parrtic ipa ting  in discussion and 
debate, and (c) reciprocal teachiing. Joanna Dunlap and R. Scott Grabinger (199%6) 
w ritte  that through cooperattive learninngg " . . .  students are more w illiinng  to take on 
the addiitiona l risk required to tackle complex, illl--ssttrruuccttuurreed, authenttic probleems  
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when they have the support o f others in the cooperattive g ro u p " (p. 68). There is 
a paralllel siituation in  the modermn dance class. This study has revealed that, in 
problem sollving, some dance students feell freer to experim ent and make 
mistakes when touching a student partner than they do when w ork ing  one-on- 
one w ith  the teacher. In classrooms where students are encouraged to work 
cooperrattiivelly in sm alll groups by m oving theiir desks or chairs in to  close 
prox im ity , to touch one another w ou ld  rarelly be appropriate. This is not true for 
a modem  dance technique class. 
A modern dance class creates a culture byv esttabllishing its ow n rules for 
appropriate behaviior and decorum. \WVith in  the context o f a technique class in 
which touch is an esttabllished pa rt o f the teacher's pedagogy, w ha t may 
otherwisse be considered an unwarranted intimaate distance becomes the onlv 
practtical distance. For Edward T. Halll (1969) i1n1ttiim11a1athe' dissttaan1c1ec—e-w hich ranges 
from acttualllly touching to about eighteen incchheess—-iis that o f "  . . .  love-making .arnd 
\wVrreesstling, comfforting and protecting [and the posssiibbiillity for] physical 
involvveem ent is uppermost in the awareness of both persons" (p. 117). However, 
du ring  a modern dance class., physical involvveement for the purposses o f gaiiniingg; 
skiills as a dancer is w hat remains uppermost in the awareness o f both persons. 
A modern dance student m igh t respond negattiivelly to being touched 
outside the sttudio, but this atttitude  can change siigniificantly inside the studio. 
Consciientious teachers, like those I encountered in this study, encourage the 
development o f a dance class cu ltu re  in which a comfortable use o f touch is 
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possiible. Teachers create a tone, an atmosphere in which touching is not only 
acceptable, butt—-ffor m any studenttss—-ccoonnssiidered to be essennttiial for learning.  
This tone is set in a num ber o f ways, through (a) a teacher'’s method o f in itia lly  
introducing the concept o f touch as part o f the class, (b) a teacher's 
understanding that touch may affect a student's emottional response, (c) a 
teacherr'’s manner o f m oving tow ard and entering into a student's kinneesphere, 
(d) a teacher's sennssititiiviity  to issues such as gender and empowerment, and (e) a 
teacher's choice o f words w hich w ii l l  accompany a touch interaction. 
A mattterr-of-fact manneerr—-oone w hich clearly indiiccaattees the pedagogical 
(not casuall) nature o f touch—-ccoonnttrriibutes to the culture. This matter-of--ffaaccttnneesss 
needs to be bala,rnced w ith  a sennssititiiv ity  to the emottional potenttial o f touching and 
being touched. Ashley M ontagu (1978) explains that touch in and o f itsellf mayv 
not be an emottion, but its sensory elements induce the neural, glandular, 
muscular, and mental changes w hich  we calll emotion. We do not experience 
touch siim ply as a physical m oda liittyy—- sensatioonn—- but affectively, as emotion 
(p. 103). Sennssititiiviity regarding how  to approach a student is also a necesssiitty. lIs 
the approach callm, swiift, o r abrupt? Does it startle the student or is the student 
prepared to be touched? Teachers learn to '’read'’ the readiness of a student 
through the studentt'’s faciall expression and posture, adaptting their methods o f 
touching, accorrdiinglly. Teachers can also develop a culture for touch through 
theiir choice o f words w hich  they speak—-pprriio r to, during, or after the touch 
event. Words should be chosen w hich  encourage and clarify, rather than confusse 
the touch experience. 
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The comfortable and integral use o f touch in dance class culture is 
demonstrated by not on ly the fact that touch is a llowed at alll, but by the 
parrticu la r areas on the body w h ich  one is invitteed to touch, or allows to be 
touched. Despite the unique cu lture  o f a modern dance class, it may take some 
tim e for a student to find a level o f com fort when asked to touch (or be touched 
on) regions o f the body which are typ icallly  considered o ff lim itts to anyone but a 
lover, spouse or doctor. Stanley Jones and Elaine Yarbrough (1985) researched 
the cu ltu ra l meanings o f touch behaviors in everyday interactions. They 
recognized the intriccacy of human adullt response to touch, w riting , " I t  seems 
reasonable to assume that as the chiild  grows older, the impulsse to touch and bLe• 
touched is increasiinglly ftunneled through a complex cu ltura l code for tactile 
behavviio r" (p. 2L0l). 
A ltthhough Jones and Yarbrough (1985) describe touch behaviors outside 
the unique context o f a modern dance class, the ir w o rk  bears noting. Ml\foodern 
dance students do not siim ply shed alll o f the ir cu ltu ra l mores when they enter thel' 
dance sttudio; they bring theiir personal h istoriees/narrativees w ith  them. A 
student's response to touch is inflluueencced by gender and sexual orieennttaattioionn—-of 
both the student and teachheer—r- as w elll as the student's a ttittuuddeess/b iiaasses/ 
background w ith  such issues as homosexxuuaalliity, hierarchical relationships 
between men and women, and sexual abuse. 
Jones and Yarbrough (1985) d istinguiisshed tw o general regions o f the body 
in re lation to touch: 1nwan-zvmull1n1eerraable body parts and vulnerable body parts. Through  
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theiir obserrvations o f everyday interactions they surmissed the re lative closseness 
and status between people involveed in touch events. Theiir results showed that 
non-vulnerable body parttss—-hhaannds, arms, shoulders, and upper back—- were 
accessiible to touch for persons o f any degree o f acquaintance. Vulnerable body 
parttss—-hheeaad, neck, torso, low er back, buttocks, legs, and feeet—t- were touched 
almost exclusiively in close relationships (p. 36). W ith in  the cu ltu re  o f a colleege 
m odern dance class, vulnerable and non-vulnerable body parts are touched.  
Dee Oserrooffff-Varnelll (1998) researched the role o f com m uniication in the 
sociiallization process at a secondary school fo r the perform ing arts. She 
examined the w ayv communication functions to reduce the feelling o f uncerrtaiinty 
in new students "  . . .  both through the overt agenda as welll as the im plieed 
messages in the hidden cu rricu lum " (p. 102). Regarrding tactile com m unication 
she states, 
The m edium  of dance natturrallly inv ittees more physical contact than many 
other types o f expressiion, and this was evident between dance teachers 
and students and among students themselves, espeecciialllly directed towards 
. . .  vulnerable body parts (head, neck, torso, lower back, buttocks, legs, 
and feet)., (p. 1I 1l l1)) 
She noted that integral to being a dance student was an unspoken 
acceptance o f physical contact. This acceptance was marked by an a ttittude o f 
incluussiivveenneesss tow ard students in the dance schoool—l- by teachers and other 
students. Besides the touching which was used as a part of dance instruction to 
correct a lignm ent o r posiition, there was a notable use o f touch outside o f the 
teaching siituation among dance students and teachers. For example, teachers 
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hugged students, patted them on the back, o r touched them on the shoulder or 
w aist as they talked (p. 111). 
Oserroffft'--Varnelll''s (1l 998) study raisses im portant issues about the 
sociiallization process which goes on in school setttings. First, the use o f touch 
w ith in  a dance class has the potenttia l to develop a posiitive rapport among 
students, and between students and teachers. This, in turn, can make students 
more recepttive to learning. Second, it brings to ligh t the importtaance o f a 
teacher's c larity o f intent w hen using touch. This is an obvious po in t when 
consiidering that any teacher's instructions need to be cdlear to be understood. But 
also, a teacher's choices in the dance stud io—-inincclludiing the appropriiaatteenneesss o f 
her o r his touchh—-ccrreatte an im p rin t on the students which they carry outside the 
stud io  into theiir complex sociiallization experiences. Mary Seerreiiter, one o f the 
teacher participants in my research remarked that when touching students in the 
stud io, " . . .  if your intent is clear then the appropriiaatteenneesss o f you r touch is going 
to be clear."  
As noted, a certain k ind  o f bonding and rapport develops between 
students, and between student and teacher as a resullt of touch. This was evident 
at alll four o f the research sites. The rapport may o r may not translate outside the 
m odern dance class. However, student particippaants reported that du rin g  the 
course o f the class itsellf there exists an understanding among the particiippaanttss 
that the studio is a safe environm ent in w hich to touch, and that touch faciliittaattees 
learning. In certain dance classes, an act as potenttiiallly senssiitive o r embarrassing 
as touching a partner's ischial tuberositiees (deep inside the buttocks), thighs, 
low er back, or feet become standard acttiivittiiees.  
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The appropriatePnneesss and usefulneess o f touch between college classroom 
teachers and theiir students was researched in an experimental study at a 
com m uniity  college. A. Lee Steward and M icchael Lupfer (1987) wondered if 
touch could help im prove communiication, and w hat impact touch m ight have 
on the student/teacher relationship. Three instructors held brief, ind iv\·iiddua l 
conferences after the students' first exam. Students in the control group were 
untouched. Those in the experrimental group were touched ligh tly on the arm for 
no more than five seconds on two separate occasions du ring  the conference. A ll 
students were given a questtionnaire after the conference to rate the conference, 
the instructor, and the instructor''s performaance in the classroom. The results 
suggested that touching exerts a pow errfu l inflluueence on teacher/student 
relations. The authors writte, 
Students who were touched by an instructor rated that instructor as 
frieendlier, more understanding, interesting, and capable than d id  students 
who were not toucheedd ... .  Here the effectiivveenneesss of touch as a form  of 
commwunzicatiovlnl can be seen: Not on ly  were the instructors tellling the 
student how to im prove, bu t they were also communicating nonverrbdallly 
through the use o f touch. Touch served to emphasize the instructors' 
concern and com miittmeenntt.. . .  The role o f touch as motivator can be seen bv  
comparing the [s ign ificantly im proved] performaance o f the touch group·  tou 
[the unim proved performaance of] the control group on the postt-­
conference exam. (p. 806). 
A  modern dance claassss—-eessppeecciaiallly one in w hich touch is intteeggrraatetedd—-iis a 
unique culture and environment. In this settting students w ork cooperrattiivelly, 
take risks, and develop a sennssititiiviity  to the em ottional potenttial of touch. 
Teaching dance through touch situates student learning w ith in  the paradigms o f 
meta-dance practice and m oral educattion.  
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Connectting the Parts and Consttructing the W hole: Touching to Learn 
Returning to the idea o f consttrructtiivism, m odem  dance technique classes 
which integrate touching among students and teachers exhiib it charactterristics o f a 
consttrructtiivist perspecttive on learning. This paradigm  emphasizes knowleedge as 
sometthing a student constructs using her or his preexisting knowledge; it is not a 
phenomenon which is siim p ly  transferred from  teacher to student.  
John Black and Robert McClintock (1996) have created an educattional 
model which is a usefful frame for understanding the consttrructtiiv ist nature o f <a.1  
modern dance class. They use the word studying to describe what a student does 
when consttructing knowleedge. Black and M cC lin tock present designs for ~st1u1ddy 
support ce1nwvirirvot1n1m11ec1n1ttss, the key consiiderattion o f w h ich  is "  . . .  fostering the 
consttruction o f interpretations based on obserrvations and background ectomntteexxtutu.1a1l 
in form ation" (p. 25). The ir desiign for interpretation co1n1sstruncttiivo1n1, described ble' low 
(in a through g) embraces acttiivitiiees and elements com m on to a modern dance 
class which incorporraattes studentt-to-student-touch. Classroom students in study 
support environments (a) make obserrvations; (b) construct interpretations of 
theiir obserrvations and consider the vallid ity  o f theiir interpretations;  
(c) ccoonntetexxtutuaalilizzee t htheeirir i inntteerrpprreettaattiionss//aarrgguumeennttaattiioonnss  inin b baacckkggrroouunndd  
information; (d) serve as apprentices to teachers to master obserrvattion, 
interpretation and contextuallization; (e) collaaborate in  obserrvattion, interpretation 
and contextuallization; (f0} gain cogniitive fle x ibiility  by being exposed to m ultip le  
interpretations; and (g) gain transfferrabbiilliity by seeiing m ullt ip le  manifestations o f 
the same interpretations (p. 26). 
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H ow  does interpretation consttruction applly  to a m odern dance class? 
(The numbered lis t below correlaattees to the order o t the p rev ious paragraph.)  
l1. When dance students w ork as partners, frequenttlly  the partnership 
begins w ith  one student obserrving another as he o r she moves 
independennttlly. A  teacher may ask the toucher to touch for a very 
parrticu lar reason, or, fo r more experienced students, give the 
toucher some freedom o f choice. 
2. The toucher's freedom o f choice is not offeered randomlly, but is 
f irm ly  dependent on obserrvations and interpretations. The sttu(d_eknt 
toucher, like the teacher, also closelly observes the touchee in ordLe·r 
to discern how  o r i f  the touch is effective. 
3. The toucher contextualizzees her or his in terpretations in wh.ait is 
know n about the partner's skiilll level and parrticu la r strengths .amnd 
weaknesses. Perhaps they have worked together on this same issue 
before. 
4. Practticing touch w ith  a student partner is a fo rm  o f apprenticeship 
in w h ich  students develop theiir skiills in obserrvattion, interpretation 
and contextuallization.  
5. Touch between tw o  students is h igh ly  collaborative. It does not 
invo lve  an acttive toucher who manipulates a passiive partner.  
Both particippaants aree—-tto use Noddings's w o rd ss—-aaccttiive 
"coexplorers" w o rk in g  towards "m utual transfform attiion" (1998, p. 
193). 
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6.. Over the course o f a semester or year, modern dance students 
experience and wittnneesss numerous versions o f touch based on who 
is touching w hom , w hat area o f the body is being touched, and 
what type o f touch is used. 
7. By experiencing num erous variations o f touch events, students 
learn how  to w o rk  w ith  a varie ty o f people in m ulltip lee 
circumssttaances. Touch events provide experiences in the 
consttruction o f interpretations.  
The paralllels between Black and M cC linttock''s approach to consttrructtiivist 
educattion, and the interpretation-constructing posssiibiilitiiees avaiilable through 
studentt-to-student touch, are v iv id . Features o f meta-dance practice w hich loom 
large here include opportun itiees for students to (a) become better observers;  
(b) collaaborate and, thereby, b u ild  relationships; and (c) recognize that da,mncne· ,i.s._ ,a1 
m ultiffaacceeted endeavor, requiiring  an openness and fle x ibiility  to its many 
posssiibiilittiiees.  
Framing The Study: The Ethic o f Care in M oral Education 
This study investigated the use o f touch in the teaching and learning nof 
m odern danccee—-ssitituattiing these educattiional proceessses w ith in  the paradigm  of 
meta-dance practice. Nel N oddings's theory o f the ethic o f care in moral 
educattion is, in tw o ways, an ideal scaffffo ld ing for this research. First, 
N oddings''s concepts o f m odelling, d ialogue, practice, and conffirm ation are 
im portan t acttiivitiiees and areas o f concern du rin g  a touch event in a dance class. 
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Second, it is fittttin g  that a theory o f caring should harmonize w ith  one o f touch; 
touch is one o f ou r p rim a ry  ways o f expressing care. I approached Noddingss''s 
theory as a tlhzecory model to assiist me in organiiz ing and interpreting the data. 
Penelope Hanstein (1999) supports the theory models approach as a way tlol 
understand data in  a new fie ld o f inqu iry  by examiin ing that data through a 
previouslly developed theorettical lens (pp. 78-85). H aving set the context for 
exploring touch and meta-dance practice, let us move on to the researrching 
process itsellf. 
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CHAPTER II 
METHODOLOGY 
A Burgeoning Interest Leads to a Piilot Study 
M y journey tow ard understanding touch began when I developed an 
interest in the fie ld o f touch du ring  the summer o f 1988. That sum m er lI enrolled 
as a student in the Laban Movement Analysis C errttiification Program in Se.a1ttlel', 
Washington. M y teachheersrs—- Ed G rofff, Peggy Hackney, Caroll-Lynne Moore, .aind 
Pam Schiicckk—-iinttroduced me to the richneess in the field o f movement study. In 
the program, w hile  studying  Barteniiefff Fundamentals lI learned that touch 
providdees us w ith  an awareness that new patterns o f movement are possiible. 
Being touched can teach us that we have choices in how we mlo1ve; we are not 
compelled to m aiintain movement habits which are inefficieent or unheallthy.  
[In 1996 lI conducted an inform al p ilo t s tudy as part o f my doctoral coursse 
w ork. M y objective was to determ ine whether investigating the topic o f touch as 
a tool for teaching and learning dance held posssiibbiillity  as a research project. John 
Creswelll (1998) recommends that researchers intterested in quallita tive  inqu iry  
engage in a smalll p ilo t project to determine if  they are at ease w ith  the open- 
ended, ambiguous, and flu id  nature o f quallita tive research (p. 16). This in itia l 
research involveed four case study intervieews o f modern dance teachers 
regarding their use o f touch. The teachers were Adriieenne Fisk, Peggy Hackney, 
Marta Lichlytter, and Gayle Ziaks. From this o rig ina l study I  developed a 
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desccrriip tive theory for  the use o f touch in modern dance pedagogy. Each o f these 
teachers used touch in specciiffic ways to promote learning. W hile each 
emphasized diffeerent methods and functions o f touch, taken together, they 
stressed three prim ary themes: (a) touch develops awareness in the dancer o f an 
extensive range o f issues inc lu d in g  the site o f movement in itiaation , spattiial c larity, 
and tension in the body; (b) touch contributtees to the dancer's abiillity  to form 
images which promote the learn ing o f dance; and (c) touch is integral to the 
bonding or connectting process between the teacher and student, and among 
students.  
The p ilo t study uncovered four p rim a ry  touch relationships used in .a1 
m odern dance claassss—-teteaacchheer-r-ttoo--ssttuudenntt--touch, studentt-to-student-touch, 
teacherr--seellff-touch, and studentt--sellff-touch. Tw o secondary rellattiiLomnsships wte1rre 
studentt-to-teacher-touch and student- or teacherr--tto-object-touch. Objects th,a1t 
were touched to facilittate m ovem ent included such items as a skeleton, a tlolWwel'Il, 
and the floor. I  learned that each touch relationship has its beneffits and 
drawbacks. The study c larifiieed many types o f touch which can be used in a 
dance class such as tracing a pathway, gu id ing , and shaking. Finallly, through 
numerous, overlapping comments from  the teacher participants, the study 
revealed how the issues o f gender, status, personal history, and cu ltu re  may 
im pact the success or fa ilure o f touch as an inroad to teachiing and learning. The 
p ilo t study demonstrated that the topic o f touch in the teaching and learning o f 
m odern dance was a viable subject for more in-depth inquiry. W hat I  learned  
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from  these fou r teachers provided me w ith  a map fo r sttructuring the process o f 
gathering data. They showed me the importtaance o f carreffullly choosing the next 
particippaants in my research. 
W hat is Going on Here? Exploring the Enigma o f Touch 
There are a number o f reasons w hy  quallita tive inqu iry  was appropriate 
for this sttudy. First, the questtions to w hich lI was seekiing answers were how and 
w/hzat questtions. I  was already function ing on the assumpttion that touch was a 
viable teaching and learning tooll—-nnot on ly  from the pii!lo\)t study, bu t from mvy 
own years o f experience as a dance teacher and student. Creswelll (1998) writteess 
that askiing hozwv or what questiioonnss—-ssuuch as "FHlow does this happen?" and "W h.a1t 
is going on?"—-pprroovviides usefful entrees when in itia lly  venturing in to  a topic for 
study, and for which the end resullt is desccrriiption. Converselly, asking "W\Vhvy?" i~s 
more appropria te  for  quanttiitative research in which a comparison between 
groups, o r an understanding o f cause and effect is explored (p. 17). A  future 
study w h ich  compares the learning outcomes o f tw o grouuppss—-oone which 
involvees learning through touch and one which involvvees no touucchh—- may prove 
interesting.  
Second, the topic o f touch in teaching dance was not a previously 
researched subjject, in any form all, publisshed way. Because theories were not yet 
avaiilable and variables were not clearrly identtifieed I fe lt the topic merited 
explloring. E llio t Eisner (1991) states that a good quallita tive  study is useffull; it 
helps us understand a siituation that m igh t otherwisse be enigmatic o r  
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confusing (p. 58). Quallitative research is usefful fo r a topic which needs to be 
explored (Creswelll, 19~9o, p. 17). 
Third, I wanted to study touch in its natural settiinngg—-tthe modern dance 
dclass studiioo—-rraatther than move students and teachers into a controlleed 
environment. [1 believed that the modern dance class culture could o n ly  be 
clearrly observed and understood in  the particippants' own studios. There, 
students and teachers had a level o f comfort, feelling '’at home..'’ M y presence, 
w ith  video camera in tow, already removed them somewhat from the ir natural 
environment. The vallid ity  o f the data depended on the use o f the stud io  
because, according to Creswell((1l998) " [If particippaants are removed from  their 
setttting, it leads to contrived findings that are out o f contextt" (p.1 17). 
And fourth, because [I am a dancer, teacher, and student, and hoped to 
acttiively learn from the participants, [I wanted to be free to w ritte  mysellf, in the 
first person, into the study. Creswelll (1998) states that a researcher em pklo)ys a 
quallita tive approach to be able to bring  hersellf or himsellf in to  the study. The 
researcher uses this approach alsso "  . . .  to emphasize the researcher's role as an 
active learner who can telll the story from  the participants' v iew  rather than as an 
'experrtt'’ who passes judgment on parrtic ipants" (p. 18). (Itt was my desiire to be 
taught by the particippaants, and also to telll theiir stories. 
The Phenomennoollogiical Study: A  Q uallita tive T radiition o f lInq u iry  
M y goal in this study was to understand the fundamentall nature o f touch 
in the modern dance class. I  accomplisshed this by in terview ing teachers and  
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students, develloping a student questtiionnaire, and w ritin g  memos when 
obserrving the videeottaaped classes. Understanding the essence o f a phenomenon 
is the aim  o f phenomenollogy. Accord ing to Fraleigh (1999) the goal o f 
phenomenollogy is to " . . .  alllow  the essence o f things to appear (to 
consciousness) and to identtiify  habits o f thought and acttion" (p. 210). A 
phenomenollogical study describes the meaning o f experiences for ind iv iidduualss 
about a parrticu lar phenomenon. In this case the phenomenon was touch. Using 
a phenomenollogical approach, both in in te rv iew ing  the particippaants and in my 
own obserrvations and interpretations, the goal was to get to the core o f the 
meaning o f touch and its relationship to teaching and learning modern dance. 
A majjor tenet o f phenomenollogical research is the idea that the researcher 
suspends o r brackets out judgments o r preconceptions about the phenomenon in 
order to understand it through the voices o f the participants. Edm und Husserl 
(18599--11993388)—)- the German mathematiicciaiann—-rreefferrred to this idea as epocclzlwt; 
(Creswelll, 1998, p. 52). [I recognized, when begiinning this study, that epoche 
m igh t be a challlenging task. I had ample experience o f the phenomenon o f touch 
in teaching and I  also knew the results from  my p ilo t study. Creswelll states that 
the phenomenollogical investigator writtees research questtions w h ich  w ii l l  ellic it the 
meanings o f a parrticular experience, asking participaants w ho  have had those 
experiences to describe them (p. 54). A nd  w hile  I was seeking to ellic it the 
participants'’ experiences w ith  touch, I also avoided p lanting  a p rio ri ideas in 
their m inds in a number o f ways. For example, I began intervieew s w ith  open-
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ended, general questtions to alllow  the partic ippaants to siim p ly  talk while I  m osttly 
lisstteened. I asked particippaants questtions such as: "H o w  w ou ld  you describe the 
purpose w hich  touch serves in your teachiing?" This questtion was based on an 
assumpttion that the teacher particippaants believed that touch served the ir 
teachiing, but not on an assumpttion that touch served them in any particu lar 
wayv. A sking  "how " gave the interviieeweee latittuude, and was one method o f 
bracketing ou t m y supposiitions. Alsso, if  I was seeking specciiffic detaiils o f a 
teacher'’s pedagogy or a student's experience, I  w ou ld  first state what [I had 
obsenrv·ed d u rin g  a class, ask the parrtic ipant to verriify  my obserrvations, and then 
solliicit any other specciiffic information w hich  the teacher o r student wisshed to add.  
[I  amassed and categorized numerous statements about touch, teaching, 
and learning. I  then clarifieed the categories narrrattiivelly, through the frame o f Nte•Il 
Noddings's theory o f the ethic o f care. [In phenomennoollogiical research the 
inqu irer looks for categories of meaning and develops a textual desccrriiption. 
According to Creswelll (1998) the goal o f textual desccrriip tion in a 
phenomenoollogiical study is to provide the reader w ith  a feelling o f " I understand 
better w ha t it is like for someone to experience tha t" (p. 55). This cerrtaiinly is my 
goal as [I w ritte  this document.  
The Case Study  
Case study research involvees an in-depth  study o f a phenomenon (or 
phenomena) in  its natural context and from  the perspecttive o f the particippaantss 
involveed in  the phenomenon (Galll, Borg, &  Galll, 1996, p. 5-415). lIn this study  
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those phenomena \w-Veerree: (a) the parrticular ways teachers use touch, (b) the ways 
in  w hich teachers and students perceive touch to function in teaching and 
learning modern dance, and (c) extrinsic factors w hich may assiist or im pinnge on 
the usefulneess o f touch.  
By choosing fo u r educattiional setttings w ith  fou r teacher particippaants, I  
elected to study m ullt ip le  cases rather than on ly  one. Robert Stake (1998) refers to 
this approach as a collective and instrumental case study. I  studied a number o f 
cases jo in tly  in order to inquire  about touch. However, each case, in and o f itsellf, 
was o f secondary interest and thus together they became a collective case study. 
Alsso, the cases were instrum ental in p rov id ing  ins ight into the issue o f touch. 
\W-Vhhiille it was tem pting to become enamored w ith  each ind iv idua l teacher and her 
o r his group of students, it was necessarry to conttinuallly  note that they were the 
means to an understanding o f touch, thus, an instrumental case study (p. 88-89). 
I  believed the on ly  way to obtain reliable data was through multtii--ccaasse 
sampplling. By choosing not less than four teacher particippaants (and the numbers 
o f students avaiilable th rough four teachers' classes) I  was able to probe (a) a 
variety o f ideas and practices, (b) gender issues, (c) a d iversiity o f facullty and 
student backgrounds, and (d) a range o f modern dance technique class 
environments. There are divergent opinions on the use of m ulltip le  case strategy. 
Some researchers argue that studying m ulltip lee cases reduces the total amount o f 
attention that can be g iven  to any one o f them and serves to weaken rather than 
strengthen the research (Galll, Borg, &  Galll, p. 553). It is also true that  
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management o f the inord inate ly large amount o f data which I  ha\v·e colleected 
made this a challlenging method. Millees and Huberman (199-41), however, support 
m ulltip le  case strategy, w r it inng  thatt " . . .  m ulltip le  cases offer the researcher an 
even deeper understanding o f proceessses and outcomes o f cases, the chance to test 
(not just devellop) hypottheesses, and a good picture o f locallly grounded caussaalliitty"  
(p. 26). 
As discussed in Chapter I, modern dance teachers who integrate touch 
demonstrate a consttrruccttii\v·ist perspecttive on learning. Case study strategies also 
support this perspecttive. Stake (1998) writtees that case study researchers are 
consttrructtivissts. They emerge from one sociial experience (the obsenrv· attiion) only 
to choreograph another (the report) thus assiistting readers in the consttruction of 
knowleedge (p. 95). 
Understandiing the Four Ctazses:: Appreciating the Participamnzts 
I purposeeffullly  sampled sites and teacher participants. " I[n  p1u1rrposs1e.~ffuidl 
sjta1mpplil1in1g the goal is to sellect cases that are like ly to be 'in form ation-rich ' w ith  
respect to the purposses o f the s tudy" (Galll, Borg, &  Galll, 1996, p. 218). The 
teacher particippaants were Steven J. Chattffield, Ph. D., Ed Grofff, Laurie Sanda, and 
M ary Seerreiiter. I knew, from  discussions w ith  them, that these teachers had a 
taciit understanding o f how touch functions in the ir classes. The word '’taciit'’ is 
used here in the sense that Donald Schon (1992) uses it. Often teachers have an 
innnaatete—- or taciit—t- and practiced understanding w ith in  themselves about w hat  
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they do as teachers, hmowvever, they are not necesssaarriilly able to describe what they 
do (p. 12-4t). 
Fortunatelly, these teachers were able and w illiinng  to th ink and speak about 
touch, as w elll as alllow  me to observe their classes. Schon (1987) refers to such 
teachers as nre'fflleccttii'vue practtiittivionnere;r:s;. Reflective practitiioonneers fu lly  u tiliizze the 
knowleedge which they in tu itive ly  possess and regullarrly  employ w itthou t 
necesssaarriilly being conscious o f the depth o f that knowleedge baassee—- what Schon 
terms k1n1ouivwiinng-in11-a-accttiiovn. They have a "re fleective conversattion w ith  the materials 
o f theiir siituations" (p. 36). For the teacher particippaants, these materials incluudeed 
touch, movement sequences, and students o f d iffeer ing  skiill levels, backgrounds, 
and gender. According to Schon, du ring  this reflective conversation, 
practitiooners spontaneouslly improvisse, as needed. Schon refers to the a biillity  to 
teach w ith  sponttaneiity as retjlfclecctitoion-ni1-i1n--aacctituio1n1 (pp. 25-28). 
The teacher particippaants in this study had long been reflectiv\·e 
practiittioionneersrs—- brriing ing  theiir taciit intelliiggeence and spontaneiity to the surface for 
theiir ow n investigations and personal research. However, their w illllininggnneesss to 
place these quallitiees before me for discussion and anallysis made my research 
possiible. 
Each teacher had been involved in dance as a performer, choreographer, 
and teacher. Theiir backgrounds offeered a d ive rsiity  o f experieences in  areas such 
as dance science, Tai Chi, Laban Movement Analysis (LM A ), Body-M ind 
Centtering (BMC), M artha Graham Technique, Erick Haw kins Technique,  
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massage, and contact im provisation. They also taught at four d ifffeerrent 
institu tions; this p rov ided the study w ith  a variety o f learning environments. It 
was imperative to gain perspectives from both male and female teachers. 
M y choice o f particippaants reflleecdts a goal to sample for gender, teacher 
background, and educattiional institu tion. The specttrum o f institu tiioons provided 
variations in students' backgrounds, motivations, and professional aspiirations.  
There was also an element o f practtiicallity to my choices. First, I  personallly 
knew Ed, Laurie, and M ary. A ltthhoough I  had not met Steven, he taught at my 
alma mater (U niversiity  o f Oregon) and we had professional collleeaagues in 
common. Therefore, gaiin ing enttry to each site was extremelly easy. The second 
factor o f a practical nature was that I  had a place to stay, at no cost, at each o f the 
research sites. 
Thoughhttffullly  choosing the four teacher particippaants and the ir associated 
institu tions gave strength to this study. In a phenomenollogical s tudyy—-otine 
\wVhhiich takes the ind iv iddua l''s  experience o f phenomena as its starrting po in t for 
knowleleddggee—-tthe particippaants become co-researchers w ith  mee—-tthe p rim ary  
investigator. Galll, Borg, and Galll (1996) support purposeffu l sam plling in 
phenomenollogiical studies. They writte, "The esseennttiial criteria for sellecting 
participants is that they have experienced the phenomenon being studied and 
share the researcher's interest in understanding its nature and 
meaniings" (p. 601). 
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lI1nlsstittutioanal Settttings 
[I firs t met Steven Chattffie ld d u rin g  a telephone conversattion. [I described 
myv research project, asked h im  i f  he believed he w ould be a suitable 
partiiccipipaannt—t- given the subject matttteerr—- and i f  he w ould  like to particippaate. 
Penelope Hanstein, my doctoral advisor, suggested that [I contact Steven after the 
tw o o f them had discussed m y project. 
Steven is a member o f the facullty  in the Department o f Dance at the 
U niversiity  o f Oregon in Eugene. Situated in the School o f Music, the deparrtm te'nt 
offers study for majors, m inors, graduate students, and the general un iversiity 
population in a liberal arts setttting. According to Jeniifer C raig, the department 
chaiir (personal communiication, March, 1995) as far back as 1920 the University 
offeered a dance specciiallization through physical educattion. C raig stated that thet' 
department is not focused on a dance career as the princip le  objective, but on 
how the many aspects o f dance reflect culture. She noted that modern dance 
permeates alll o f what goes on in  the departm ent includ ing composiition, 
teaching, and history. Steven was hired in 1989, in part, to teach dance science 
and develop it as an area o f specciiallization. A t the time o f m y site v is it in 1997, he 
was one o f seven fullll time dance facullty. 
The class o f Steven's w h ich  I observed, Dance 370, is the highest level 
modern dance class for non-majors. lIt met three days a week fo r one hour, 
however, according to Steven, w ith  announcements at the begiinn ing o f class, and 
his desiire to dismisss students in tim e to reach theiir next class, the class acttuallly  
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ran closer to 50 minutes. There were 21 students in the claassss—-119 females and 2 
males. Steven considered the students in this class to be eager and recepttive. He 
believed that some o f them had previously experienced good tra in ing and some 
had developed bad habits through poor training. Steven's syllaabus described the 
class as "the finall stage o f tra in ing p rio r to entrance into professional level w ork 
at the U niversiity  o f Oregon. By attending to both the art and craft o f perrform ing, 
emphases are placed on physical skiills, creattiivity, aestthettic performance, and 
cogniitive devellopmeenntt . . .  "" 
A t the U niversiity  o f Oregon, most o f Steven's students register for  his 
class w ithou t specciiffiicallly choosing h im  or his style o f teachiing. This 
circcumssttaance has, to some degree, d im iniisshed his use o f touch because, as he 
noted, it is clear that the students are not necesssaarriilly com ing to his class to 
experience a touch-baased style o f teaching and learning. 
I  met Ed G rofff in  1988 when he was one o f myv teachers in the Laban 
Movement Analysis C errttiification Program at the U niversiity o f Washiington in 
Seatttle. He joiinneed the M odern Dance Department facullty at the Universiity of 
Utah in 1997 and was in his second semester of teaching there when he agreed to 
being observed and intervieewed. A  dance program was started at the University 
o f Utah in 1892, and in 1940 a dance majjor was esttabllished. In 1997 the Modern 
Dance Departtmeennt—t- w hiich  is separate from the Ballet Departtm eennt—t- had eiighty- 
five B.F.A. students, fifftteeen M.F.A. students, and five M .A. students (Dance 
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Teacherr Nozwv, 1997). That year there were seven fullll time facullty  and a number nof 
adjunct facullty. 
Students attend 80-m inute m odem  dance technique classes, five days a 
week. Each class is preceded by a 30-m inute balllet barre w hich  alll modern darnKcLe' 
students attended p rio r to theiir respecttive technique classes. Students 
experience rigorous technique classes, rehearsall schedules, and dance-related 
theorettical courses. Ed states that he was hired, in part, to contribu te  his 
knowleedge o f the w ork  o f R udollf Laban, Irm gard Barteniiefff, and contact 
im provisation, and to help students find  the inner intention o f theiir movement. 
[I observed M odem  Technique Theory lIlI, the second level o f techniquel' tf,oir 
majors. There were 18 students in the class, alll female. Most o f them were 
sophomores in the B.F.A. program  and had extensive dance backgrounds bedfuorel' 
com ing to college. Ed fellt that this intermediate class may eassiilly be considered 
an advanced class at other institu tioons. The students were sim ultaneousllyv tal-k-i.ning 
a kinesiio logy course. Ed sensed that the intellectual fram ew ork from  that cour~sel' 
helped them take respoonnssibibiilliity fo r the ir ow n progreess in technique class; they 
were able to w ork independenttlly and provide feedback for each other. Ed 
considered his students to be serrious and disciplinned.  
[I met Laurie Sanda in  1999-41 w hen we were both doctoral students in d.arnce 
at Texas Woman's Universiity. W hen she completed her course w o rk  there she 
returned to [Iowa State U nive rsiity  (ISU), where she had been on the dance facullty 
since 1985. The dance program  is part o f the Department o f H eallth  and Huma.mn  
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Perrformance. There is no dance major, per se, but students can majjor in 
Perrfforming A rts  w ith  a Dance Emphasis. lIn 1998 there were five majors. \W.Vhheen 
Laurie began teaching at ISU there were five dance facullty, but at the tim e o f our 
interview she noted that the facullty consisted o f tw o people, " . . .  teaching the 
course load that five  people taught previouslly ."  
[I observed M odermn lIIiIl—-tthe most ad\v·anced modern dance class at ISU. 
Modern I[II[ exposed students to d iffeerent m odern dance traditions. D uring  thlwe 
semester o f m y  vis it, Laurie had planned to teach Martha Graham-baased 
technique d u rin g  w hich  she typ icallly  incorporated a great deal o f touch. The 7:5:;-. 
m inute class met tw ice a week. lI lived in Laurie''s home for a few months, 
a ffording us opportun itiiees for in form al discussions about teaching. lI also 
attended the M odern II[I[ classes as a student parrtic ipant after I  had completed myv 
obserrvations. This allowed me to experience Laurie''s teaching style, firs t h,a11n1dd. 
Laurie''s 15 students in Modern lIlII were a diversse group in their leveel:l:s- 1o1tt 
experience, skiill, and commitment. A t least one student had danced 
professiionalllly. M any had previous studio tra in ing  in styles other than modermn 
dance. Some were beginners w ith  only one semester o f previous experience w ith  
Laurie. Laurie w orked to find a balaannccee—-cchhaalllenging the experienced dancers 
w hile hellp ing the beginners find some degree o f com fort and drive. 
I first met M ary Seerreiiter in  1977 when we were both members o f the 
M ary M illleer Dance Company in  Eugene, Oregon. Because she was cerrttifieed in 
Laban M ovem ent Analysis and Body-M ind Centering, [I knew that hands-on  
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w ork  was a \v"aallued part o f her pedagogy. I also wanted to in terview  and observe 
her because, unlike the other three facullty particippaants w ho taught at larger 
liberal arts institutioons, she taught at Lane C om m uniity  Colleege (LCC), in Eugene, 
Oregon. The Lane Dance Program is part o f the Perrfform ing Arts Department. 
Students can pursue a two-year Associate o f Arts Oregon Transfer Degree in 
dance and transfer to an Oregon colleege or un iversiity  as a jun ior. The Program 
brochure states that "Laane offers the instructional qualliity  and range o f cour~se~s 
necessarry for the serious dance student to achieve the technical proficieency 
required to audiition as a th ird-yeear dance major. Students must be h igh ly  
motivated, d iscip linned, and sellf-d irected" (Lane C om m uniity  Clolllleege, no d.a1tte). 
M aryv has been d irecting as w elll as teaching in the dance program  at LCC 
since 1980. She is the on ly  fulll tim e facullty member, and there are da  number of 
adjunct facullty. I  observed a combined class o f the tw o most advanced lev\· ell~s to ,ft 
m odem  danccee—- M odern Dance IV  and V. M arvy considered the class o f finv~e 
female students (parrtticu la rly  smalll that semestter) to be varied in e,xppeerriiennCcel' lev\ et•Il 
and w ith  regard to professional aspiirations. She fellt the students were faiirlvy 
open to her ideas, a lthough sometimes distracted. The class met for 80 minuttes, 
tw ice a week. 
Background in Daannccee—-HHiisttory with Touch 
Steven C hattfie ld ''s earrlly movement tra in ing as an undergraduate at the 
U niversiity  o f Colorado, Boulder was in Tai Chi and massage. As a seniior he was 
intrroduced to the dance technique o f Erick Hawkins and he became a dance  
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major. He names Nancy Spanier as an im portant inflluueence on his dance tra in ing. 
Steven found Hawkins technique to be m ediitative and rich w ith  "sensual 
understtandiing" as were his studies in massage and Tai Chi. Steven remarked, "1f 
was using Tai Chi in a contact fashiion, using lots o f touch, pushing, and pullling ;," 
he found that usingo   touch seamllessll-y transferred to dance. Because o f his  
experiences in  Tai Chi, Steven's dance teachers' use o f touch seemed absollutely  
natturall. Folllow ing his undergraduate educattion, Steven became a member o f  
M ountain Dance Movement, a dance company in Ft. Collins, Colorado. He  
developed his teaching practice in the setttings o f privaatte studios and com m uniity  
spaces, rather than colleeges or universitiees. Steven recalled his experieences in 
Colorado, noting that, for one im portant reassoonn—-hhiis use o f toucchh—-tthey were  
very d iffeerent circcumssttaances from  his current teaching situation.  
People w ould come to me because they wanted tLo) study w ith  me. Thlwey 
sought me out because they wanted w hat 1I  d id , and I  touched all the tinm1Le'. 
From the w ord "go " in class, it was a hands-on experience. [I w ou ld  
fo llo w  them across the floor, holding them, or m aniipulating, and it just 
w asn''t even thought of. That's one of the reasons w hy 1I  th ink people 
studied w ith  me. 
Prior to coming to the U niversiity  o f Oregon, Ste\v·en returned to school at 
the U niversiity  o f Colorado for a Master of A rtts degree in dance and then a 
doctoral degree in the areas o f exercise physio logy and kinesiology. The fie ld  of 
dance science has been a strong inflluueence on his teaching. 
Ed G rofff began sttudying  modern dance w hile  he was a student at Ilndiaana 
Universiity. He went on to study w ith  Pam Schick at The Evergreen State Collleege 
in O lym pia, \WVashington. There, he was inttrroodducced to Laban Momv·emrnent  
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Analysis (in  which he be.c:ame cerrttifieed in 1980). In the late 1970s he performed 
w ith  \WVhistle Stop and Kinetics Com pany, both Seatttle-based dance companies. 
K inetics Company was directed by Peggy Hackney, Janice Ml\·eteaaden, and Pam 
Schiicckk—-aalll three Cerrttiified Laban tMvloovveement Analyssts. Through his w ork w ith  
Kinetics Company, and his ow n  teaching at The Evergreen State Colleege, Ed 
deepened his understanding o f m ovement through L tMvLA.\, contact im prov\·iissation 
and body therapies. He had m in im a l tra in ing in previously esttablisshed modermn 
dance trad itions and therefore began to develop his ow n movement material 
w h ich  was based on the theorettical fram ework o f LMl\tA .  
Ed's own training always incdluded touch. He described an earrly 
m eanniingffu l experience: 
I  remember a rehearsall w ith  Pam Schick. We were w o rk in g  on sometthing 
that opened into the righ t back high diagonal and she gave me a touwc. . :hh 
that helped me anchor the rib  cage and connect it into the pell\v·is rather 
than disconnectting and arching. That was one o f those "aha" momet'nntbs 
that realllly made a siigniificcant difffeerreence and made me appreciate thLe' 
usefulneess o f touch. I  th in k  I  never even questioned whether it was 
im portant. It just always seemed absollutelly intrinsic.  
D uring  the 1980s and l1 990ss—-pprriio r to jo in ing the U  niv\'ers ity  o f Utah  
facu llttyy—-EEd taught at a num ber o f schools inc lud ing  Tuftts U niversity,  
Ham pshire College, Temple U niversiity , and Connectticut Colleege, where he 
received his M.F.A. 
Laurie Sanda began dancing at the age o f eighteen, s tudy ing  m odem  
dance w ith  Lynn Maurer at Kalamazoo Colleege. She moved to Chicago and  
studied intensiivelly w ith  the Chicago lM\toving  Company, under the d irection o f  
Nana Shiinefflug. For a year she gave the dancers in the company massages in  
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exchange fo r claasssseess—- as Laurie statteedd—-" . . .  touching m y teachers more than  
they were touching me." Her greatest inflluueence at this po in t in her tra in ing was  
Shiinefflug. Laurie then attended Columbia Colleege under the d irection  o f Shiirley  
M ordine, graduated w ith  a Bachelor's degree, and worked as a freelance dancer  
and choreographer in Chicago. Laurie w ent on to receive her M FA  in dance 
from  the U niversiity  o f Iowa. Soon thereaffter, she began teaching at Iowa State 
U niversiity . Laurie described Shiineflug''s earrlly inflluueence on her use o f touch: 
Nana Shiinefflug is a very exciiting, asseerrttiive personaalliity and she deffin ite lyv 
does a lot o f touching. We were learning Graham-based technique and 
she w ou ld  do anything it took w ith  us—-roroaarr, sing, punch us in the 
tummies. She was a no holds barred k ind  o f teacher, and sttiilll is. I  thrived 
on that, on the personal intteerraaccttioionn—-pphhyysiical and verball. There are Ilontt:s:. 
o f d iffeeren t ways of being touched in class, and Nana is very direct and 
strong in her touch. She's not delicate. 
M ary Seerreiiter began dancing at age tw enty, which she considered to bLe' a 
late age fo r starrting. This circumsstance fueled her already-present interest in the 
study o f hum an anattomy; Mary fellt that if  she understood how  the body works 
she w ou ld  be able to dance fu lly  and safellyy—- and be able to w o rk  in the field for 
as long as a dancer w ho had begun her dance study at a younger age. She 
earned her bachellor's and master's degrees in dance at the U n ive rsiity  o f Oregon. 
D uring this period she spent summers s tudy ing  w ith  Utah Reperrttory Dance 
Theatre, B ill Evans Dance Company, Ed Mock, and Margaret Jenkins as w elll as 
at the S haw l/A nnddeerrsson studio in Berkeley, C allifo rn ia . M ary began teaching 
almost as soon as she started studying dance. Earrly in her teaching, concepts 
such as relaxation, anattomiical principllees, and repattem ing m ovement habits 
were incorporated into her classes. 
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M ary was intrrooduced to L M A  by Janet Descutner at the Universiity o f 
Oregon, and she went on to become a C errttifieed Laban M ovem ent Analyst. Her 
w ork in LM A  led to her study o f B ody-M ind Centering w ith  Bonnie Bainbridge 
Cohen. Both LM A  and BMC provided M ary w ith  numerous experiences using 
touch in teaching and learning movement. A t LCC M ary developed an aerobics 
teacher tra in ing program which incorporated LM A . She tra ined aerobics 
teachers through concepts such as E ffort quallitiees, Space H arm ony, and 
Barteniiefff Fundamentals. M ary refleected on some earrlly experiences w ith touch: 
Touch was used for find ing  the proper line, but also to find  the right 
posiition. lI w ou ld  describe it as feelling like someone is pu tting  me in a 
place where [I should be; then [I  w ou ld  try  to match that place in mysellf. 
\W-Viitth  Peggy Hackney and Pam Schiick, one o f the big enlightteenments for 
me was that touch was used for find ing  the place o f in itiiaation . Rather 
than putting  you somewhere, it''s reallly feelling where the movement 
inittiiaattees so you are more successsfful find ing  the posiition. [I feell like that 
was a reall key for me. 
Making Contact: Entering Four W orlds 
[1  had the greatest opporrttuniity  to gain the trust and respect o f the teacher 
and student participaants through e xplliiciitly  com m uniicating w ith  them before ,amndJ 
du ring  fie ldw ork. The teachers discussed m y upcom ing v is it w\Viitth  theiir students 
p rio r to m y arrival. Approxim ate ly tvw-.o'  weeks before each v is it [I mailed letters 
o f in troduction for the facullty to hand ou t to theiir students. The letter (which 
can be found in Appendiix A) (a}) expreessses m y appreciiattion fo r the students' 
parrticipation, (b) notes the vo lun ta ry  nature o f the questtionnaire and of 
appearring on videotape, (c) explains the non-judgm ental nature o f my visit, Ja.nd 
(d) ddeessccrriibeess  tthhee c coonnsseenntt  ffoorrm  wwhhiicchh  tthheeyy  wwili l l  bbee a asskkeedd  ttoo  ssigignn..  ((CCooppiiess o off b bootthh  
the teacher and student participants' consent forms appear in  Appendixees B  and  
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C. The Institu tional Review Board at Texas Woman's U niversiity has approved 
the particippaants in this study. The I.R.B. letter o f approval is in Appendiix D. 
Signed consent form s are on file  in the Texas \WVoman's Universiity Office o f 
Research and Grants Adm in istra tion.)  
D uring m y firs t v is it to each class I  b rie fly  described the contents o f the 
consent form w h ile  the students looked it over. I  attempted to make them feell 
comfortable about being videeotaped. The consent form  gave students the 
opporrttuniity  to refuse to appear on videeotape. I w ou ld  make every efffort to angle 
the camera a\wvay from  where they were dancing in the studio; their image w ou ld  
also be distorted through a process known as 'fuzz out.' This became a non-issssue 
when alll particippaants agreed to be videeottaaped.  
The teacher particippaants showed me the utmost respect in the presence o f 
the ir students. They also spoke to theiir students about the importtaance o f my 
research. This contributed to b uiild ing  a posiitive rapport between the students 
and mysellf. The teachers' posiitive attittuuddees enhanced the students' respect for 
this kind o f resseeaarrcchh—- a new area fo r most o f them. 
lI particippaatted fu rthe r in this study—-bbeeyyond obserrvations and 
intteerrvvieiewws—s- by (a) h ir in g  M ary fo r three privaate  sessiions in Body-M ind 
Centering, (b) a ttending Laurie''s Modern IIlIl class as a student after fin isshing the 
data collection process, and (c) obserrving Ed teach classes in im provissation and 
Barteniiefff Fundamentals. These experieences d id  not provide addiitional data, 
however they deepened m y understanding o f the obserrvattion and interview  data 
w hich I  had already colleected. 
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Pallpatting W\Vith  the Eyes: Parrttic ipating as an Observer 
W hat fo llow s is a chronology, o f sorts, o f how the data was litteera lly  
manaaggeedd—-hhow it was gathered, anallyzed, and interpreted. A po in t fo r the 
reader to keep in m ind is that gatherring, anallyz ing and interpre ting quallita tive  
data—-wwhhiile  it fo llows a basic sequence o f firs t gatherring, then anallyz ing and 
then in tteerrpprreettiningg—-iis acttualllly an acttiiv ity o f simulttaaneeous engagements. For 
example, m y earrlly intervieews w ith  students and teachers led me to analysses and 
interpretations which shaped new ways o f interacting du ring  subsequent 
in ternv·iew s. ~Mfanaging and making sense o f litterallly  thousands o f bits o f dettaiil is 
bo th  a sequennttiial and simulttaaneeous act. \WVhile  this process may appear to be 
neat and ordered, it is, in fact, chaottic. As w ith  teaching, which is both planned 
and im provissational, sequennttiial and spur-of-tthe-m om ent, this research invo lveed 
m y responses to each new situation as it unfo lded.  
To understand touch, I  had to see it fo r mysellf. Interesttiinglly, I relied on 
one sensory mode to better comprehend another. Personal obserrvattion offeered 
me a more complete understanding. As a method of data gatherring, partic ipant 
obserrvattion offers a d ifffeerent opporrtuniity  fo r researchers than do tw o  other 
com m on methods o f quallita tive data collection which [1 used—-inintteerrv iew s and 
anallysis o f documents. According to Galll, Borg, &  Galll (1996) the usefulneess o f 
in te rv ieew s and documents is lim itteed by partic ippants ' knowleedge, m em ory, and 
a biill ity  to convey inform ation clearrlly; it also hinges on how partic ippaants w ish to 
be perceived by outsiders such as researchers (p. 3-414). Through m y 
obserrvations, however, I  was able to develop m y ow n version o f w hat 
transpired, independenttlly o f the participants. Together, alll three methods o f  
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data collection provided a more complete p icture. Each method verifiieed the data 
w h ich  was gathered through another method.  
A researcher may choose varying degrees o f participating w h ile  obsenrv, ing, 
and vice versa. lIt depends on the goals o f a parrticu la r study. I took the role of 
obsenrv,er participant (Galll, Borg, &  Galll, 1996) acting  p rim arriily  as an observer, 
entering the setttting to gather the data, and interacting w ith  the students and 
teachers casuaalllly and indirectly. I1  arrived at the stud io  earrlly enough to set up 
m y camera, and I stood either in a corner or on a balcony. I used an 8mm video 
camera w hich was sm alll and eassiilly assembled and dismantled. I usuallly 
remained stattionary du ring  the class, or reposiitioned mysellf after the centterr--ffloor 
secttion in order to better record the acrosss--tthee--ffloor portions o f the class. I  
stayed as unobtrusive as possiible, zoomiing-in on the teacher (rather than moving 
closer to her o r h im ) to observe interactions w ith  students.  
D uring  the course of each class I  tried to remain invisible, bu t after class, 
in the halllw ay I occasiionalllly let students know  how  much I enjoyed watching 
them perform  a particu lar combination, or I empathized w ith  them about the 
challeenge o f a movement combination. I was open to, but d id  not in ittiiaatte shop 
ta lk w ith  the teacher participants; I fu lly  understood that they were already 
m aking room fo r me in their daiily  itiinneerariees. I offeered to show the tapes to any 
intteereested students, however none o f them approached me. I felt that students 
could learn from  sellf-observations; I also made that o ffer to demonstrate respect, 
and to gain the students' trust. Viiddeeottaaped data provided me w ith  far more 
detaiiled in fo rm ation  than I would have had from  w ritttteen  observations alone. 
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Had I on ly  been able to w ritte  notes du ring  the classes I  w ou ld  have missed a 
substtanttiial am ount o f data.  
The dates o f m y observations were: October and November, 1997 
(U n ive rsiity  o f Oregon and Lane C om m uniity  College), January and February, 
1998 (Iowa State Universiity), and March, 1998 (Universiity o f Utah). M y  
approach in the field helped insure a level o f trustwortthiinneesss in the research 
through prolonged engagement and persistent obserrvation (Erlaandson, Harris, 
Skipper, and A llleen, 1993). A prolonged engagement o f 8 weekkss//-410 hours served 
to temper d is to rtion  caused by m y presence. (lI remained at each research site for 
apprroxim atelly  tw o weeks, recording at least 10 hours o f studio teachiing.) 
Through persistent observaattioionn—- by way o f repettiitive view ings o f videeottaaped 
dattaa—-aannd m y development o f new interview  questions to reflect un fo ld ing  
obserrvations, led me to more data. The actual desiign o f the study was emerrging, 
along w ith  the data itsellf. For example, after an obserrvattion, I pursued d ifffeerent, 
more relevant in form ation d u rin g  a subsequent interview. 
Touching Base: In terview ing the Parrticipants  
Open-ended intervieew s best suited the study. Douglas Harper (1998) 
describes such intervieews as "an  exchange inittiiaatteed and guided by the researcher 
in  w hich the subject, one hopes, providdees in-depth responses to complex 
questtiions" (p. 14-4l). W ith  teacher participants the goal was to have tw o  in terv iew  
sessiions, each lasting at least one hour; they lasted between one and tw o  hours. 
It was im portant to be senssiittive to the teachers' busy schedules and to find  a 
balance between m y needs and theirs. However, I made mysellf avaiilable fo r any 
extra tim e the particippaants were w illiinng  to offer. The intervieews were audiio-
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taped. Steven was intervieew ed twice in his campus offiicce, and Laurie tw ice in 
her home. Mary, w ho was intervieewed at home, was w ill iinng  to be interviieewed a 
th ird  time because she had not covered everryth ing w h ich  she felt to be pertinent. 
Ed was intervieewed tw ice, in  his office and at home. The particippaants were 
generrouslly forthcom ing w ith  any inform ation I  requested.  
I began w ith  the same interview  questions for each teacher. However, as 
ind iv idua l sessiions unfo lded I added new questions w h ich  were specciiffic to a 
teacher's interests and w hich  evolved from  the flow  o f conversattion. These 
addiitional questtions deallt w ith  issues such as particu la r touch exercisses, dance 
science, Body-M ind Centterring, Laban Movement Analysis, contact 
im provisation, certain students, and the teacher's educattional institu tion  or 
dance program. 
During the teacher intervieews I  supplemented the question/a anssw er 
format w ith  video--deicliictiatatitoio11n in order to stimulaate discussion guided by images. 
Video ellicitation is based on the concept o f photo ellic ittation. Harper writtees, 
" . . .  as the in diiviid uaal l. .. .  interprets the image, a dia logue is created . . . ' "'  ((p. 1-4l5:i) 
du ring  which the researcher lissttens and encourages the partic ipant to speak, 
w ithou t censorring her o r his perceptions. For this process I selected a secttion of 
video footage from  each teacher's class w hich had a c learly vis ib le touch 
interaction. I showed tha t secttion a number o f timees and asked the teacher to 
describe (a) what was go ing  on, (b) what appeared typ ica l o r surpris ing, and 
(c) how  she or he fellt about the interaction. Iln this encounter, the teachers had an 
opporrttuniity  to be sellff-reflective about the ir teaching d u rin g  an event which we  
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both wittnneesssed. Video ellic ita tion was a useffu l addiition  to the data gathering 
strategies.  
[I inv itteed alll o f the student partic ippaants to be intervieewed, know ing  fulll 
w elll that on ly  a handffu l w ou ld  be intterested. O f the 59 students in the final 
sample, 21 agreed to be intervieewed. W ith in  the context o f an already 
purposeeffullly  sampled site, each student [I intervieew ed was a volunteer (Galll, Borg, 
and Galll, 1996, p. 237). Consiideration fo r voluntteeers is an im portant factor in 
m aiin ta in ing ethical standards. Ethical standards are devised to protect 
ind iv iiddua ls ' rights in research, inc lud ing  the righ t to refuse to partic ippaate  in a 
study, or cease parrtic ipation at any po in t d u rin g  the study. lI made it clear to alll 
o f the particciippaanntsts—-vveerrbbaallly and in w r iittiningg—-tthat they were, indeed, voluntePers, 
free to leave the study at any time. 
Erlandson (1993) reminds us o f the importtaance of lisstening to alll the 
varied voices in our sample o f particippaants. He notes that natturallistic in q u iirryy—- 
un like  trad itiona l inqu iry  which adheres to a single objective rea litiyt—y- "" . . .  takes 
its strength from  the separate reallitiees that have been constructed by d ifffeerrent 
in d iv id u alls ... .  [each o f which] must be g iven status in the livees o f those 
ind iv iidduua ls , in the contexts in w h ich  they operate, and in reports o f inquiiry "  
(p. 151). Through this stattus--giiving process the researcher fortifiiees her o r his 
research w ith  authenttiicity. M y goal in th is process has been to lissten to, observe, 
record, and interpret the m ulltip le  reallitiees and varie ty o f voiicceess—- w hich  have 
spoken to me from  the dattaa—-tto enable an authenttic 'reading' about touch. As 
w elll, I offeered alll students in  the four parrtic ipa ting  classes equal access to the 
process, and I frequenttlly verballly renewed ou r inforrm ed consent contract. This  
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gave the research process a level o f fairness  w h ich  " . . .  is the firs t autthennttiiciity 
c rite rion " (Erlaandson, et al., p. 153). 
The sellf-selecting nature o f vo lunteerissm  can prejudice a study. Galll, 
Borg, and Galll (1996) state that research voluntteeers, among other characteristics, 
tend to be higher in need for  sociial approval and have higher social-cllaasss status 
than non-voluntteeers (p. 238). The degree to w hich  these and other characteristics 
o f voluntteeers were like ly  to affect the results o f this study were tempered by 
triangulation; I included m ultip le data collection methods and sources o f dattaa—- 
teacher and student interviews, obserrvations, questtionnaires, and related w ritttteen 
materials. As w ith  the teacher intervieews, the student intervieews were open- 
ended and audio-taped. They were conducted in quiet environm ents such as 
studentt-organiization rooms, conference rooms, and facullty offiiccees. 
For alll o f the interviews I  attempted to create environments in which I  was 
p rim arriily  a lissttener and faciilittator, and in w h ich  the particippaants could feell 
unsellfconscious about honesttlly revealling theiir liveed experiences regarding 
touch. To sort ou t mis-communications between the particippaants and mysellf, 
and to enhance the vallid ity  o f the intervieews, I mailed copies o f the transcribed 
teacher and student interviews to each partic ipant. lI incclluuddeedd—-ffo r fun and 
encourraaggeemmeennt—t-a red pen, as w elll as a sellf addressed stamped envelope. A ll of 
the teachers and most o f the students edited theiir intervieews and returned them. 
Erlandson, et. al (1993) term this process member checking. The authors w ritte  that 
having particippaants verriify  the data is "the  most im portant [technique]! in 
esttabllishing c reddiibbiilliity "  (p. 142). Because one o f the majjor purposses o f 
quallita tive  inqu iry  is to present the emic perspecttiivvee—-rreeaalliity as it is constructed  
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by the partiiccipipaanntsts—-vveerriiffy in g  that perspecttive was v ita l. (In terview  guides ftor 
teacher and student partic ippaants can be found in Appendixees E and F.) 
Student Questtionnairrees  
When [I began this s tudy I was certain that some students w ould not want 
to speak w ith  me about theiir experiences w ith  touch, but they m ight be w illiinng  to 
consider the issue in  p rivaate  by com pleting a questtionnaire. I  received 
questtionnaires from  46 students (75%). 
[I used Don D illilmmaan ''ss (1978) recommendations for \wvr ittiinng  and 
implementing the questtiionnaire, taking certain actions to encourage students to 
fill  out and return them by: (a) demonsttratting posiitive regard for the sttuddLe•nts by 
personalllly s ign ing each letter o f explanation that accompanied the quesstitoionnnn.1a1irel'; 
(b) in form ing students o f the study's usefulness; and (c) treating the students likel' 
consultants (pp. 13-18). I encouraged the particippaants to return the 
questtionnaires to me in  person, but l1 also furnisshed sellf--aaddrreesssed stamped 
envelopes. 
Again, using D illllmmaan ''ss (1978) suggesttions, [I searched for three gcennLe'rr.1a1l 
types o f inform ation: (a) attittudes about what students favored or opposed, 
(b) bellieff:s, about w hat students thought was true or false, and (c) bedhwaviorrs:—;-what 
students and teachers acttuallly  d id . Examples of three such questtions were: 
(a) ""[Inn g geenneeraral,l,  hhooww  ddoo  yyoouu  ffeeeel la abboouutt  tthhee  uussee o off t toouucchh a ass a a  mmeetthhoodd  ffoor rt teeaacchhiningg  
dance?" (b) " In  you r op in ion  is you r teacher senssiittive to you r needs and feelings 
as a student when she o r he touches you in the context o f teaching dance 
technique?" (c) "A ss a dance student do you use sellf-touch to assiist your dancing  
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(for example, placing your ow n  hand over a tense area of your body in order t,o l 
release tensiion)?" 
Questtions were structured in a num ber o f ways. Open-ended questions 
alllowed students to express themselves freelly  and probe theiir memories and 
feelings. These kinds o f questtions were the most demanding o f the particippaants, 
requiiring  fulll, and thoughttffu l responses. However, I  fellt they w ou ld  ellic it 
answers w h ich  m ight otherwisse have been diif f ic u lt to answer d u rin g  an 
interview . One such questtion was: "H o w  w ou ld  you describe the w ay in which 
your teacher addressed the issue o f using touch in your class?" 
[I also used closed-ended questtions w ith  ordered answer choices. Thesel' 
helped me determ ine the intensiity o f a student's feelling. An example o f such ,a1 
questtion was: " I[n  your op in ion , to what degree does your teacher's inclusion 1o >ff 
touch when teachiing a modern dance class contribute to or detract from  your 
abiillity  to understand the anattomiical princip lleess underrlly ing the m ov\'ement?"  
l1.. sttronglly  contributtees  
2.. mii ld ly  contributtees  
3. neither contributtees or detracts  
4. m ii ld ly  detracts  
5. sttronglly  detracts 
[I also used parrttiiallly  closed-ended questtions. These indiccated to 
respondents the type o f in fo rm ation  [I was pursuing. They also demonstrated 
that [I valued students' ow n unique experiences. For example: "H o w  w ou ld  you 
prefer yo u r technique teacher to address the issue o f using touch in  class?"  
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l1. Disscuss the idea o f touch, and its functions, w ith  the enttire class at the 
begiinning o f the quarter (semester). 
2. Disscuss the issue p riva te ly  w ith  me. 
3. Demonstrate the use o f touch on students w ith  whom  the teacher is 
already famiilia r, and who are comfortable w ith  touch, before touching 
me. 
4. Incorporate touch into the teaching o f the class w itthou t discussing it ,a1ss a 
separate issue. 
5. I d o n 't have an op in ion.  
6.. O ther (explain): 
M uch o f the data from  the questtionnaire was quallitative, however (I  
generated quanttiita tive  data by callculating percentages for certain answers. 
These percentages gave me a quick view ing o f areas o f im port for the studentbs.  
By not lim ittiinng  m ysellf to student interviews, bu t obtaiin ing information from <a1 
questtiionnaire as w elll, lI avoided bias; lI hoped that the profile  o f the interviieeweee 
difffeerred from  that o f the questtionnaire respondent. In any research project, snome 
particippaants w ii l l  like ly  respond more candiid ly  to a questtionnaire than an 
interview . W ith  a questtiionnaire (a) the concepts are presented visuallly (on 
paper), (b) partic ippaants are not speakiing d irecttly  to another person, and (c) 
participants can answer questtions in theiir ow n  time. (A  complete copy of the 
questtiionnaire appears in Appendiix  G.) 
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Documents  
I  studied documents as other sources o f evidence. They served to ve riify  
data gathered th rough interviieew's, obserrvations, and questtionnaires. These 
textual sources included articlees and books on the topics o f dance pedagogy, 
somattics, and touch—-ccoonnssiidered in pedagogiical, psychollogical, sociiological, and 
mediical contexts. I also gathered vittaae from  teacher particippaants, university 
sexual harassment policiees, course syllabi, pages from colleege catalogues, articllees 
w hich teacher partic ippaants recommended to me, and desccrriip tive brochures from  
dance programs. Ian H odder (1998) writtees, "The study o f materrial culture is . .. .. 
o f importtaance fo r quallita tive  researchers w'ho w issh to explore m ultip le and 
confflicting voices, d iffeering  and interacting interpretations . .. . "  (p. 11-4l). The 
prim ary w'ay in w h ich  I used this information was to double check that I  was not 
either m isin terpreting other data, or inadvertenttly o miitting  im portant ideas. For 
example, a specciiffic journal article which impacted M ary Seerreiiter's teaching, and 
w hich she gave me to read, led me to inquire about the inflluueence o f a consumer- 
oriented college educattion and it~s impact on the use o f touch.  
Retracing and Unravelling the Spiiral o f In forrm ation 
I collected a vast am ount o f data in the form  o f audio-ttaaped intervieews, 
videotaped dance classes, questtionnaires, fie ld notes, and analysses o f academic 
documents. Through the fo llow ing  proceessses the data became accessiible: 
(a) transcrriibing the intervieew s and m aiiling them to particippaants for ediiting,  
(b) w ritin g  memos o f intervieews, (c) organiizing student in te rv iew  responses by  
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clustering answers, (d) v iew ing videeottaaped observations and w ritinng  deta.iiilekd 
desccrriiptions, (e) noting pertinent categories, codes, and emergent themes, and 
(f) reading questtiionnaire responses, assiigning quanttiita tive  percentages to some 
queries and g roup ing  quallita tive replies. This in itia l anallysis took place between 
November o f 1997 and August o f 1998. 
From A ugust o f 1998 through May o f 1999 [I d id  not read the data, per se, 
but [I kinestthettiicalllly practiced and synthesized many o f the emerging concepts 
from the data in m y own teachiing. [I extracted specciiffic hands-on procedurees 
from the videeottaaped classes and taught them to m y students. Robert Bogdan 
and Sarri Knoop Biklen (1 992) suggest that the researcher " try  ou t ideas and 
themes on subjjects" (p. 159). \WiVhhile  this was not possiible to do w ith  the orig inal 
participants, [1 was able to synthesize some o f the data through m y own students. 
A ftter a nine-m onth break, I  returned to the data anallysis in June, 1999. One way 
in which I approached the anallysis at this stage was to choose a viddeeottaaped class 
from each teacher and, in a somewhat stream-of-cconssciioouussnneesss manner, w ritte my 
impressions o f the teacher, class atmosphere, student behaviior, types of touch, 
teacher verballizations, and skiills which [I felt the students were learning. These 
w rittiinngs included mettaphorriical language. For example, I  wrote: (a) "Laaurie gets 
so cloossee—--llike she has m agnniiffy ing lenses on her ow n  bodyy—-tto reallly see them."  
(b) "The students seem like cubs and M ary is the m other bear. The cubs are 
experrimenting and M ary is watching and teaching them how to w allk ."  
(c) "Steven sings lo u d lyy—-'h'hey' '’hup'’ '’let''s go'’ and it rem inds me o f a rittual 
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around a camppffiire ." (d) "Ed is a scullp tor w ho  gets on the floo r and m olds his 
hands around students to form theiir bodies."  
In Laban Movement Analysis, metaphors are considered im portan t 
elements in the obserrvvattiionaall--miix; they have the power to telll observers w ha t is 
occurring in a movement event. Bogdan and Biklleen (1992) suggest that 
researchers experim ent w ith  metaphors, anallogies, and concepts to avoid a 
nearsightteedneess in one's researrch. They advisse asking the questtion, '"W h a t does 
this remind me of?' [to!] . . .  expand the anally tic  horizon" (pp. 162-163). 
I  have developed the term "phenomenollogical revisitation" to describe the 
acttiiv ity o f re-anallyzing data which the researcher has not examined fo r a period 
o f time. The researcher '’revisiits'’ the dattaa—-iin this case, videota.ipe foootataggee—- wiith  
the attittude o f being completelly open to the liveed experience o f the current 
obserrvattion o r reading process. Through uncensored w ritinng  the researcher 
documents her o r his current obserrvations and interpretations o f the data.  
D uring the phenomenoollogiical revisittatioons I  used motif' writing  to 
document a num ber o f touch experiences. M ott if  w riittiningg—-or m ottiif descriipptitoionn—- 
is a system fo r w r it in g  movement w hich  uses concepts and symbols from  
Labanotattion and Laban Movement Analysis. It allows the view er to capture the 
core movement ideas w ithout alll the dettaiils. It is impressiionistic. (An example 
o f m ottiif desccrriip tion w ith  verbal com m entary, from  my fie ld notes can be found 
in Appendiix H .) In each m ottiif desccrriip tion I  noted three specciiffic elements o f 
LM A: Efforts, Shaping Quallitiees, and Modes o f Shape Change. M o tif w r it iinng  
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and LM A prov ided  a lens for view ing the data. The m otifs were thum bnaiil 
sketches o f teaching styles which I1 synthesized in to  the whole o f my 
understanding. M ary A liicce Brennan (1999) states that movement desccrriiption, in 
the earrlly stages o f anallysis, enables a synthesis o f the results o f the detaiiled 
obserrvattion w ith  contextual knowledge; this synthesis furthers the process o f 
interpreting and evalluatting the movement event. Brennan writtees, "W hat should 
be understood is that movement anallysis as a m ethodology is not complete unttiil 
it is integrated in to  the larger focus o f the study. lIt is at this point that it acquires 
meaning in schollarrlly in q uiiry " (p. 28-41). 
Due to the immense amount o f data, I1 created an organiizattional model 
(see Figure 1) to assiist in further anallysis and theorry-buiild ing. The process o f 
modelling is a useffu l tool, hellping the researcher understand the inner workinngss 
o f a theory that m ay be used as a theorettical base fo r a study (Hanstein, 1999, 
p. 72). The use o f models to clarriify  large categories and the main areas o f 
s tudy—-aannd the relationships among theem—-iis supported also by Matthew B. 
M illees and A. M icchael Huberman (199-4t, p. 18). 
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j Culture j ..... Pedaaggooggicic,1a1l/P Phhiilloossophical  Basses ._ Teacher  
Backgrroundss 
jeGeenderl _- ►. Teacher Choic'es  Regarding Touch ... Institution.aili Parameters  
•I  
lSsttattus l .... Student Learmning Outtccoommt.e>ss ._ Student  
Ba,1cekkggrroouunnds 
•I  
Future [P\e•dagogiical Considerationss 
Figure 1. Concceepptutu,1a1l Fr,a1meewourk tfor a,1 Study ofi Touch as a,1 
Teaching ,amnd Le,a1rmning Strategy four Mt>.oltdldeerrn Da,mnce 
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lI began to organize and anallyze the data, using Bogdan's and B iklleen’'s 
(1992) suggesttions. This enttaiiled: (a) sequueennttiialllly num bering the pages, 
(b) rreeaaddiningg t thhrroouugghh t thhee d daattaa  nnuummeerroouuss  titimeess, ,( c(c) )d deevveeloloppiningg a a  lilisst to off c cooddiningg  
categories (emerging themes), (d) assiigning a number to each code, (e) reducing 
the number o f codes w h ile  re fin ing  interpretations, and (f) organiiz ing data in 
labeled manila folders. 
lI continued to gain c larificcation in my anallysis through the use o f a 
concepttualllly clustered m attrix  (M illees &  Huberman, 199-41, p. 128). This was a grid  
w hich organized relevant responses by students and teachers into an eassiilly 
viewed format. As categories emerged lI sensed that, in the voices o f students 
and teachers, the body o f data was 'speakiing' to me; in realliity, this was a two- 
way conversattion. Analysis not on ly  arises out o f the data, but also out o f the 
researcher. Bogd,a1n and Bikleen (1992) w ritte, "For it is the social values and ways 
o f making sense o f the w orld  that can inflluueence which processes, acttiivitiiees, 
events, and perspectives researchers consider im portant enough to code"  
(p. 172).. 
The Theory Models Approach to D iscovering Theory 
The discovery o f a theory o f touch and the paradigm  o f meta-dance 
practice was aided by using a theory modedls approach. According to Hanstein 
(1999), when researchers are w ork ing  in areas in w hich there is littttllee, i f  any 
previous inquiry, the challenge o f desiigning a way to study and frame an area o f 
research can be c larifiieed through develloping a theory model. She writtees, 
"Developing theory models is a way o f looking at a research questtion from  a 
particular vantage p oiintt.. . .  [w h ich ] reflects the researcher's personal perspecttive  
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. . .  and how she o r he chooses to make sense o f and understand the area o f 
inq uiiry " (p. 78). Nel Noddings's theory o f care in moral educattion appeared to 
have a structure analogous to the emerrging themes o f touch. According to 
Elizzabeth Steiner (as cited in Hanstein, 1999) by using Noddings''s theoretical 
fram ework to support my lines o f thought, I engaged in a ret.t'rtorodduuctciotino—n-a proceess 
of inferential reasoniing and orig inating  concepts and theories from  other 
concepts and theories (p. 78). Through this approach I  was able to find  meaning 
and relevance in the seemiinglly overw he lm ing  data, in order to shape my 
eventual theory. 
Tihle  Bridge Bectweccelnl Care and Touch 
D uring the summer o f 1999 I w rote a desccrriip tive report, dettaiiling  each 
category w ith in  the fram ework o f Figure 1I . Eventtuallly, one year later, it became 
clear that (a) touch facilittaated many aspects o f learning which went beyond the 
learning o f steps and dance technique, and (b) the use o f touch situated the 
learning o f dance technique w ith in  the larger paradigm  of meta-dance practice 
which was, itsellf, situated w ith in  a consttrructtiiv ist w orld  view. 
Concepts o f meta-dance practice were expreessed in Ed G roff''s desccrriip tion 
o f a parrticular studentt-to-student-touch exercisse w hich engaged students in 
develloping a sense o f trust, trustwortthiinneesss, tak ing  respoonnssibibiilliity fo r one's 
choices and for another person. It was also communicated through M ary 
Seerreiiter's desccrriiption o f the ways in w hich  touch has the abiillity  to b ring  one to 
an awareness and appreciiattion o f the body; th is awareness, she stated, has the 
potenttial to facilittate respect for onesellf, others, and ultim ately, the natural 
w orld .  
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As the detaiilsls—-bboth o f touch pedagogy and the paradigm o f meta-dance 
practticicee—-eemeerrged from  •the data, I began to read the works of Nel N oddings 
(1984,, 11991, 1992, 1998, 2002) on the topic o f care. Noddings (1991) w rittees, "The 
atttitude o f care is characterized by attention (or engrosssmeenntt)) . ... " (p. 161 ). 
Caring, according to Noddings (1984) entaiils consiidering the other's po in t o f 
v iew , her o r his objective needs, and what she o r he expects of us. As noted in 
the preceding chapter, Noddings's theory o f moral educattion from a care 
perspecttive enttaiils the acts o f m odelling, dialogue, practice, and confirm ation. 
H er four categories focused m y th ink ing  about the data. I f  I  substtituted the 
concept o f mte'lta--danccte.' practice through touch for care, Noddingss''s w rittiinnggss were 
remarrkablly anallogous to my data, and to my ow n develloping interpretations of 
the data. 
Concept Mapping 
I  created concept map>j. D uring  the process o f concept mapping I  began to 
clearrlly see what my research particippaants were show ing me about teaching, 
learning, and touch. Concept m apping—-ddeessccrriibed by Tony Buzan (1993) as 
mind mapping, and also know n as idea mappiningg—-iis a usefful graphic technique 
w hich may include such elements as words, images, numbers, colors and spattial 
arrangements. Maps provide one w ith  an overview  o f a subject or area, and o f 
one's thoughts and assoocciiattions regarding that subject area. I  created concept 
maps on the fo llow ing  themes: (a) moral educattion, (b) ·Nooddddiinnggss''s model o f the 
ethic o f care in moral educattiion, (c) studentt-to-student-touch, (d) interpersonal 
reasoniing/ dia logue and studentt-to-student-touch, (e) practice and touch, 
(f0) m odelling touch, (g) w hat else is taught, (h) intterpersonal reasoniing/ dialogue  
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via what else is taught, (i) conffirm ation and touch, and (j) learning movement as a 
liv iinng  metaphor for daiily  life. 
For each concept map I placed one theme at the center o f a large piece o f 
paper. Using notes which I  had taken on that topic I w rote key w ords on 
brancdhzte'Ss (lines) w hich radiated o ff the central theme and [1 a llow ed m y m ind to 
freelly associate related ideas, w ords, and images which [I w rote on connected 
branches. As a map would, this process enabled me to plan routes, make 
choices, and let me know where I was going and where I had been. [It 
synthesized and reduced a daunttiinglly  large amount o f data. M ost im portanttly , 
it took me on pathways which may have originnaated at N oddings's concepts, but 
which deviated into my own concepts; through this process I  shiiftted and 
enlarged her paradigm, bu ild ing  m y own.  
Noddings's (198-40) use o f the term practice refers to a student's structured 
engagement in the act o f caring in order to understand caring as a concept and 
gain the skiills to care. [I found, through concept m apping this idea, that more 
relevant in this study were the ways in w hich the teacher particippaants developed 
strategies to incorporate touch effectively w ith in  the flow  o f a technique class. 
Appllicicaatitoino—n-the w ord  I use instead o f practtiiccee—-ddeessccrriibes such strategies as 
sw itching partners, deciiding on the length o f time spent on a g iven touch event, 
and deciiding when to insert a touch acttiiv ity  at a given po in t d u r in g  a class. [It iis 
how  teachers apply the use o f pedagogiical touch which shapes students' practice 
in touch. 
For Noddings the terms interpearsonal reasoniing and dialogue refer to 
attittuuddees o f care and flex ibiility , as w elll as acts o f paying attention, culltiva ting  a 
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relationship, and searrching fo r appropriate responses. Concept m apping these 
ideas brought to the forefront the im portant and dominant ussee—- by alll four 
teacher partiiccipipaanntst—s-o f studentt-to-student-touch. Through m apping this touch 
relationship in  its asssoocciiattion w ith  the concept o f dialogue, [I discovered a 
number o f v ita l themes o f meta-dance practice. Ilt became clear that through 
sttudentt-to-student-touch, rapport is b uiilt between teacher and student, and 
between studdeenntst—s- enhancing empatthy. As dance students are encouraged to 
pay close attention to each other when they touch, they learn how  to assess 
situations, make revisions, sellf-m onitor, sellf-reflect, and become better observers. 
Hands-on interactions require an atttittude o f flex ibiility ; students learn that they 
cannot always predict the outcome o f an interaction, and therefore, they must 
imagine alternatives. Due to the intiim aatte nature o f touch, it propels dance 
students to cultivaatte relationships. Touch tends to curb issues o f competitiiv\e·enneessss 
in the dance class. 
Noddings emphasizes the importtaance o f the teacher's act o f moddeililnlg; it is 
only through this act that students can learn effective skills and behavioiorsr—s- 
whether these are how to care or how  to touch. Concept m apping the theme of 
modelling touch emphasized for me the fact that eiv.let'ry act o f touch in  the 
technique claassss—-pphhyyssiical o r verball—-ininvvolves modelling. For example, when 
touching a student a teacher can demonstrate to that student the beneffits, saffety, 
and ethics o f w ork ing  in  close p rox im ity  w ith  a fe llow  student; verballly, teacher 
particippaants modeled w ith  such expressions as, "D o n 't shy away," "Start  
sllowlly ," and "Maanaage your partner seccuurrelly." M odeling occurs when students  
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observe a teacher's use of sellf-touch, and when teachers intternv·ene  /a asssist during  
a studentt-to-student-touch event.  
Confirmation is the act o f identtiify ing  a better sellf in  someone, and 
prom oting its development. Concept mapping this idea showed me that 
confirm ation is closelly tied to the themes o f appllication, d ia logue, and modelling. 
For example, trust is a basic requirem ent for the act o f con firm a tion  to be 
effective; i f  a student does not trus t her or his partner's motivees d u rin g  a touch 
event, conffirm ation is ineffective. In order for trust to develop, there needs to be 
some degree o f con tinnuuiityty—- w o rk in g  w ith  the same partners, and repeatting 
certain touch-practices. C onttiinuiity  is a matter o f appllication on the part of the 
teacher. C onfirrm aattiioonn—-rreeccooggnniiziing, respecttiing, and p rom oting  a partner's best 
w ork  is modeled and encouraged by teachers. Acknow ledging students as 
ind iv iidduua ls is exhibited through interpersonal reasoniningg—- payiing  attention to 
theiir injuriiees, encouraging them to be experrimental, and speaking to them using 
ideas and images w hich they w ii l l  understand.  
Noddings's theories about care and moral educattion opened m y eyes tlo> 
the educattiional paradigm o f meta-dance practice w hich had been dancing right 
in  front o f me through the entire data-gatthering process. I siim p ly  had not 
identtifieed the array o f potentials o f touch unttiil I lived w ith  the data for a length 
o f time. M y recogniition o f meta-dance practice verified for me the value of 
researrchiing touch. 
Chapters III and IV  w ii l l  explore the ways in w hich the teacher participa,rnts 
use touch in  theiir pedagogy. This exp loration w ii l l  occur w ith in  a fram ework of  
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htwvo  concceepptsts—-tthe simultaneity of time and meta. Both terms provide a structure 
fo r understanding and interpreting the pedagogiical signifiiccaance o f touch.  
Through touch, students partic ippaate  in tactile dialogues w hich engage them 
in simulttaaneeous and overlapping layers o f learning. Teaching and learning 
depend on (a) that w hich is situated behind, (b) the moment bvy moment 
devellopment and clhzangec which occurs in  the present, and (c) a w illllininggnneesss to lmllollvl'et' 
beyond and transcend current sollutions and lim iittaattiioons: These are deffin itiioons of 
mceta, and they are integral elements o f teaching and learning through touch. 
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CHAPTER IHlIl 
M ETA  MEANS 'SITUATED BEHIND'  
* * * * *
SHAPING THE FOUNDATION FOR TOUCH 
THROUGH CONTEXTING, MENTORING, AND ENGAGING  
The practice o f dance students and teachheersrs—-ttheiir appllication and 
performaance o f dance knowlleeddggee—--iis best understood in the context o f their 
backgrounds. rMvtooddemrn dance teachers and students enter the learning 
environment o f the stud io  w ith  theiir experiences in  tow . To \v'iew  this 
environment, lI o ffer the metaphor o f a landscape paiin ting. The foreground ,a1n11dd 
background are the historiees w hich frame and support student-teacher 
interactions. The landscape o f these interactions is bounded and underrgirdel'd hbv  
a teacher's personal pedagogy and students' backgrroouunnddss—-ttheiir pre\v·ionus 
experiences w ith  dance, touch, and life. 
The term bta1lc.·kgrroo11u1n1d indiccaattees the past, yet dance and learning are ounil\v· 
parrttiiallly  about the past. Penelope Hanstein (personal communiicattion, October,. 
2000)) notes that dance exists simulttaaneouslly (a) in--tthhee--ppaasst—t-tthrrough the 
contexts brought by the participants, (b) in--tthhee--mmoommeennt—t- the "“ phenomennlolllogicaJ l 
no w " o f each class or performance, and (c) in--tthhee--fufututurer—e-as a liffee-lloong 
fram ework for fu rthe r g row th. She suggests that good educattion reflects this 
same "sim ultaneiity o f tim ee""—-ggrrounded in what students bring  to the class and in 
w hat they experience d u rin g  the class; it also mov\'es students into the future. 
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Hanstein's po in t o f v iew  reflects a notion o f John De\wvey''s (1957) who  
writtees,  
"Presentt" a cttiiv ity  is not a sharp narrow  knitf’e-blaade in time. The present 
is complex, contaiin ing w ith in  itsellf a m ultittuude o f habits and impullssees.  
It is endurring, a course o f acttion, a process includ ing memory, 
obserrvattion and foresiight, a pressure forward, a glance backward and a 
look outw ard. It is a morall moment because it marks a transiition in the 
d irection o f breadth and c la rity  o f action or in that o f tr iv ia lity  and 
confusion., (p. 281) 
It is interesting that Dewey not on ly  subscribes to an educattional reallity in which 
past, present, and fu ture  exist siimultaneouslly, but that this s im ultaneiity o f timnlel' 
has m oral consequences. Stephen Fishman (1998) adds that Dewey adopts a 
realittyy "  . . .  where means are ends and ends are means, where educattion is 
in te lliiggeent practice, and inte lliiggeent practice is moral, and the moral is aestthettic, 
and—-lilike the snake swaalllmow-viing its ta ill—-tthe aestthettic is educattiionall" (p. 17). 
In this and subsequent chapters lI w ii l l use the preffix meetata—- wiith  its v\'Mar1iet'tly 
o f definniititoionns—s-tto shape the data around Hanstein''s and Dewevy's concept o f the 
siim ultaneiity  o f time. Meta  means that w hich is situated behind; it refers to thel' 
past. Meta  means developm ent and transform ation in reference to one'’s learning 
and g row ing  in-tthe-moment. Meta  means later, relating to a more speciialized 
form  o f pedagogy.  
Keeping in m ind the past and present aspects of the sim ultaneiity o f time, 
three p rim ary  areas w ii l l  be addressed in this chapter: (a) the contexts or 
backgrounds w hich teachers and students bring  to the learning situation, (b) the 
teacher's role in  creatting an environm ent for learning and teaching through  
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touch, and c) m enttoring students in theiir effective use o f touch. (The term 
mte'nttoring is used here siimiila rly  to the w ay Noddings (1998) uses the term 
modelliing; teachers must show, through the ir own actions, what it means to do 
sometthing efffectively. I1  have chosen menttuorring because it connotes a larger, monre 
inclusive role than that o f modelling.) 
\WVhat Teachers Bring W ith  Them: Personal Pedagogies 
The landscape o f learning is constructed through student-teacher 
interactions. Howe,v·er, in this chapter, the role o f the teacher w ii l l frequenttlly 
emerge into the foreground. The learning emnv· ironm ent is p ro found ly shaped by 
the teacher's past experience. For e\x.ample, a philossophy o f teaching and 
touching accompanies a teacher intto) the studio. Let us look at ways in w hich  the 
teacher particippaants discuss theiir pedagogy o f dance and touch, and how  th.ait 
pedagogy is ,v·ieewed by theiir students.  
Stcte.,•vce1n1 Chatfield 
Ste,v·en C hattffie ld  describes his modern dance pedagogyv as _ftuimncttioio1n1,a1/l 
human 1m1owvl•et'mee1n1t training. He stresses the basic princip llees found in Bodyv-M ind 
Centering (BrMvtC) and Barteniiefff Fundamentals. He states that his approach is 
non-theattrrical, inflluueenced by movement science, and one in which the body is 
viewed " ... .  as a mmov·ermnent uniit in a k ind  o f physics environm ent."'' Ste,v·en 
noted that his technique lacks theattrriicalliity; he saiid, however, that his approach 
contains an Erick Hawkins-inflluueenncced aestthettiic, and that the fundamentall and  
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functional basis leads to the atta inm ent o f higher aestthettic and expressive 
quallitiees.  
Steven's develloping know leedge and rapport w ith  parrticu lar students 
leads to a more frequent use o f touch w ith  them. He stresses a listening quallity to 
touch. Both the toucher and the touchee are required to lissten. Steven expects 
the touchee to take an active role so that she or he is not just passiivelly 
manipulated by the toucher; instead, the touchee is lisstening through touch, 
alllow ing  tactile sensattions to in fo rm  the kinesthettic experience. For example, in 
a balancing exercise the student finds a state o f balance in her or his own wayv, 
after which the toucher notes how  best to physiicallly support the balance, and 
then does so. Lisstening requires paying attenttion, and it promotes recepttii\v·e and 
reflective attitudes; these are in tegra l aspects o f touch pedagogyv and meta-dance 
practice. Shira Musicant (199-4l), a dance/m ovem ent therapist addresses the issuuLe' 
o f lisstening in a therapeuttic context. She notes that at the heart o f dance therr.a1pyv 
is an acknowledgement o f the bLo)ddy '’s wissdom, and the body'’s abiillity  to payv 
attention to an ongoing stream o f "  . . .  felt inform ation . . .  [through!] inner 
lisstening" (p. 93). 
Some types o f touch w hich  are common in Steven's class are (a) tracing a 
pathway, (b) touching bony landm arks, (c) gu id ing an area, (d) massagiing, 
(e) sstrtrookkiinngg ( (oofftteenn d doowwnnwwaarrdd  oonn  tthhee  lloowweerr b baacckk o orr s saaccrurumm)),,  ((t)f) s simimuullttanneeoouusslyly  
touching two areas, and (g) pullling . W\Vhen Steven touches students he is 
senssiittive about intimaate regions o f the body. For example, when touching a 
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student's back he w iil l extend his hand on lyv as low  as the sacrum. W\Vhen students 
wittnneesss this behaviioorr—- and experience Steven'’s menttoring regarding how  to 
touch someeoonnee—-tthey are prom pted to develop their own sennssititii\v· ity tlol another 
person's needs. 
One o f the prim ary functions o f studentt-sellf-touch for Steven is t,oJ 
enhance students' awareness o f theiir breathing patterns. During one exercise the 
students lie on theiir backs w ith  knees bent and the soles of the feet on the floor; 
this posiition is sometimes referred to as consttructive rest posiition (Sweigard, 
197-4l) o r hook-lie posiition. Steven instructs students to put their hands on the 
low er abdomen and to feell  the breathing process. He asks them to note how the 
inhale ca:wuses the diaphragm to contract and press dow n on the abdom inal 
contents and expand the lower abdomiinal region, and how the exhale relaxes the 
d iaphragm , alllow ing the abdomiinal muscles to move back toward the spine.  
This a\wvareeness exercise is fo llloow ed by a partial sit-up during which Steven 
emphasizes in itiaating  w ith  the breath and an abdom inal contraction p r io r  to 
siitting  up. He laces his fingers together and touches his own abdomen, creating 
an image o f the abdomiinal muscles kn ittin g  together. Steven tells students that 
through a ho llow ing-out acttion the antteerriilo1r abdom inal walll can create a 
supporrttive  pressure w ithout a dancer needing to tuck the coccyx under du ring  a 
siit-up. F inallly, he asks students to remember latteerr—-wwhhiile  they are danciinngg—-tthe 
sensattions o f breathing and abdomiinal support that they explored through 
sttilllnneesss and touch. 
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According to his students, Steven's ph iloossophy o f teaching modern dance  
involvees a number o f factors. A liiggnnm ent is a key issue, as is find ing  a sense o f  
w eight and grounding w ith in  the body. Momv·eement is to be felt and understood  
in ternallly. (The insided/voutside nature o f understanding, learning, and perform ing  
mo\v·ement is emphasized by alll o f the teacher partic iippaants, and numerous  
student particippaants. The concept w ii l l  be brie fly  noted throughout this chapter,  
and explained in more dettaiil in Chapter V.) The external appearance of  
movement should be d irecttly  inflluueenncced by the k inesiio log icallly  correct execution  
o f the movement. Students are encouraged to find  w ays o f m oving which feel 
right for them as ind iv iidduua ls. Steven reflected, 
It would be interesting, as an experiment, fo r me to try  to teach a class 
w ithout touching, not even touching mysellf. I  bet 1I  w ou ld  falter hundreds 
o f times because it''s part o f m y w orld . Touch ing is communication that is 
d iffeerent from  vocal, inte lleectual com m uniiccaatitoionn—-but it is 
communication.  
Ed Grovjff 
Descrribing his pedagogiical philossophy, Ed G ro ff stated that the 
fundamenttall idea in sttudy ing  technique is to try to fin d  the basis o f coordination 
o r conneccttiiviity to support three--diimennssiLiomnal m ov\·ement in many kinds o f 
d is to rtion  and conttortion. Th is approach is inflluueenncced by contact im promv·issation 
in w hich the dancer cannot p red ic t resultant designs. Ed belieevees dance tra in ing 
needs to addrreessss "  . . .  what goes where, how itt''ss done, and w hy  itt''ss done." For 
him , dance is a gesttallt o f the Laban Movement Analysis categories o f Body, 
Effort, Space, and Shape. Ed wants to help students fin d  the ir own voices, 
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uniqueeness, sellf-confiiddeence, and sellf esteem. He addresses issues o f gender,  
race, identtiity, pollitics, power, emottion, psychology, philossophy, and aestthettics. 
A num ber o f these issues are physiicallly experienced and v\'erballly addressed  
through a '’toboggan'’ im prov\'issation in which one dancer straddles another from  
behind. Physiicalllly, the dancer seated behind manipulaattees her or his partner w ith  
hands, arms, legs, and torso, taking respoonnssibibiilliity for directing the partner''s flow  
o f movement, and try in g  to maxim ize the three-dimensional shaping through the 
partner's torso. Ed gave his students these instructions.  
The person in back is do ing the labor; the person in front is enjjoying not 
having to make decisions. Just be molded, sculpted, shaped. There's a 
degree o f core conneccttiiviity and core shapiing, even though you, in the 
front don''t have to make choices. A llo w  yoursellf to react in the spine; just 
feell like, "“ Here lI aam.."  
For me, as a \v"iieewer, this was a mesmerriizing and beauuttiiful acttii\v· ityv. Thel' 
students appeared to fu lly  release into the experience. The studentt-to-student- 
touch variations w hich I  wittnneesssed included supporrting, molding, surround ing, 
m aniipulla ting, gu id ing , stretching, sttroking, pushing, pu lling, and 
simulttaneouslly touching a number o f areas on the body. Both particiippaanttss 
demonstrated a h igh level o f focus and attention to the other; the leader took the 
role o f caretaker. This acttiiv ity  was fo llloowed by a discussion du ring  w h ich  Ed 
inforrm ed the students that they had engaged in tw o phenomena: "tthe 
architecture o f support and the giift o f surrenderr." He encouraged them to reflect 
on w hich role fellt more o r less comfortable. He reminded them that, from  the 
standpoiin t o f technique, this exercise was an opporrtuniity  forr "  . . .  f lu id ity ,  
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seqquueennttiiaalliity th rough the spine, release, breath, inner conneccttiiviity and the  
opporrttuniity  to lissten non--verrbaallly." These issues, he explained, are alll necessary 
components fo r partnering. Regarrding the toboggan improvissation, students  
commented: "“ IIt fellt good." " I  noticed that I  felt the use o f technique in terms o f  
my abdomiinal area.." "M y  partner, when she was in front, was 'reading' through  
her skiin." "There are d iffeeren t ways for the front person to 'say' the same  
moveemeennt—t- m y m ovem entt."  
Ed explores concepts o f supporrting and surrendering body weight  
through another approach—-""lleeddggiing and draping forms.." In these forms the  
supporter creates various stable ledges w ith  her or his body, and the partner  
drapes over the ledgeess—-rereleleaassiing the weight o f the body. M iirraanda Tufnelll and  
Chris C rickm ay (1990) describe a siim ilar contact im provissation exercise in which  
one dancer stands on alll fours as a partner drapes her or his bodyv over. The  
authors offer these instructions to the draping dancer:  
Let go o f alll w eight, head, shoulders, knees. Breath [is] lengthening the 
axes o f arms, torso, legs. Sllowly mellt dow n o ff your partner, into the 
floor. fFiind a series o f stretches supported by your partner. Let the hands, 
feet, head be like  antennae. Find a series o f rests supported by your 
parttnneer—r-a sttiill l o r a m oving support. A seamless diaalloogguuee—-eexxcchhaanngiing 
roles, supporrtting , supported, balancing,. [a ll punctuation added] (p. 69) 
Tufnell''s and C rickm ay''s use o f the word "antennae" resonates w ith  Ed's concept  
of non-verbal lisstening. 
Ed believes that intermediate and advanced levels o f technique class are  
more appropriate fo r the inclusion o f touch than beginning level classes; it is 
during the interm ediate and advanced stages when students' underrlly ing  
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allignm ent and conneccttiiviity issues are becoming integrated. Ed stated that he  
thinks o f the body as a lump o f clay, malleable in his hands. Simulttaanneeous to his  
touch, he contributtees verbal inform ation. Ed commented that he uses substtanttial  
force in order to lim it a dancer's movement range or to manipulate it. He also  
providees resistance to a student's movement. He noted that he "" . . .  attempts to 
trick normall, less effficient patterns into more efficient patterns through the d irect  
sensory feedback offered through touch." He believes that touch contribbuttees to a 
dancer's understanding of the biomechanics o f technique, and that kinesthetic  
learning provided through touch is an inroad for some students for w hom  visual  
learning is less effective. Ed elaborated on kinesthetic intelliiggeence: 
I  believe the body has its own organic intteellilgigeennccee—-kkiinestthettic  
intteellilgigenencec—e- so just by visualliz ing and try ing  to accomplish sometthing 
the body is going to try  and find the most efficient way to do it. People 
who have never been touched can learn and im prove because the body 
w ii l l eventtuallllvy seek out the most biomechaniicallly efficient means to do 
sometthiing. Btuit it''s a lot more hit-or-m iisss w itthou t touch than it is w ith  
touch. 
Ed's students consiisttenttlly descrribed his teaching as emphasiizing tw o 
p rim ary areass—-inintteerrnal process and dynam ic range. They noted that he 
encourages dancers to find the physical sensattions w ith in  their bodies to 
(a) understand how movement feels on the inside and (b) find internal sources 
fo r movement. They also remarked that he pushes movement to its extremes in 
terms o f dynamics (and dynam ic changes), tim ing, and performance level. 
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Laurie Samudia 
When desccrriib ing her approach to teaching m odermn dance, Laurie Sanda  
qualliified her remarks, noting that technique is offeered on ly  twice a week. She 
enrolls students o f alll levels in each o f her classes, and she has lim itteed control  
over resttrriic ting o r leveling them due to enrollm ent pressures and schedulling  
problems. Laurie ''s approach necesssaarriilly takes into account what each student in  
her class has experienced previously in terms o f dance technique. She senses 
when students are ready for touch intervention, and she felt that her students in  
her current M odermn Dance lHllI class were deffiin ite ly  ready. Her prim ary objectivees  
for  student learn ing include alignment, musiicalliity, breaking out o f previous  
movement conceptions, and, as she puts itt,, "  . . .  kn o w in g  your body from  the 
inside ou t." Laurie incorporraattees anattomiical concepts and term inology into her  
classes, and she teaches her students the kinesiiological underpinnings o f the 
movements w hich  they perrform . Laurie teaches M odern  Dance IIllI as a styles 
class. She a lways spends the first eight weeks on Graham-based technique; the 
second hallf o f the semester m igh t focus on N iko laaiss/L o u iss technique, Laban's  
Space H arm ony, o r another style. Laurie stated: 
I  th ink  it''ss realllly im portant that the dancers go o u t o f the dance program 
know ing  w hat a contraction is, where it comes from  and the correct way 
to do it because they're going to be asked to do it  in  choreography from  
one end o f the specttrum to the other. They need to know how to do a 
spiira l that is in ittiiaatted from  center. They need to  know  how to do that 
reallly clear, crisp attack that is associated w ith  Graham, and to feell the 
strength to the ends o f the ir fingertips and toes that is approached so 
com plete ly in Graham.  
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For Laurie, three areas in w hich touch is parrtticu la rly  usefful are alignment, 
place o f support, and po in t o f in itiiaation. For example, she instructs students to 
touch themselves fo r support du ring  an upper back arch. A  student places one 
hand on the front o f the pellvis to sttabiilize it; w ith  the other hand the student 
draws a line up the back o f the neck toward the base o f the skulll and then pullss 
the head up from  under the cranium. The student arches/hyperextends the 
cerrvical spine, m aiin ta in ing  the upward, lengthened energy. According to 
Laurie, this exercise, like other sellf-touch experieences requirees students to take 
respoonnssibibiilliity for theiir ow n learning. [In contrast, a p rim a ry  goal during  a 
studentt-to-student-touch exercise is to search for the appropria te  response in 
one's partner. The abiilitiiees to take respoonnssibibiilliity for onesellf and to attend to 
another person are necessarry fo r an effective use o f touch; teaching and learning 
to take respoonnssibibiilliity for onesellf and for another person engage one in meta-­
dance practice. 
Laurie's students stressed that she emphasizes dancing from one's center 
(the pellvis) and that, in generall, dancing should come from  the inside and move 
out. They sensed Laurie ''s bellief that dance is available fo r everyone, and that 
each dancer should learn to use the instrum ent she or he has. They believed 
Laurie values anattomiical understanding o f movement, as w elll as find ing the 
emottion behind the movement. 
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Mary Seerreiiter 
Some o f M ary Seerreiiter's p rim ary  areas o f focus in her teaching are  
encouraging students to (a) sense and inittiiaatte movement from  the inside o f their  
bodies; (b) perceive theiir w eight; (c) embody a range o f movement quallitiees; and  
(d) release tensiion, release theiir w eiighhit: into gravity, and release anyth ing being  
unnecesssaarriilly held. To c larriify  M a ry'’s concept o f perceiiving one'’s ow n weight,  
one aspect o f this concept is the L M A  idea o f weight Effort, w hich deals w ith  
". . .  your sensattiion o f Sellf and you r ow n intention in m oving"” (Hackney, 1998, 
p. 220). iIntention may be acttiivelly  asseerrtting one'’s w eight or passiively  
surrenderring it. It also pertains to a sttabbiilliz ing sense o f feelling grounded or  
connected to the earth. 
One way in w hich M ary instructs the concept o f ’'release'’ is teaching th,a1t 
the cellls in the human body are permeable, and that they can have the qualliity  1olfl 
breath. She teaches the idea that th rough the cells one can alllow  energy in, or  
hold the celll membrane rig id ly , w ith  tension. A long these lines, Bonnie  
Bainbridge Cohen (1993) writtees, 
The perrmeaabbiilliity o f the celll membrane determines the flow  o f intercelllu lar 
flu id carrrying nutrients in  and waste out o f its walls. The celllu lar flu id  
rhythm . . .  is manifested as a continuous fillliinng  and em ptty ing o f alll cells 
throughout the body and is referred to as celllu lar breathing,. (p. 70) 
Cohen goes on to state that sensiing the celllu lar flu id  brings one to a state o f  
absollute rest and being in  the moment. The inner and outer flow  o f celllu lar flu id  
can be assiisted through touch by "  . . .  supporrting each body part w ith  a resttful  
non-directive and steady presence and touch" (p. 70). 
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M ary demonstrates the concept o f the flow  o f celllu lar flu id . She takes a 
paper napkiinn—-wwhhiich  represents the celll membbrraannee—- and places it in water. The 
w ick ing  o f the water represents oxygen m oving  into the celllu lar tisssue which 
students are asked to imagine as capiilla ry action m oving into tense areas o f the 
body. M ary touches the napkin w ith  her finger to guide the water into places 
where the napkiinn—- as she descrribibeess—-""needs hellp." This is clearly a reference to 
ways in w hich her students can assiist each other through touch. This 
demonsttrattion is fo llow ed by a studentt-to-student-touch experience that focusses 
on b ring ing  the quallitiees o f ease and breathinneesss into the body. The exercise is 
intimate; it bu ilds a rapport between students; it develops trust, and a 
communal, non-compettiitive attitude towards others. Rapport and trust are 
integral aspects o f touch pedagogy; they are also learning outtccoommeess—-ffar bte.•y,o ind 
dance stepss—--o f meta-dance practice. 
lIncorporating Body-M ind Centering into  her teaching, Mary also 
concentrates on the body's fluids, jointtss, and organs as centers o f movement. Shte• 
states,," .. . .  for me, teaching is a path to sellf healling and find ing  spiiriitualliity. " 
M ary tries to b ring  aspect of healling and spiir itu allity  into her classes w itho,)u t 
ta lking about them. For her, a dance class is a balance between the 
rittuua l//m eetaphysica l and the anattomiical. She demands that her students be 
'preessentt’—'-ffulllly  engaged at every moment o f the class. 
Siim ilar to Ed, M ary believes that using touch is more usefful w ith  
intermediate or advanced students w ho have a degree o f body intelliigence. Fonr 
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M ary, touch alllows one to 'speak th rough  the body' and activate her o r his own,  
o r another's body intelliiggeence. Reminiscent o f Ed, Mary spoke on this concept:  
I feell  the purpose fo r me is to communicate w ith  their bodies and bring 
theiir awareness to the intellliiggeenncce o f the body, rather than the ir on ly  
learning from  a brain perspecttive. I b ring  awareness to them—-fefeeelliing and 
sensiing from the inside. I ask, "W hat do you sense?" That gets in to  the 
body intelliiggeence. I f  you tune in, you r body is going to telll you where you 
are, but if  you're not tun ing  in  then you need someone to help you. The 
purpose o f touch is to facilittaate  the ir ow n awareness and knowleedge that''s 
already there. I''m  just rem ind ing  them. Sometimes I  feell like m y hands 
have intelliiggeence that m y b ra in  doesn''t understand. M y brain is behindJ. 
M y  hands are more in te lliiggeent.  
M ary''s students noted her emphasis on find ing  an internal understanding 
o f how  one produces movement. They recognized her interest in having 
students explore d iffeerent quallitiees, develop the ir expressive skillss, and leca1rrn 
how  to care for the body.  
The Dance Student Diaaspora 
M ark Strand's (1992) poem M y  Liiffet—.·-excerpted herree—-iis a rem inder fur 
teachers that alll students come to class w ith  the ir ow n metaphors for the ir bnodd1ite•s~ 
and theiir livees. We m ight ask ourselves w hat w ou ld  be a studentt'’s body imagel' 
and response to touch if  the student's m etaphor for the body is a dolll.  
The huge d olll o f  m y body 
refuses to rise. 
I am the toy o f women.  
M y mother  
w ou ld  prop me up for her friieends. 
"Talk, tallk ," she w ou ld  beg. 
I moved my m outh  
but w ords d id  no t come. (p. 72) 
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Let us recalll that one o f the meanings o f 'meta' is situated bcelzhi1in1d; meta-­
dance practice is invested in an acknowleedgem ent o f w hat is behind each student 
in  a class. Teachers ask themselves, "W hat is this student's background w ith  
dance and touch?" The moment students engage in a touch event in class they 
are required to confront (consciiouslly or subconscciiouslly) theiir own histories. A 
teacher's acknowledgement o f a student's past is a pedagogiical imppeerraatitviev—e- 
espeecciialllly if  touch is involveed.  
By the time they arrive in a colleege modern dance class which is not .a1t .a1 
rank-beginner level, most students have faced some o f the ir concerns abnout 
touching in class. M any have encountered touch in stud io  modermn dance or 
creattive movement classes, or in gymnastics. Fo llow ing are ten students' own 
desccrriiptions o f theiir backgrounds and how those backgrounds affect their 
avaiillabbiillity  to touch, o r to be touched in a dance class. (Real names are not 
used.)  
Yoko: [1  grew up and sttiilll live  in Japan. We do n 't touch a lot; we greLe'lt 
w ith  a bow. Americcaans th in k  touching is im portant and always say, ''"II''m 
sorrry; excuse me." In crow ded Japanese trains people touch and kick, .a1n11dJ 
no one says, '"TI 'm  sorrry." In  the U.S. people come up too close for my 
comffort; sometimes [I  back away. M y  host mother hugs me, bu t I  can't 
hug back; I can trust M ary Seerreiiter's soft touch and I knmowv w hat she's 
gettting at. [I  d id  not experience that soft touch in Japan; I  was grabbed by 
the shoulders, slapped on a body part. I learned from  the h itting  to do it 
right. When I get h it I just remember the form, and then forget it; when lI 
learn from soft touch and kinddnneesss [I  can remember it and fix  it mysellf, 
later. 
Meliisssa: G row ing up, m y fa miily  was close, touchy-feelly. I  was in water 
babies w ith  m y mother. I was always being touched in famiily  acttiivitiiees. lI 
d id n 't feell hindered in class by being touched and I can't imagine having a 
class where I wasn't touched.  
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Dana: I  grew up in a famiilly  where touch was a form o f punishm ent, 
conttrol. I  was molested at age seven by a group of girls. This incident 
makes me want to know  when a touch acttiiv ity  is com ing up in class. As a 
wom an I  feell  reluctant to touch in  a cu lture where women are frequenttlly 
sexualllly assauullted. To ease the com fort level and make touch more usefful 
in  the class we should learn about w eight, how to cradle someone's skulll, 
how  to lean on someone. 
Juaniita: Being from Mexico helps me w ith  touch. Latin culturrees use a lot 
more touch than Americcans. In Mexican culture we sit closer on the 
couch. Even Mexican cu lture varies by class segments: upper classes use 
more space between people unleess they are very close friieends; other 
classes are more relaxed. In [N o rth ] America people focus on 
ind iv iduallity , how you 're  d ifffeerent. Latin American countriees use 
in tu ition  more; touch communicaattees a lo t o f in tu ition. M y  cu ltu ra l 
comffort w ith  touch transfers to com fort in the studio.  
Judy: Both my parents gave me massages, especciialllly going to sleep. Mv 
m other is a dancer; she danced late into her five pregnancies. This ha,bs 
made me open to touch. O ur cu ltu re  tells us not to touch. A dance dcl.aiss 
should be an environm ent where there is a lot of touching.  
Susan: I  grew up in a famiilly  that d id  fo lk  dancing, which created a 
com fort w ith  touch and makes touch effective for me in learn ing dance. 
The fo lk dance environm ent p rov ided a com m uniity where you could 
touch, give hugs, feell  com fortable learning about your body. You could 
watch other people and see how  they w ork  their bodies and enjjoy mfilol\v ing 
together. It feels  normal to touch.  
Anne: It could be my culture, background, upbringing, o r just 
personaliittyy—-[I always want to be in control and independent. It is 
sometimes diifficu lt to trust somebody o r let them in m y space. It makes 
me vulnerable. lI'rmn w ork ing  on it because [I know you can't dance like 
that. In contact im provisation I always w ant to be lifttiinng , helping, 
ho ld ing, not letting people take care o f me. [It takes a lot to bu ild  touch 
relationships. When teaching it''ss im portant to get permission to touch. 
Kirmn: I blame my being from  the M idw eest for a lot o f standofffissh quallitiees 
I have. M y  famiilly is not as openlly  affectionate or free w ith  touch as other 
people are, elsewhere. M y  famiily ''s touch dynamics affect how  I  respond 
to touch in class. I have trouble w ith  contact im provissation. N orth  Dakota 
is qu ite  Lutthheerarann—-a second N orw ay. The way of speaking is 
understated: "Cold enough for ya?" We d on 't want to show social 
reliance, but be independent. This may have touch im pliiccaatiioonss.  
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Marci: Touch is an awkward subject fo r me. Raised Roman Catthollic, [I''m  
a relig ious person. However, [I have no problem  the way touch is used in 
dance class. Steven's use o f touch, and partner touch is effective. 
Janett: Perrsonnaallly, for me touch is very usefful because o f m y background 
where there was some inappropriate touching when Il was younger, as a 
chiild , and then I also had a date rape experience. There had always been a 
problem w ith  boundaries being crossed. So, for me, Il th ink  it''s very 
hellp fu l psychollogiicalllly to have a place where I  can go that''s safe, where [I  
get to enjjoy m y own body and m oving and sttiill feell it''ss O.K. to be 
touching other people. That's w hy I enjoy dance, and I  always did, 
because it  alllowed me to break ou t o f that feelling that there is sometthing 
inappropriate going on. 
As a group, the 21 students I interviieewed acknowleedged touch to be an 
im portant and integral aspect o f a modern dance class. However, as evidenced 
from  the above cross secttion o f participants, each one's journey to acceptance or 
com fort w ith  touch is unique. TIh1iis variety o f jourrneeys h igh lights the importtaance 
o f a teacher's sennssititiiviity  to the ind iv idua l needs o f students. Throughout this 
chapter the teacher participants reveall their approaches to a number of issues 
w hich sttronglly impact the usefulness o f touch as a learning tooll—-isisssues o f 
personal space, gender, sexual orientation, receppttiiviity, empatthy, and rapport. 
When teachers acknowledge the pedagogiical signifiiccaance o f the very 
process o f a student gaiin ing comfort w ith  touchh—-pphhyyssiicall, psychological, 
cu ltura l, o r sociiological com foorrt—t-tthey are w o rk ing  w ith in  the paradigm o f meta-­
dance practice. Ed commented that the process o f gaiin ing com fort providdees an 
opporrttuniity  fo r students "  . . .  to sellf assess w ith  a degree o f honesty and 
openness, and hopeffullly  accuracy.." He described his approach to teaching as 
hollistic, and one in w hich the development o f the artist is not d issiim ilar from the  
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development o f the person. He stated, " I  believe, as we mature as ind iv iidduuaalss 
that wvve mature as artists, and that u ltim ate ly artists are people w ho  have taken 
detours along the w ay and have liveed the ir livees fu lly  and investigaated alll kinds 
o f emottional te rrito ry  . . . "  
Teachers w ho acknowledge the importtaance and ind iv idua l nature o f 
students' receppttiiviity to touch are engagiing in meta-dance practice: (a) They are 
teaching much more than steps; (b) they observe and pay attention to the 
readiness o f the student; and (c) they cu ltivaatte relationships w ith , and identtiify  a 
range o f possiible appropriate responses from  the ir students. W ith  each student, 
teachers engage in a common search for understanding. As we have obsseerrvveedd—- 
through the teacher and student parrttic ipa,rnts' descrriiptions o f the ir backgrounds, 
philoossophies, upbring ings and expeerrieiennccese—s-tthe colleege modern dance class has 
the potenttial to be a culltu rallly  rich setttting. Teachers and students' personal 
cultturreess—-- composed o f heritage, re lig ion, famiily , and previous experience w ith  
dance and toucchh—-ffeed into the cu lture known as the modern dance technique 
class. As we move into  a discussion o f culture, I  ask that the reader remember, 
from  Chapter [I, how  the w ord culture is used in this context. C u ltu re  consists o f 
ou r language and symbols; these include our choices in  how we use words, 
touch, and movement. How we use these elements defines who w e are, 
organizes ou r reallities, and guides us in our behaviors.  
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The C u ltu re  o f the Modern Dance Technique Claass 
The modern dance technique class o f this study is a subculture of the 
larger N orth  American cu lture. Like any culture it contains sociiallly accepted 
patterns o f behaviior and belliefs. W hile alll modermn dance classes share certain 
traits (such as the fact that articulate expression through bodiily  movement 
supersedes verbal expressiion) ind iv idua l dance teachers bu ild  d ifffeerrent 
foundations for theiir classes w hich  reflect particu lar preferences. Among 
numerous pedagogiical belliefs and strategies, w hich they share in common, 
Steven, Ed, Laurie, and M ary underrg ird their class cultturrees w ith  human touch. 
From reading the preceding biographical statements by students, it is apparent 
that many students expect tlo) find touch w ith in  the modern dance class culture 
and have experienced it w ide ly . To varying degrees they accept, need, are 
uncomfortable w ith, and w ou ld  feell a great loss w itth o u t it. 
Covnllttaacct—t-iilnl Cvo1n1ttact lImprroo"v,iissaatitaio1n1 
Siim ilar to the m odern dance pedagogy and technique o f Steven, Ed, 
Laurie, and Mary, another dance form —-- contact im prroovvisisaattioionn—-sshares the 
cu ltu ra l norm  o f touch. Contact im provissation is an approach to movement 
tra in ing and performance in vo lv ing  collaborative interaction, based on force and 
momentum. The dancers sense and experience the ir ow n  and the ir partners' 
movement, largelly th rough touch. lInherent in the practice o f contact 
im provissation is studentt-to-student-touch (or in this case, im provisor-to- 
improvissor-touch). Contact im provissation grew out o f m odem  dance in the earrly  
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1970s and has, in turn, fed  modern dance styles. Steve Paxton, its prim ary  
innovator had been a modern dancer; converselly, modern dance choreographers  
and teachers (such as Ed) incorporate contact im provissation into the ir modern  
dance w ork. Cynthia Novak (1990) describes how  a teacher o f contact  
im provissation uses touch: 
Regardless o f difffeerreences in approach from  one teacher o f contact 
im provisation to another, alll teachers instruct their students to focus on 
the physical sensattiions o f touch and the pressure of weight. Thus in the 
learning process, the sense o f touch and physical reflex actions assume 
more importtaance for  the dancer than the sense of vision and consciiously 
chosen actions., (p. 150) 
A majjor difffeerreence between contact im provissation and modern dance in 
the use o f touch is that for  contact im proviissaattioionn—- whetther in teaching it or 
perrform ing it—-totouuch is an end, in itsellf. Being in contact w ith  another dancer 
defines the form . However, in the modern dance class, toucchh—-eexxcept when 
students are explliiciitly  learning or perrfo rm ing  choreographed or improviisseed 
parttnneerriningg—- is usualllly a means to an end. These 'ends' include, but are not 
lim itteed to the fo llow ing: (a) knowleedge o f anattom ical principllees and movement 
quallitiieess//d dyynnaam ics; (b) development o f a posiitive  rapport w ith  the teacher 
a n d /o r  between students; (c) re(ceeppttiiviity to the teacher's instructions;  
(d) perceptiveeneess to the acttiivitiees in class; (e) a biillity  to use imagery, to clearly 
observe, and to balance; and (f) a\wvareeneess o f alignment, spattial orientation, 
tension in the body, breatthing, the three-dimensional nature o f movement, site of 
movement in itiiaation , and inward and ou tw ard  rotation of the limbs. 
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Touch also leads students beyond technniqiquuee—-ffin d in g  new choices, 
learning to be flexible in theiir approach, culltiva ting  relationships, and feelling 
em pathy for another person. Steven described the cu lture o f his modern dance 
class: 
What happens in the dance class is we create a cu ltu ra l norm that''s 
d iffeerent from \w\'hat''s ou t in  the halllway o r w hat you encounter when 
you're in your b io logy o r English class. In the dance class it''s a proper 
part o f the tra in ing and the learning to touch, be touched, and 
communicate th rough  touch. When they w ork  w ith  one another there's 
this mushroom cloud o f openness and sociiallization that occurs. I  know, 
from  experience, that when I do some o f m y first, more exhilarating 
touching exercises, a fter it''s done I  just have to w a it fo r them to come back 
because they are just dellighted and they're g igg ling  and they have to talk 
about it. They w ant to intelleectualize the experience they just had, 
w ork ing  w ith  one another. It creates a huge bonding experience among 
them. 
Howiv  Teachers CrrceaalLte~ E1n1vPiro1n1m111eLn'ltllss fo r  Touch 
John Dewey (1939) disscussses human environments:  
The fine old sayingg " A  sound m ind in a sound body" can and should bet' 
extended to read "A  sound human being in a sound human 
environm entt." . . .  Is there anyth ing in the whole busineess o f politiiccss, 
economics, morals, educatioonn—-iinndeed in any proffeessssioionn—-ssave the 
consttruction o f a p roper human environm ent that w ii l l  serve, by its very 
existence, to produce sound and whole human beings, w ho in turmn w ill 
maiintain a sound and heallthy human environment? This is the universal 
and alll-embracing hum an task. (p. 834) 
The environments created by Steven, Ed, M ary and Laurie embrace touch 
as a natural component. C ycllicallly , touch cultivvaattees their pedagogies and the 
class atmospheres that those pedagogies foster. Alsso, those atmospheres 
themselves are such that they foster an ever increasing use o f touch. 
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There are numerous idioossynnccrraassiees that frequenttlly define the culture o f a 
modern dance class. For example, students wear fo rm -fittin g  clothing, and they 
learn to recognize and respect personal space versus com m unal space. Touch is 
another o f many cu ltu ra l features. To enable students to successssffuulllly use touch 
teachers stay aware o f the sociial and cu ltura l d istinctiioons o f their classes. They 
create environments w ith  some o r alll o f the fo llow ing  charactterristics: 
cooperrattion, risk-taking, sennssititiiviity  to the emottional potenttia l o f touch, 
experrimentattion, and rapport among members. H ow  do teachers accomplish 
this? W hat atmospheres do they foster? 
Ho,wu Sttte.'Iv'et'lnl Crte.'ate:s; an Enmv1iro1n1me1n1t ffvorr Touch 
The environm ent o f Steven's class has a qualliity  o f ongoingneess. Hiss 
extensive w arm -up com binations are repeated from class to class so students are 
famiilia r w ith  the matterriiall; the earrlly part o f class feels someewwhh,:ait rittualistic. 
Students are required to stay focused because Steven does not alllow  for wasted 
time. Howe\v·er, w ith in  the efffic ieent use o f time he encourages experimentation 
and tells students to "g o o f a round" and "have fun " when they engage in 
sttudentt-to-student-touch. O ften, when students explore touch exercisses together 
they appear to be at ease w ith  each other and w ith  Steven, and they laugh.  
Steven also encourages inte lleectua l exchange and understanding by asking 
students, after a touch exercise, to explain their feedback to their partners. 
Students are focused on th eiir  verbal and tactile give-and-take.  
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As w ith  alll the teacher participants, Steven is sensiitive to the impact o f  
gender w ith  regard to touch. This awareness plays a role in  the dance class 
culture that he fosters. \WVh ile  he has wittnneesssed female collleeaaguees joke w ith  their  
female students and in class use such terms as "boobs" and "crottches" and touch  
female students in the pubic area, he w iil l not. He does not fin d  this approach/  
rapport which some female teachers have developed w ith  the ir students to be 
negattiive; he siim ply knows that his relationship w ith  female students w ill always  
be diffeerent. \W,Vhhaatteever experiences his students (male or female) may ha\v'e had 
w ith  touch from  other dance teachers (male or female) he bu ildss his rapport from  
his own base. His pedagogy includees touching male students on the chest, 
sternum, front o f the low er abdomen, upper leg, or gluteal area—-ppllaces he 
w ould  not touch a female. Steven remarked, 
I can remember grabbing a guy's peces, and shaking them to try  to move 
tensiion, or to show connecttion. Il can't ever do that to a wom an, even to a 
woman who has a pecttorallis m inor syndrome where she's reallly 
clenching in here and she can''t feell that she's hold ing, o r that she's pu lling  
her shoulders fo rw ard. I  m ight work up towards the clavicle. I  don't 
come dow n where the reall meat o f the muscle is, o f course, under the fattvy 
tissue o f the breast. A nd , I ' l l  try  from the peripheral fibers to help her gett  
a little  sense o f that. O r, I w ou ld  have her touch hersellf and try  to 
visualize an energy that moves out through there and have her trace a 
path across her ow n body. Once I sense that some tension has drained in 
that area, then I  w ii l l  be very comfortable helping move her into a less 
concave posture, and help her try  to inviiggorraate the postterrior muscles to 
create that kind o f release o f tension in front. 
Steven is senssiittive about know ing when not to touch a student. This is 
another element of his teaching that creates an environm ent o f cooperattion, risk- 
taking, and experrimentattion, and a culture that is open to touch. Sometimes his 
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students are not in a recepttive state, for numerous reasons: Today is not a good 
day to be touched; a student has some inhibittiioons to touch; a hindraance is due to 
lack o f confideence w ith  one's dance technique. According to Ste\v·en, "“ Sometimees 
the students just can't handle some o f the exercisses I'd like to do. It takes tim e to 
bu ild  up a progression where they can fu llyr u tiliizze some o f the beneffits o f 
touchiing." Consiidering reasons fo r a student's hindrraances w ith  touch, w h ile  this 
study d id  not include data regarding the response of gay men or lesbians to 
being touched byv a same-sex teacher, it is an issue which cerrttaiin ly warrants a 
teacher'’s awareness. 
Hozov Ed Crne:ates a1n1 Enmv1iro1n11m11ec1n1t fov r  Touch 
Frequenttlly the begiinning o f Ed's class, like Steven's, feels rittuuaallisistitci—c-a 
m orning ritua l to help wake up the students. Students m igh t use sellf-maasssage; 
they also move as if massagiing the space w ith  theiir bodies, acknowledging the 
viscosiity o f space, encouraged byv Ed who asks them to "“ pay homage" to the 
space. The metaphorrical becomes reall; imaginations are awakened. The qualliity  
o f Ed's voice has h ills and valleys, dependiing on how he is counting the rhythm  
and what he is emphassiiziing; his voice welcomes and guides students on a 
journey. \W,Vhheen he makes mistakes he and the students freelly laugh. Sometimes 
Ed w ii l l  stop to touch, w ork ing  w ith  a single student. A t those times his 
expectattion is clearrlly that each student w ii l l maintain her focus and stay 
occupied. Ed affirrms, encourages, and expects theiir greatest efffort and m atturriitvy.  
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There are a variety o f wavys to in trrooduce students to, and promote  
discussion o f the concept o f educattiionall/therapeutic  touch in the dance class. 
Sometimes a teacher makes an expllic it statement o f fact at the begiinn ing o f the  
semestter: "Touch is beneffiicial in the learning o f dance and it w ii l l  be included in  
this class.." Alsso, it can be mentioned in the syllaabus, o r siim p ly  used as a matter  
o f course w itthou t discussiion. Ed inforrm s his students that he values touch as a 
teaching tool, but that he understands it can be loaded w ith  a va rie ty  o f  
messages. He knows that his students w ii l l  have d iffeerent com fort levels. He 
wants them to feell free to telll h im  if  and when they siim plvy d o n 't w ant to be 
touched, touched in a parrticu lar way, o r on a parrticu lar place. K now ing  that h,~ 
students reallize they ha\v·e permission to speak up, he feels com fortable  
circula ting through class, using touch where be believes it w ii l l help. Ed w ill 
touch his students unless they ask h im  not to. That is theiir agreement.  
Ed acknowleedges that teacher-student relationships are also real and  
personal relationships; he inevitab ly develops a stronger rapport w ith  some  
students over others. Ed stated,  
I''ve tried to get a littttllee more systemattic and just make sure that I''m  not 
leaving anybody out, asking mysellf, "H o w  recenttlly have I done hands-on 
intervention w ith  this person?" I ' l l  go through m y rolll book and just th ink  
through it perriiodiicallly and I also say to them once in aw hile , " I f  you're 
feelling ignored, please ask a questtion o r say, 'come over and take a look ' 
o r 'w hat do you th ink  about this and that?"'"' I give them perm ission to 
take that kind o f in itiiaativee.  
Ed recognizes that gender issues are related to a student's com fort 
w ith  touch. Like Steven, Ed takes in to  account anattomiical difffeerreencces. 
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Ed remarked, 
C errttaiin ly in terms of anattomy lI w ou ld  touch men on the ir chests in ways 
that lI w ou ld n 't touch a woman on the chest. A nd  that does come into play 
in terms o f the sternum softening and fo ld ing, o r even center o f lev ity  .amnd 
center o f g raviity  for breatthing. lI often feell lI'm  touching a woman a littttllee 
h igher on the chest than lI w ou ld  be on a man. lI w ou ld  go more d irectly  
over the sternum area on a man. I do feell like lI make adjustments to the 
anattomy. But then sometimes going in for the psoas I feell  more 
comfortable going deeper w ith  a wom an than w ith  a man; I feell more 
tim id , maybe, in  center o f g raviity  w ith  men. In some ways lI realllly th ink 
that's probablly about the extent o f the d ifffeerentia tion . I  th ink  I  use degree 
o f pressure pre tty  equalllly, o r w ou ld  make that adjustment based on the 
ind iv idu a l \wVhhiicch is not necesssaarriilly by gender.  
Ed acknowleedges that issues o f sex, sexual orientation, and gender can  
surface w ith  the use o f touch, and cause discomffort. He summed up his 
approach to these issues. 
Ideallly, I  make sure everyone knows that lI'm  gay, that lI am forty-tw o, .arnd 
am not rem otelly motivaated by sexual interest in anyv student, male or 
female. I discuss w ith  students the fact that sensattions o f touch can arouse 
sexual feelings and that the ind iv idua l student is responsiible for 
m oniito ring  his o r her ow n experience and taking respoonnssibibiilliity to act ,o 1n11 
those feelings o f discomffort. lIn contact im provisation [I sometimes refker hto, 
what Steve Paxton callls the "“ Gland Game" when sexual curiosiity  be~cuomLe'~s 
too much a part o f a duet dance. lI w ou ld  continue to emphasize thLe• 
objeecttiviveess—-eedduuccaattiional and functtioionnaal—l- and inv itte students to keep thle' ir 
focus. 
How Laurie Creates an Environment fo r  Touch 
Laurie''s stud io  environm ent is shaped by her style o f teachiing, w hich is 
large and theattrrical, as welll as intimate. H er theattrriicalliity comes ou t in a feline 
qualliity ; at times she prow ls throughout the sttudio, in tenttly  w atching her 
students, sometimes g row ling . She makes many d ifffeerent sounds, such as a 
squeaking hinge when sttronglly and d irecttly  pushing a student into a forw ard  
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curve o f the upper back. Her guttura l sounds, such as "foom !" and "hchuh!!" 
encourage students to pu t theiir weight behind theiir movement. H er sound 
effects tap into the students' imaginations; they also add humor, which builds 
rapport between hersellf and her students. Laurie refers to the class as "gang" 
which, in and o f itsellf, points to her \v·iew  that she and the students are alll there 
for one common purrppoossee—-tto dance. 
Laurie''s use o f unabashed strong touch and close p rox im itvy propels her 
students to take risks; she doesn''t hold back, so w h y  should theyv? To get 
students to feell a sense o f anchoring when siitting  in a straddle posiition, she sits 
behind and straddles a student. Siitting behind and hugging a partner is an 
intiim aate event, but Laurie makes no reference to this inttiimmaaccvy—- she just does 
what she needs to do to help the student. She then has students do this w ith 
each other. Laurie mentors the idea that close p ro x im ity  and firm  touch are u~ste.•d 
w ith  care and sennssititiiviity , they are beneffiicial, and there is no reason not to 
practice them. 
Laurie has a d irect manner of in troducing the concept o f touch that hellp~s 
to move it out o f the realms o f embarrassment, m ystery and confusion: 
I make a d iscla im er in the beginnnniningg—-""Th is  is what we do in technique 
class. This is how  I g ive corrections." A nd  I w ii l l  bring out a student as a 
model and the student w ii l l  take a second posiition plie. I  ·w il l  telll the class, 
" I  may come over to you and open your knees over your toes,," and I 'l l 
demonstrate opening the student's knees over her toes. "O r I  may telll you 
to lift up in  the back o f the neck,," and I ' l l  demonstrate that on the student. 
"O r I  may ask you to l if t  up in your abdomiinalls," and I 'l l  place my hand 
on her tum m y and l if t  up on her abdominals. A nd I ' l l  say, " I  may do this 
to you as a part o f teaching. This is called hands-on teaching and it is a 
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trad itiona l way o f teaching dance,," and I 'l l  make a littttllee joke and fI 'l l  ~s.aay, 
" Itt''ss not sexuall harassmentt" and e\v'erybody laughs, and that's good. 
Jocyln Lawler (1991) w rittees about the issue o f embarrassment in the use of  
touch between a nurse and patient. Siim ilar to a dance teacher's need to c lariify  
the intent o f touch, Lawler notes that it is im portant for a nurse to continue to 
define the siituation between hersellf or h im sellf and the patient. This w iil l 
promote com fort du ring  an interaction which m ight otherw isse be embarrassiing.  
As w ith  Laurie''s approach, Law ler writtees that a successsfful sociial interaction  
between nurse and patient occurs when certain aspects o f the touch--eenccoouunntker  
are recognized: 
. .  .. the need for  alll parties to define the siituation as a professional 
encounter; the 'm atttterr--off-fact' manner o f the sttafff; the carefful use of 
languagee ... .  the use o f hum our to m in im izze potenttial embarrassment; .amnd 
the clear expectattion that the patient and sttafff w ill beha\v'e 'p roperrlly .'  
(p..  112) 
Along w ith  her direct approach, Laurie invittees students to speak w ith  lhwer 
if  they w ou ld  rather not be touched, or be touched in a parrticu la r manner. She 
lets them know that she fu lly  honors and accepts their choices. Laurie has 
devised ways to sennssiittiivelly touch dancers who are new to dance, to her, or to 
touch. She may start w ith  a liggh te r touch and a less vulnerable body area. For 
example, through touch Laurie encourages a student to stretch the back o f her 
neck. She genttlly  strokes her hand up the student's neck and takes the skulll, 
lif ttiinng  it up, away from the spine. Laurie has discovered that students usuallly 
can be touched on the back o f the neck w itthou t feelling sellf-conscious or as if 
theiir space is being invaded. Interesttiinglly, as noted in Chapter I, Jones and  
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Yarbrough (1985) and Oserrnoftf'f-Vamrnelll (1l 998), unlike Laurie, include the neck  
(and feett) as vulnerable body parts. [In consiidering this discrepancy it is 
notew orthy that one o f these studies deallt w ith  e\v'eryday interactions and the  
other, w ith  adolescent dance studeenntsts—-nnot young adults in  a colleege dance class. 
Laurie takes the time to consider w hich  types of touch w ii l l  best serve a particu lar  
student. She stated, 
Non-threatening ways to touch somebody else include cupping the front 
o f a foot to w ork the metatarsal arch, holding a leg w h ile  helping a,1 pa,urtner 
drop her hip, or cupp ing  underneath the shoulder blades and pushing 
them up towards the ceiiling  in an arch. Those seem to be less threatening 
for people than pushing in on the ir abdominals, fo r example. [I  w ou ld  do 
that mysellf, but lI w o u ld n''t-—-cceerrttaaiinllvy not in a M odern [I claasss—- have thlwem 
putting  theiir hands alll mov·er each others' abdominals. By the time thlwevy ,gce;dt 
to Modermn mIII  they're more relaxed about that, plus they usualllly know\\ 
each other better in the M odermn mIII class. The atmosphere in the class is 
much more colllegial than in M odermn IL.  
A t times Laurie wriilll dance an entire sequence w ith  her students w h ilee 
watching them. Aftteerrwaards she is able to givne~ a<1 remarkable number of h igh ly  
personallized and specciiffic corrections. [In this way she demonstrates care for hlwer 
students and supports them on theiir journeeyss touward greater understanding ,o ,t 
theiir ow n danciing. N oddings (1992) belieevees that as we understand oursellnve.•s 
better we are able to incrreease o u r m otiva tion  to understand others. She notes 
that as \wVe engage in caring form s o f d ia lloogguuee—-f[iin  which [I  include tactile 
d ia loogguueel—]- we gain a deeper understanding o f ourselves. Sellf understanding, 
and understanding and caring for others should be synerrgiistic (p. 195). 
Laurie's attittuudees about gender and body size contribute to the cu lture  of 
her class, buiild ing  com fort and rapport, and encouraging experimentation.  
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Laurie feels that a large, atthlletic person sometimes needs to be touched w ith  
more physical asserrttiveness to understand a concept than does a smalller person. 
As she said,, "[I  don''t realllly beat around the bush w ith  anybody. Iln terms o f 
amount o f force I  would use, if  a student happens to be a man then he happens 
to be a man. But i f  she happens to be a w om an w ho is a big athletic wom an [I  
would be the same way w ith  herr.." Laurie offeered the same example as d id  Ed 
and Steveenn—-totouucchhiing the chest, in re lation to male and female students. I f  she is~ 
try ing  to encourage a student to open up—-tto become less concave across the 
chest in an upper back archh—-sshe w iil l most like ly  feell freer to stroke her hands 
across the chest o f a man, and not do so w ith  a woman. For Lamurrie, gender 
makes some difffeerreence in her choikces, but, she stated, " I[t  has more to do w ith  
that physical body in front o f me. W hether it''ss male or female is not the deciid ing 
factor.." 
Laurie ''s intent o f hellp ing her students feell welcome and able in the class 
is demonstrated through her w illllininggnneesss to pu t hersellf in the role o f a student. 
Occassiionalllly, at the end o f the warm -up, students w ii l l sit back-to-back w ith  a 
partner, press agaiinst the partner's back and stand up w itthou t using the ir hands. 
For some people it is an easy acttiiviity; body size, in relation to one's partner does 
not make a difffeerreence. Sometimes Lauriee''s heavier students w ii l l feell 
in tim iiddaatted. They are concerned that they are going to hu rt their partners and 
they w ii l l  ho ld  back, afraid to push hard. Laurie does not w ant to reinforce 
negattive body images. She comes to the rescue o f students who are ha\v·ing  
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trouble and she encourages and coaches them through the exercise. Alsso, at 
times she w ii l l  partner either the smalllest or the largest person in class and do the 
exercise hersellf to show that size is not the detterrmiin ing  factor. Laurie belieevees 
that this exercise, like other guided studentt-to-student-touch experiences, buildss 
students' com fort w ith  each other. 
Tufnelll and C rickm ay (1990) describe a v\·ersion o f a back-to-back exercisse 
that m ight function as a usefful and sennssiittiizing preamble to Lauriee''s sequence. 
They writte, 
Siit back to back w ith  ca1  partner, an 'ear' to the w alll o f your partner''s bodyv. 
Lissten to the ebb and flow  o f breath,. o f w eight, o f movement. Ilmagine a 
bear rubbing its back agaiinst a tree. Use you r partner''s back to make yvour 
own back: long, warm  comfortable, w ide, flexible, and vice versa. The 
body is rounnddeedd—-ttwo round surfaces, meetting, ro lling. A lllo w  the point 
of contact to rolll around, dow n the arms, across the pehlv·is,. [punctuation 
added!] (p. 70) 
Howii’ Marny/ Creattee:s; a,nz E1nwvirolnnrnm1e,nzt fforr  Touch 
M ary has an uncanny a biillity  to sense, often from  a substtanttiial distance, 
just how and where a student needs to be toucchheedd—- when to intterveene. She 
mentors in tu itive  knowing, empatthy, and care. H er teaching style inviittees  
students to experiment and take risks. Frequenttlly, she speaks w ords of  
encouragement. M ary demonstrates a desire to know  the goals and to respect 
the potentials o f each student. Noddings (1998) addresses this charactterriistic,  
contending that as teachers or students intteerveene and attempt to persuade, the 
goal is to assiist a partner to find  the response that is best for her or h im .. Oftten  
M ary w ii l l use what I term "confirrm ation touch." She genttly places a hand on a 
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student, not to change o r manipulate, but to conffirm  for hersellf that the student  
(a) understands Mary''s goal, and (b) is perform ing properrly.  
There is another im portant aspect to how M ary creates a learning  
environm ent avaiilable to touch. She recognizes the im portant re lationship  
between the metaphors we have fo r the body, and how we treat o u r ow n, or  
another's body. People have a varie ty o f metaphoric views of the body. Carol-
Lvynne Moore (1987) names a few—-tthe body as beast, machine, objet d 'a rt, child,  
and chimera. She suggests that it is necessarry for each body-related d iscip line,  
such .a.1ss movement educattion o r dance therapy,, "  . . .  to become aware o f its 
sallient metaphorr((s}) so as to transcend the lim iittaattiioonns o f its figurative  w orld  
v iew " (pp. 31-32). Maryv addressed the interplay between her caring, gentle  
approach, and body metaphors: 
A n image that [I  use is that you have to encourage the body as if  the body 
was a young chiild and you 're  just encouraging it w ith  gentleness. [I  am 
not forcing the body into a new place, o r using the myth o f ·'you tra in this 
aniim all,'’ o r '’you train this machiine·’, o r ·’you w h ip  it into shape..'’ You '’re 
coaxing it, genttlly entticing it to move in the direction that yo u r hands are 
going. tM-.toorre of a concern to me is that they are focused and that their 
in tent is correct. I1  feell like the students are taking care in hmowv they are 
touching each other. Maybe they're not ho ld ing in exacttlly the righ t place, 
but they're doing it w ith  care. It looks like they realize the importtaance o f 
touching someone, that you 're  reallly touching the whole person. And 
they seem to be very respeccttfful. 
M ark Johnson (1 987) supports M ary''s emphasis on the educattional 
potency o f bod yv-metaphors. Johnson relays a story o f Hans Sellye, the founder of 
modern stress research. Johnson contends that Sellye began his mediical practice 
embracing the '’body as machiine'’ metaphor. This metaphor, according to 
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Johnson, promotes a v iew  that the body is composed o f distinct, yet 
interconnected parts, and that it breaks dow n  when the parts m allfunction;  
treatment focuses on specciiffic faullty  units or connections (p. 130). Johnson states,  
"For someone whose understanding (i..e., whose experience) is structured by the  
BODY AS M A C H IN E  metaphor, it is entailments like these that inflluueence his o r  
her percepttion, diagnosis, treatment, theorrizing, and other practices" (p. 130). 
Johnson suggests that Sellye's success in his research on stress was due to his shiift  
from  one dom inant metaphorrical grasp o f the s ituattiioonn—-'b’body as machininee’—'-tto a 
new underssttaanddiningg—-'’body as homeosttattic organism '’ (p. 129). 
lM\fary''s gentle qualliity  o f touch builds trust in her students. This trust  
opens students up to deeper le\v·els of unsellfconscious expressivne!ness in the ir  
danciing; it also makes them more avaiilable to the use o f touch as intervention fo r 
skiill-bu ild ing  in dance. Students trust that M ary  w ii l l  touch them on ly  as far as 
they are ready. M ary knows that touch can propel a student into an em ottional  
experience. She related tw o episodes: 
An example is opening the sternum area and you see in the ir face that you 
are into very em ottional te rrito ry and som etth ing comes over theiir face. 
And you assure them that it 's O.K. I''ve  had to ta lk  people dow n a littttllee b it 
because you 're  gettting into theiir '’sttufff.'’ And it could be sometthing so 
simple. One day I1  was having this student push against me, just to feell 
that kind o f E ffort qualliity  and I  saiid, "Com e on, push harrderr!!" and there 
was this wa,wvet' o f energy and I saiid, "O .K ., that's enough.." I could just feell 
it. Later I  talked w ith  her and she agreed that it was a scary place for her. 
But she was reallly open to ta lking about it. 
M ary''s w ork in B ody-M ind Centering has helped her define boundariees 
when touching a student. For her it is a questtion o f degree of intim acy and  
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respect. W hile  there is no denying the intiim aatte nature o f touch and its  
requirement o f close p roxiim ity  between particippaants, M ary noted that it is 
im portant fo r her to know where her energy ends and the student's begins. The  
concept o f boundaries is addressed in Zero Balancing, a hands-on therapy. John  
Hamwee (1999) describes intce~rffacec, a type o f touch. He writtees,  
lIt is possiible to touch another person w hile  m aiin tain ing a clear boundary, 
o r interface, between the tw o  o f you. A t alll times du ring  the touch, vyou 
know  where your bodyv ends and the other person's beginins—s- and the other 
person knows the same too. (p. -4lO0) 
Hamw ee distinguiisshees interfaace touch from other kinds o f boundary-frreee 
touch w h ich  humans often encounter. One is '’b leenddiinngg’—'-ssuch as a blisssful 
m elld ing when a parent cradles a baby, or the merging o f a sexual union. The 
other is '‘streamiing'’ which is a touch that transmits energy from  one person to 
another; it m ight occur du ring  a handshake or a hug. Hamw eee writtees, 
"Sometimees [w ith  streamiing] yvou receive energy, so you feell revitalizzed: 
sometimes your energy is pulled in to  the other person and yvou feell 1lo01w.v 
afterwards. In both cases what is happening is that one person's energy is 
stream ing into the other" (p. -4l 1l ). L ike interfaace touch, both b lending and 
streaming can be used posiittive ly and therapeuuttiicalllly. Yet, because b lending and 
streaming involve a transfer o f energy between practtitioner and c liieennt—t- or 
between teacher and studeenntt—-tthere may be a m uddlling  o f in fo rrm ation  about the 
experience o f the c lieent//s sttudent. This can lead to the practitiioonneer//t eteaaccher not 
receiiving the k ind o f clear in fo rm ation  avaiilable from an interfaace touch.  
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Based on my obserrvattions, and an understanding o f the four teacher 
participants'’ teaching philossophiees, interfaace touch was the ir predominant  
choice. Theiir own touch, and the touch they taught the ir students to use w ith  
each other was one which inforrm ed the touchee o f her o r his own movement 
patterns. Through a student's new awareness, he or she is able to inittiiaatte her or  
his ow n change. Ed'’s toboggan exercise is an example o f the use of streaming, 
and potenttiiallly  blending, to some degree. Through their experieences of touch in 
Ed's technique and im provisation claassseess—- as w elll as the ir level of m aturritiyty—-
Ed'’s students were able to touch in this fashion w ith  posiitive educattional 
ouhtc:omes; Ed observed the students during  this exercise and d id  Onol)tl find it 
necessarry to interveene. 
Foundattional to rMvtaarry''s use o f touch is her c larity o f intent. Does she want  
a specciiffic point o f in itiaation , o r a parrticular movement quallity? lM\bary also 
maiintains a non-judgmental atttitude, and a focus on being fu lly  present and in-
the-moment. As she saiid, " I f  you 're  not in-tthe-moment you don 't touch." 
The idea o f being in-tthe-moment is sallient to M ary''s approach to gender issues 
as they relate to touch. She noted, 
You're try ing  to be in  you r body. That, to me, makes the whole idea of 
using touch kind o f genderless. I  feell very genderleess when I''m  teaching 
in that way. There's an acknowledgment o f who this person is, and that 
includes gender, bu t it doesn''t jum p out. This is a human body and I see it 
as bones and muscles, organs, flu id , and the whole person's spiirit. I feell I 
touch the men in m y classes the same w ay I  touch the women.  
M ary encourages students to visualize and understand dance and the 
body from  new points o f v iew . For example, when m aniipu la ting the ankle jo in t  
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of a skeleton M ary demonstrates and describes a w ay to v iew  an eleve (rising to 
the balls o f the feet). She touches the medial and lateral m allleolli (ankle bones) 
and shows how  they slide forward. M ary belieeves that focusing on the bones can 
lead to quallitiees o f ligghhttnneesss and ease. She noted, "The mental idea o f 'bone' w ill 
rebalance usualllly overused callf muscles and w ii l l instead strengthen the stirrup 
muscles under the foott.." lM\fary''s use o f touch stimulaattees students' obserrvattional 
skiills, the im agination, and—-esepsepceicaiallly when the exercisse is transposed to 
studentt-to-student-touch—--ccooperrattion and rapport.  
Steven, Ed, M ary, and Laurie value and encourage cooperattion, risk- 
taking, sennssititiiviity  to the em ottional potenttial o f touch, experimentation, and 
rapport. These factors are integral aspects o f touch pedagogy; they are also 
learning outcomes o f meta-dance practice. The presence o f these values and 
behaviors leads to a greater use o f touch and, in turmn, to an expansion into other 
areas o f meta-dance practice. Through the ir sennssititiiviity and skiill, these teachers 
buiild  environm ents in w hich toucchh—- and studentss—-- can flourissh. 
M entoring Touch  
N oddings (1998) proposses that when consiidering m oral educattion and the 
ethic o f care, the p rim ary  concern is w ith  the grow th  o f students as carers and 
cared--fors. She w rittees, "“ We have to show in  ou r own behaviior what it means to 
carre ... .  'WNe demonstrate o u r carring in our relations [w ith  o thers]]" (p. 190). lIn the 
same way, i f  dance teachers incorporate touch, especciialllly i f  they expect their 
students to give and receiive touch, they need to mentor appropriate touching  
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behavviior; students become capable touchers by virttue o f the ir mentors. Alsso, 
students' skiills at touching others d ire c tly  relates to the experieences they have 
w hen being touched. 
Melnlltoring Through Teaclhzer--Sedlff-Touch 
There are a number o f touch relationships that dance teachers may 
incorporate in theiir classes inc lud ing : (a) teacherr--seellff-touch, (b) teacherr-to- 
studentt-touch, (c) sttudentt--seellff-touch, (d) studentt-to-student-touch, (e) studentt-to- 
teacherr-touch, and (f) studentt//teacheerr--tto-object-touch. A ll o f them provide 
opportun itiees for  teachers to m entor touch. Mentoring may be visual, verbal, 
tacttile, or ,a1ny combinattion. Here w e w ii l l  focus on teacherr--seellff-touch and 
teacherr-to-student-touch which I believe to be the touch relationships that offer 
the richest opportunitiees for  m entto ring ; litterallly  and figu ra tive ly  they put 
teachers '’in touch'’ w ith  themselves and their students.  
Steven, Ed, Laurie, and M ary  alll incorporate teacherr--seellff-touch. [It 
frequenttlly appears complletelly instinctua l; it is also used very delliberatelly to 
shlo)Ww the qualliity  and emphasis o f a movement. M entoring via teacherr-sellf-touch 
may or may not include verbal instruction , but it is a visual conssttaannt—t- an 
ongoing panorama o f touch. Teacherr--seellff-touch is often the pream ble to a 
sttudentt--sellf-touch exercise du rin g  w h ich  students repeat the actions o f their 
teachers. Through watching theiir teachers, many students natturrallly  adopt a sellff-­
touching behaviior as part o f theiir learning, w itthou t being to ld  to do so. 
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O f the 46 students w ho completed questtionnaires, 31 students stated that 
teacherr--sellff-touch was either "good" or "excelllent" at enhancing their learning; 12 
students noted that it was fair, and one student noted that it was a poor teaching  
tool. Comments regarding "fa ir" and "poor" should  not necesssaarriilly lead one to 
believe that teacherr--seellff-touch was perceived as a negattive acttiiv ity, but rather  
that it  does not enhance certain students' learning as successssffuullly as do other  
touch relationships.) Teacherr--seellff-touch impacts students in a variety o f ways. 
Students commented that it: (a) assists in m em orriiz ing  choreography, (b) helps to 
see what the teacher is focused on, (c) shows the pa thw ay o f movement,  
(d) teaches how to touch onesellf, (e) reminds one to touch onesellf, (f) providdees a 
percepttion o f the teacher as someone who is intteereested in find ing  internal  
sensattiion, and (g) helps one visualize proper executtion o f the movement.  
St1t?eUvt!e11n 's Mte!1n1tovrrii1n1g Through Sdefl-f-TToouucclhz 
Steven's frequent use o f teacherr--seellff-touch helps students become better  
observers, and encourages experimentattion. It also has the potenttial to develop da 
rapport between Steven and the students because they are able to see h im  as 
someone who is sttiilll w ork ing  on im proving his o w n  technique. Steven noted, 
I  hope they acttualllly see that I''m  having an experience as the teacher, as a 
mover in front o f them. I often am addressiing problematic issues that I, 
too, possess in m y technique. Parrttiicullarly w hen I''m  standing in fron t o f 
them w ith  m y goal being instruction (as opposed to being focused 
inw ard ly  on my ow n technical abiillity) m y body releeases through sellff-­
touch. Alsso, I show some changes that I need them to w ork  on. I th ink  it 
magniifies. This helps c larriify  and augment w ha t I''m  doing  in m y body. I  
say, "O0 .K . move from  this place or move fro m  dow n here.." Then I 'l l  
almost always instruct them to touch themselves such as, "stroke your 
sternum d o w n " or "touch your sacrrum" o r " l i f t  underneatth" o r "p ull l  up  
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this w ay" or "feel that when you lif t  there." M y sellf-touch also sets up an 
example for them when I  ask them to touch themselves. 
Ed's Mentoring Through  Sdeflf--Toucdhz 
Ed uses sellf-touch to show ways in  w hich students can touch themselves  
in order to attend to a num ber o f concepts inc lud ing (a) identtiify ing  bony  
landmarks, (b) feelling counterr-directions w ith in  the body which push and pulll in 
opposite directions, (c) lengthening the back o f the leg and flexing the femoral 
jo in t in a leg swing, (d) acttiive ly reaching the head or lengthening the spine in ,arn 
upper body /o ff-ve rtica l com bination, and (e) sensiing kinetic chains o f muscle  
coordination for grounding o f the scapula or feelling gradated rotation in a joint. 
Ed touches the top o f his head to indiccate a po in t o f in itiiaation . He presses 
his fingers into his hip sockets sayingg "  . . .  in  the crease . . . "  to emphasize the  
action o f femorall flexion. M ov ing  from a forw ard lunge to a siitting  posittioionn—-
bring ing in the back legg—- Ed draw s a line up the front o f his back th igh to 
indicate the energy needed in a pellvic shiift. [In a forw ard leap (grand jete), he 
brushes dow nw arrdlly  on the back surface o f his front thigh w ith  one hand and  
places the other hand in the h ip  socket crease o f the same leg; he does this to 
emphasize the undercurve action o f the leg. He slaps his abdomen saying,  
"conneccttiiviity" to underscore the importtaance o f central support. He takes hold o f  
his leg, throws it  up into an extension (grand battement) and then pushes it 
dow n to give it a sense o f w e igh t; w hile  demonsttratting he asks, "H o w  loose and  
floppy can you be w ith  that leg w itthou t it th row ing  you o ff your supporrting  
leg?" 
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Laurie's Meuntoriung  Through  Sellff-Touch 
For Laurie, alll manner o f touch is "  . . .  in the serrvice o f deepening  
underssttaannddiningg—- the whole po in t being com m unicating an idea and a sort o f  
kinesthettic transference.." A ny  time Laurie wants students to use sellf-touch, she  
demonstrates on hersellf, first. For example, she w ii l l use sellf-touch to show  
certain Efforts or quallitiees she wants in movement, o r to h ig h lig h t an area on the  
body. Laurie stated,  
If  I want a q u alliity  o f extensiveeneesss o r r ig id ity  in a movement I  m ight p,a1t 
mysellf to show that it''s not lim p, that it has a resistance to it. I  th ink  I  
probablly do that innatelly as I teach. [If they're reallly supposed to be 
pullling  up the quadriceps, lI m ight just p ulll my hand across my 
quadriceps to say, "P ulll up the quadriceps" so it''ss re inforcing what I''m 
saying verballlly, and dem onsttratting v isuallly . Alsso, the vissual 
demonsttrattion is im portan t because frequenttlly I  have international 
students in m y classes w ho speak barelly enough English to get along in 
theiir lectures and they may not know  the speciialized vocabulary o f 
anattomy. 
M ary's Meuntoring  T1h1rroouglh1  Sellff-Touch 
Mary''s use o f sellf-touch, like much o f her touch, has a subtle, gentle  
qualliity . It draws attention to an area o f focus. She strokes lig h tly  on her  
supporrting leg, saying, "T h in k  talll on the standing leg." When lengthening her  
spine from an arched to a vertical posiition w h ile  sim ulttaneously c irc ling  her leg  
from  a back attittude around to the front, she places one hand on her abdomen  
and one on the top o f her head saying, "F ind  the length o f you r spine." (An  
attitude is a pose on one leg, w ith  the other leg lifftteed, w elll turned out, bent at the  
knee, and opened away from  the body.) M ary  manipulaattees her jaw  back and  
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fo rth , hellp ing students find  a qualliity o f ease in the ir faces. She touches the distal 
end o f her fem ur, desccrriibing how it reaches th rough space during  a plie. 
Mentoring Through  Tceacclh1er-to-Sttuiudieennt-tT-Too1u1ch 
Am ong the students w ho filled ou t questtionnaires, 89% noted that when  
teachers touch students it has eiither a good or excelllent effect on theiir learning.  
Ed, M ary, Steven, and Laurie alll incorporate studentt-to-student-touch and  
teacherr--to-studentt-touch. Students said that one o f the prim ary difffeerreennccees  
between these tw o touch relationships was that being touched by the teacher h.a1d 
m uch greater c reddiibbiillity  than being touched by a fe llow  student. Students  
commented on being touched by theiir teachers in the fo llow ing  \wvavys: 
I  th ink  when Ed does it there's a littttllee b it m ore crediibiillity  because I  
assume, since he's the teacher, he knomwvs wvvhhaat he's ta lking about. W ith 
the teacher, touch w ii l l be more d irect regard ing what he wants. 
When M ary is explla ining and she is touching me and I''m  closing m y el' y1e• "...., ,  
[I realllly feell  a connecttion between what she's do ing  and mysellf. (It''s 
sometimes hard for me get into that state o f m ind  when I''m  w ork iinngg \w\ i1tthh 
a fe llow  student, to get connected and reallly  try  to feell what I''m  supposed 
to be feelling, or make them feell  w hat (I''m  supposed to be try ing  to makel' 
them feell. And w ith  her it''s almost insstanttaaneous.  
[I th ink  that there is more importtaance attached to it when the touch is 
com ing from  the teacher, who has a certain am ount o f expertise. There''-s; a 
b it more fo rm alliity  in that relationship so that maybe it feels like more 1o ,ft ad  
siigniificcant movement towards a more personal or closer relationship wi th 
the teacher (than it w ou ld  w ith  a peer in the class because we have a more 
casuall relationshiip). [I th ink Ed approaches it  w ith  clear intention and 
consiiderattion for  the reciipient o f the touch. 
Steven is not afraid o f touching us. Once, he was te lling  us, "D o n 't be 
afraid to g ive them a bear hug." A nd  he b rough t me up and gave me a 
bear hug and it was a whole d ifffeerent feelling than when the student had a 
hand here and a hand here. CItt was like he was reallly holding you. 
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When Ed touches me it probablly depends on what Il'm  doing, because [I  
can be realllly resistant to his touch. I f  I''m  doing a movement and he's 
try in g  to change it and we're conttradiic ting each other, sometimes that''s 
diif f ic u lt fo r me because I''m  not sure w hat he wants. And then when he 
talks to me he tells me what's going on and we try  agaiin, it''s better. Most 
o f the tim e it''s just hellp ing me reafffirm  or improve upon sometthing.  
W ith o u t touchh—~sepsepceicaial lly w ith  Graham techniqiquuee—-lleaarrniing w ou ld  be at 
a slower rate. It''s so hard to know  if  yo u r body is feelling o r doing the 
rig h t th ing at the right time. Even w hen Laurie corrects another student it 
helps a lot too because [I can visualize it on mysellf the same way. If  she 
never touched anyone and just saiid, "Y o u r hips should look like this and 
you should feell such and such musclle" and just d id  it, [I th ink  everybody 
w ou ld  be lost, w ondering, "W hat exacttly does she mean, and where?" 
W hen she touches me and says, "Th iss is where you should feell it"  [I  can 
internalize how  my body feels in that certain spot which [I cou ldn '’t do justl 
by looking at her. 
Steven refers to teacherr--to-student-touch as ’'expert touch'’ which connt,t1aii1n1ss 
nothing extra to confuse the student's sensattiions. Laurie says that she touches 
the students more than any other relationship because she is the one w ith  thLe' 
tra in ing to do so. For Ed, touching students reinforrccees his verbal inform ation . 
Teachers touch theiir students in a variety o f ways, for numerous reasons. EFor 
example, Laurie adjusts a student's foot from  an ou tw ard ly  rotated posiition int,o l 
a parrallle l one. Steven holds both sides o f a student's pelvis to help her feell a,1 
'’square'’ a lignm ent. M ary genttlly rests her finngers on a student's shoulders and 
says "re lax ." Ed walks his fingertips up a student's spine to help her feell tht:e> 
sequennttiial qualliity  o f m oving from  spinal flexion to extension. 
The many types o f touch avaiilable to a teacher include, but are not lim iitteed 
to the fo llow ing : (a) surrroun diin g /m o ld in g  around a dancer's body, (b) touching 
bony landm arks, (c) tracing a pathway, (d) ho ld ing, (e) gu id ing, (f) stroking,  
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(g) massagiing, (h) jigg liinng , (i) siimultaneouslly touching tw o areas, (j) adjjusting or 
realligning body parts, (k) provid ing resistance to  a m otion, (1l) supporrting,  
(m) pressiing, (n) rocking or ro lling, (o) shaking, (p) tu g giin g//p ulllin g , and 
(q) m aniipu lating.  
Leaning Backward, Pushiing Forward 
The veraciity o f the siimullttmanzte!ity of time as an educattiional princip le begins 
to emerge as we recognize the importtaance o f teacher and student historiees in the 
process o f student learning. Steven, Ed, Laurie, and M ary brought w ith  them <a1 
number o f underrlly ing  pedagogiical principllees that inflluueenced theiir use of touch 
in a modern dance technique class. An overrrid ing  concern for alll o f them was 
the notion o f the inside//o ouuttsside nature inherent in learning, comprehending, and 
perform ing movement. Other pedagogiical considerations included skiilll 
development in obserrvattion, release o f tensiion, understanding o f alignment, ,arnd 
know ing where and how  to inittiiaate movement. As a group, the students 
expected, desiired, and appreciated the use o f touch. IH-konwveever, theiir ncdutlutur,r1a1l, 
famiilia l, and personal backgrounds strongly inflluueenced the ir receppttiiviity to 
d ifffeerent modes o f touch. 
Inherent in the culture of the modern dance class is human touch; 
converselly, the use o f touch continues to develop the culture o f a parrticular 
teacher's class. Teacheerrss—-wwiitth in  the given class culture, and in theiir ind iv idua l 
stylleess—-ccrreate learning environments that foster the effective use o f touch. They  
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do this through the ir sennssititiiviity to students' historiees and gender issues, th rough 
the ir spoken and unspoken metaphors fo r the body, and 'wVitihth humor.  
An extremelly v ita l way in w hich  teachers create an environm ent \wVhheerre 
touch can flourish is through theiir c la rity  o f intent when touching a student.  
Due to the inherent hierarchical d ifffeeren tia tion  between teacher and students, 
teachers can potenttiiallly  use touch to gain personal power over students. This 
m igh t occur through overt physical m aniipu la tion  o f a student, or through a more 
subtle use o f '’b lending touch'’ o r '’stream ing touch'’ described earrllier. However, 
w hen the teacher's intention is dclear—-aannd respectffuul—l-ttouch functions to deepen 
students'’ own learning and understandiing, enablling them to make choices/ 
changes for themselves. Clear in tention  may be demonstrated in a strong, d irec t 
push which propels a student across the studio floor, or, by wayv o f contrast, in a 
subtle, quiet ho ld ing o f the head. 
Throughout the course o f a dance class a teacher's \v'erbal instructions ,arnd 
physical actions are at the crux o f an ongoing m enttoring process. The inclusion 
o f teacherr--seellff-touch and teacherr-to-student-touch enhances the posssiibiilitiiees fo r 
m enttoring because they offer students opportun itiiees to experience the teacher as 
dem onsttrator, leader and guide. Students are mentored in the ir skiills as dancers 
and touchers. It is the m enttoring that they receive as touchers that moves them 
even farther beyond the learning o f dance stepss—-iinto meta-dance practice. 
The effective use o f touch engages students in meta-dance practice. We 
are able to recognize the signifiiccaance o f touch pedagogy when we note that touch  
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leads to the fo llow ing  meta-dance practice components that have been 
uncovered in this chapter: (a) recogniizing quallita tive  changes; (b) obserrving 
closelly and repeatting w\\·hat is seen; (c) sensiing kinesthetic transference of 
in form ation; (d) learning to speak, understand, and respond to another (tactile) 
language; (e) recogniizing wholeeneess and d iffeerentia tion ; understanding and 
experriencing the body as a fu lly  integrated enttiity  encompassiing th inking, seeiing, 
lisstening, imagining, touching and danciing; (tf) honing communiication skiills in to  
gradations, from subttle/gentle to firrm /d irreec t, and using what is appropriate at 
the moment; (g) p inpo in ting  an area o f focus and seeiing that which is im portan t 
to see; (h) learning consiiderattion for others; (i) devellop ing relationships, 
(j) trusting  onesellff; and (k) gaiining fearleesssness. 
In this chapter we have explored the ramiificcatioons o f mecta as sometthing 
w hich  is situated behind. M oving into the next clhha1pter we w ii l l explore some 
ways in w hich meta means dcezvicelvl1o1p11m1te'1n1tf a,mnd tra1n1s~foti1rmrnawttiiotmn, as students journey 
tow ard g row th  and change. These ways include how  a teacher (a) applies and 
intteegraattees touch into the flow  and pedagogiical needs o f a class, (b) engages 
students in  tactile dialogue, and (c) confirms and encourages the best in others.  
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CHAPTER IV  
M ETA  MEANS 'DEVELOPMENT AND TRANSFORMATION'  
* * * *
REMAINING 'PRESENT' FOR GROWTH AND CHANGE 
THROUGH APPLIICATION, DIALOGUE AND CONFIIRMATION  
John Devwveyv (1957) reminds us that w h ile  it is im portant for teachers and 
students to embrace theiir pasts and p lo t the trajectoriees into their futures, it is 
theiir abiillity  to be 'present' and in-tthhee-moment that makes teaching and learning 
possiible. He writtees, "M em ory o f the past, obserrvattion o f the present, foresight o f 
the future are indiisspensable. But they are indiisspeensable to a present liberation, 
an enrriching g row th  o f acttiion" (p. 265). Through touch, teachers guide their 
students along journeys o f development and change. They consider how tou 
applly their knowleedge o f touch. They devise fram eworks in which students can 
practice touch, reflect on that practice, become apprentices, and assume 
responnssiibbiillitiees. D uring  this learning process students cultivaate relationships, 
engage in tactile and verbal dialogue, and explore ways o f paying attention and 
caring for theiir fe llow  dancers. Leamrning through touch avaiils students to acts of 
discovery w hich  are encouraged and confirrm ed by teachers and students, allike. 
In this chapter we w ii l l  explore three acttiivitiiees w hich are v ita l for a student's 
grow th and change: appllication, dialogue, and confirm ation.  
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Application: Taking the Time to Touch 
There is an art to creatting the logistics o f touch w ith in  a modern dance 
technique class. Teachers sttrive to find a balance in  three p rim a ry  realms: 
momentum, conttiinuiity , and comprehensiion. First, ove r the duration o f a class 
period, students bu ild  momentum, energy, and drive . Theiir senses wake up: 
they see, hear, and feell more acuttelly over time. Theiir muscles and jointts find  
greater m obiillity  and readiness to move in alll variiaattioionnss—-ffrom  simple to 
complex, from subtle to large. Second, at its best a class unfo lds w ith  conttinu ity  
and cohesiveness. Each event builds on the previous one. A  conscious change of 
pace in mid-stream, based on a teacher's perceptions o f w hat students need, also 
plays a role in conttiinuiity . And third, rather than just do ing  the movements 
requested by the teacher, students need to fu lly  understand w hat they are doing, 
or, to quote Ed, they need to know "  . . .  what goes where, how  it''s done, and why 
it''s done.." Modern dance teachers explore ways to practiiccee—-- to a~pply the ir 
touch-baased pedagogies in order to teach classes that make sense. 
Nel Noddings (1 992) writtees, "A ttttiittuuddeess and menttallitiees are shaped, at least 
in part, by experriiencee. .. .  I f  we want people to approach m oral life  prepared to 
care, we need to provide opportunitiiees for them to ga in  skiills  in caregiiving . . .  "" 
(p. 23). Here, N oddings is referring to her concept o f practice. She is speaking to 
teachers to encourage them to provide theiir students w ith  opportun itiees fo r the 
practice o f caring, and for reflecting on that practice. In  the same vein, dance 
teachers w ho incorporate touch into their technique classses explore ways to 
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provide students w ith  touch experiences; I refer to this as 'appllication.' 
(Appliccation is used instead o f practice to alleviaate  confusion w ith  the term meta-­
dance practice.) A p p ly in g  touch strategies, by  the ir very nature, often requirees 
an arrest of bodiily  movement. This can be challlenging w ith in  the dance claasss—- a 
structure founded on movement. lIt is a challeenge because teachheerrss—-iincllud ing  
Steven, Ed, Laurie, and M ary—-hhiigghhlly  value w ha t can be learned through touch, 
but they also feell the constraints o f time and the expectations o f their students.  
MA1aarny1—- Making Time to Touch 
Mary described her thoughts on the challeenges o f time and the 
expectations o f students this way:  
It''s hard because you 're  always in this tim e pressure, and for touch, I feell 
like it just takes tim e to stop and feell.. vWVhhaatt''s happening in our cu lltuturer—e- 
the fast paccee—- makes it diif f ic u lt to s low  the students down enough to 
where they're w ill iinng  to stop and feell and take the time to go in. '’Going 
in'’ means a feelling from  the inside instead o f this peripheral feelling o r this 
m irror image that you have o f yoursellf as a dancer. I  want to ask 
students, "H o w  does it feell on the inside?" It takes time to slow dow n. 
Students frequenttlly are not as w illiinng  to do that, and it''s reallly hard. I feell 
like I'm  battttling that alll the time. 
M ary is not alone in her dileem m a. Most colleege modermn dance teachers function  
w ith in  a very lim itteed tim e frame and—-ii f  M ary, Ed, Laurie and Steven are the  
least b it reprreesseennttaatitviev—e-tthey w ou ld  always likee a longer class period.  
M ary stated that one o f her sollutions for being able to teach technique and have  
enough time for hands-on w o rk  w ou ld  be fo r students to take a 2-hour Body-
M ind  C entterriing//Barrtteniiefff Fundamentals class fo llloow ed by a technique class. 
Another alternative w ou ld  be a 2-hour technique class, five days a week. U nttiil  
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then, she explores the posssiibiillitiiees w ith in  the current frame of her technique 
class. 
M ary acknowleedges that in technique claassss " . . .  students have to bu ild  
theiir technique; also, they desiire to move, sweat and build  strength." M ary 
wants to find a balance. She looks for wavys to bu ild  strength and technique, and 
give studentbs an understanding o f how  to consciienttiously and saffelly do so. She 
stated, "You can do so much w ith  less strength if you know what you 're  doing. 
But [I th ink  you ha\v·e to go that fulll cycle sometiimeess—-ddeevveellop the strength and 
then you reallize you can let some o f the strength go and you can develop other 
aspects, like the qualliity ."  
Ruth Solomon (1990) notes that, w h ilee most colleege dance students want aJ  
fu lf i llliinng  monve~ment experiieennccee,, "  . .  .. m any o f them are illl--eeqquuiippppeed 
physiiollogiicallly  or by way o f p rio r experience to undertake this exp lo ra tion"  
(p. 38). Solomon is supporrttive o f dancers learning body-principllees such as Lab<arn 
lM\foveement Analysis and [Ideokinetic Faciillitation outside of the technique class. 
However, she has found ways to address mov\·ement principllees in the context o f a 
technique class through her use o f kinesthetic imagery, neuromuscular 
retra in ing, and m ottivating movement from  the center o f the body. She writtees,  
"  . . .  the dance technique class can be used to correct common malaliggnments and 
faullty  movement patterns w ithou t com prom ising its prim ary business, the 
tra in ing  o f dancers" (p. -4100). 
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M ary senses that higher educattion has developed a business-oriented  
m enttalliityv in w hich students are customers and consumers rather than students.  
This contributtees to her frustra tion \wViitth  regard to both the time alllo ttted fo r a 
dance class, and the students' a ttittuudes. M ary remarked, 
There's this push from the cu lture  itsellf, this culture that's com ing up; it 
livees at a fast pace and on TV. There is alll this input so students need 
entertainment. They come to class, and how  can you keep them happy 
and entertain them? lI reallly feell that's part o f itt—-hhoow the students are 
com ing in. What is their interest in grow th, and how far away are we? I  
th ink  it''s relevant to w hat we're ta lking about. How far away have we 
gotten from  the body-know lleedge and from  ourselves that we need so 
much sttiim ulli to stay present? \WVe've separated out the value o f just being 
present in the body. 
M ary relayed an incident that she fellt addressed this consumer m enttalliity 
and the need o f students to be entertained. (Reed and Johnson, 1999, and Sacks, 
1996 also note how  television has impacted students' desires to be entertained.) 
Mary''s experience providees an example of how teachers, from tim e to time, are 
required to teach sometthing to meet the student's needd-—---even if  that need is 
un identtiified  by the studeennt—t- when students are neiither eager nor enthusiiasttic. 
A t a po in t in one o f her technique classes she felt that her students needed to 
serriiouslly focus on the use o f the iliiooppssooaas muscle. In advance, M ary scheduled a 
hands-on sessiion, explaining her in tention to the students. For this unique 
sessiion she w ou ld  use the usual tim e sllot o f the technique class, bu t the period 
w hich was to immediatelly fo llo w  a student concert. Mary bellieved the students 
w ou ld  be fatigued from the concert and enjjoy a slower class. When the day 
came the students were completelly u n wiillin g  to participate w ith  any degree o f  
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enthusiasm. M ary saiid to her students, "A ss a teacher, this is what I feell you  
need, but I feell you 're  not open to it. To me, it''s a g ift that I  want to g iv\'e you.  
But, i f  you 're  not open to it you can''t receive it, so we're just going to do a 
technique class.." M aryv saiid she fellt a great loss from  this incident because she  
believed that w ith  this sessiion her students could have advanced in the ir  
training. M ary remarked,  
[I love to dance, [I love tra in ing, but when we d on 't have another class to 
balance the conceptual part o f w hat we're do ing  in ou r tra iinniningg—-ssuch as 
understanding where a movement is in iittiaiatitningg—- how do you get in touch 
w ith  those muscles? I  feell yvou can do on lyv so much if  you d o n 't have that 
balance. So, sometimes lI''m  w illiinng  to sacc~rifice a technique class, o r an 
hour o f a technique class in order to intrrooduce the w ork. And theyv're not 
w ill iinng  to saccrriifice that. [If  you 're reallly going to repattern and change 
habits, it takes time. And if  you 're  try ing  to do it w h ile  you 're  do ing  
famiilia r exerccisiseess—-pplliies, tendus, denv~eloppes, spinal currvveess—-yyou 're  not 
realllly going to repattem because those muscles w ii l l not stop w ork ing  in 
theiir habiitual wav. 
lM\fary ''s ideas regarding the time it takes to repattern movement reflect 
those o f L u lu  Sweigard (1 973). Sweigard asserts that in order to repattern  
movement habits one must do so w ith  the im agination rather than through  
vo luntary movement (unleess the vo lun tary movement involv\·ees d ifffeerrent body  
areas than those o f the imagined acttion). Sweigard writtees,  
Siim ply stated, the student is instructed to concentrate on envisioning 
movement occurring w ith in  his [or her)] body w ittho u t conttribu ting  any 
efffo rt to its performance. In fact, the conttribu tion  o f any vo lun ta ry  effort 
negates the inflluueence o f the imagined movement on the subcorrtical 
patttern ing o f muscle coordination,. (p. 223) 
M ary''s senttiments about student attittuuddees echo those o f U n ivers ity  o f 
V irg in ia  English professor, M ark Edmundson (1997) whose article had impacted  
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her, and which she gave me to read. He finds that a capacciity fo r enthusiasm and 
an endless curiosiity are so remote from  his students that when he recognizes  
those quallitiees in a parrticular student he is surprissed and overjoyed. He  
bemoans both the attittude o f students and the universiity. He feels his students'  
passiionless state is due to the fact that they " . . .  im bibed theiir sense o f sellf from  
consumer culture in generall and from  the tube in parrtticu la r" (p. 41 ). To his 
dism ay he does not see the un ive rsiity  o r the profeessors do ing everryth ing in their 
pow eerr "  . . .  to figh t that dreary m ind-set [o f the consumer m enttaalliitty!] in  the 
interest o f higher ideals . . . "  (p. 43). Rather, he sees campus consttruction o f such 
bu ild inngs as attractive sports faciilitiiees; he wittnneesssses softer grading and relaxed 
requireements in some humanitiees departments. Echoing M ary''s desire to do  
\wvhat she knows w iil l better her students, despite what they th ink  they need, 
Edmundson writtees, 
A  willllininggnneesss on the part o f the facullty to deffy student comnv· ic tion and 
afffront them occasioonnaallyl—y- to be useffulllly offfeennssivivee—-aallso m igh t not be a 
bad thing. We profeessors ta lk  a lo t about subversiion, w hich generralllly 
means subverrting the views o f people who never hear us ta lk  o r read our 
w ork. But to subvert the v iew s o f ou r students, ou r customers, that w ould 
be sometthing else agaiin., (p. 49) 
M ary applies her bellief in the need to '’take tim e and feell' th rough a range 
o f strategies. For example, d u rin g  some classes she w ii l l  spend ten m inuttees 
dem onsttratting a concept, possiiblly w ith  a skeleton or on a student. Students then 
w o rk  in pairs in a stattionary touch exercise for another ten to tw en ty minuttes. 
Alsso, Mary''s students perform  com plex and lengthy dance sequences du rin g  
w hich  she w ii l l  observe and touch them as they are m oving.  
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Ed—-MMaakkiing Time to Touch 
Ed believes that ltechnique class is predom inately a g roup  acttiiv ity . He 
notes the challenge o f incorporating toucchh—- a typ icallly  one-on-one a c tiv iittyy—-iinto  
the context o f a group event. Because o f this, and the fact that his class is 1l hour  
and 20 minutes, his touch interventions are o f shorter du ra tion  than they m ight  
otherwisse be. Ed stated, "“ I probablly w ii l l  focus on identtiify ing  bony landmarks,  
sources o f in itia tion, locations o f countertension, and re lationship o f body parts. 
But it''s a glancing b low , as it were, in the context o f m ov ing ." H is concern is that 
a touch intervention m igh t be so fleeting that students w ii l l  feell more confussed  
than assiisted. Ed continued, " I f  I''m  going to touch somebody I''m  going to try  
and make sure that fo r whatever interaction we have, I  stay w ith  it to at least a 
poinntt—-aand I  ask them before lI leave them, ’'Does that make sense? Do you  
understand what I''m  going for here?"’"' Ed finds it a challeenge when a student  
responds, "N ou"  and he needs to \wvo rk  w ith  that person a b it longer. 
TLo) be able to continue teaching the group as a whole, Ed givees his  
students the option o f meetting h im  outside o f class for hands-on intervention.  
He waits for  them to take the in itiiaativee to ask. When they request to see him  he 
tells them they need to find a '’b u d d y'’ so that du ring  the sessiion there is a 
partic ipant and a wittnneess. Ed remarked,  
In terms o f harassment and lia biility  issues I have come to value having a 
th ird  party present, o r to be in  some kind o f publlic  settiinngg—- not 
completelly isolated one-to-one. Alsso I th ink  they beneffiit more because 
then they're learning as observers as w elll as people being w orked upon.  
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To use the students' class tim e more efffic iently, Ed chooses to have them 
w ork  in partners w ith  studentt-to-student-touch. However, he finds that one 
problem w ith  this strategy is that students are not adequattelly trained fo r hands- 
on w ork  so they could just as w elll be g iv ing m isin form ation as correct 
inform ation. Ed explained, " I  have to accept that that's part o f the nature o f the 
beast and hope that they're com m unicating w ith  each other, that they are 
troubleshooting and that some beneffiit and value is sttiilll com ing out o f it."  Prrii,o)r 
to a studentt-to-student-touch experience he w ii l l frequenttlly demonstrate w ith  
one person. He saiid, "That''s a w ay o f gettting more milleeage. If  I can demoonnstsrt.1rattt.e1 
and have them alll look and then help each otheerr—-tthat has a ripp le  effect." EHve•n 
so, he sees some students u n wii l linng  to applly themselves complletelly. For 
example, a student m ight not fu lly  take the weight o f a partner's leg; this resultbs 
in an action o f compressing a jo in t rather than elongating it. 
Laurrieie—- Makiing Time tov Tvouclhz 
Laurie, too, finds that the b rie f duration o f her class, 1  hour and 15 
minutes, can be frustrating. H ow ever, she believes that the earrlly stages of  
teaching the basics o f Graham technique require a patient use o f touch. Those  
basics include the inittiiaattiioons o f the contraction, spiiral, and release, and the 
movement o f the coccyx. Laurie commented,  
I just teach it sllow ly and i f  lI have to go around and touch every single 
person in the class, I do it. I just take the time. Or, i f  we w ork  in partners 
we do things sllow ly. I jus t need to make sure that everyone understands 
the concepts and has them in  theiir bodies. In Graham technique, i f  they 
don 't understand in itiiaation  the whole th ing is going to be wrong.  
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As tim e goes by and students g row  into the technique, Laurie may touch 
less and verballlly  c larriify  more. But, regardleess o f the length o f the class, she w ill 
take as long as is necessarry, th rough touch, to bu ild  an understanding o f the core 
ideas. Laurie commented, "D o ing  those tactile corrections takes time; going 
around to students is tim e consumiing."  
Like Ed, when Laurie finds that she has a number o f issues to address 
through touch w ith  one student she w ii l l  inv ittee that student to w ork  after class olfrf 
to set up an appoiin tm ent. She does not w ant to completely stop the entire cla,iss 
fo r 10 m inutes w h ile  she focuses on on ly  one person. Another o f Lauriee''s 
strategies is to do hands-on w o rk  w ith  one student and ask the rest o f the class to,) 
observe and sim ultaneouslly explore that same issue independenttlly. Laurie w ill 
on ly  use this second strategy if  she feels that her one-on-one intervention w ill 
acttualllly  beneffiit the class, at large. 
Sttte:1v.e•cn1—1-Makki1in1g Time to Touch 
Steven also addressed the issue o f how  the length o f a class impacts his 
use o f touch. When he teaches the next level up from Ml'votoddeern  Dance IIlIl he h,1a::s:- 1 
hour and 45 minutes, rather than o n ly  1  hour. Steven remarked,  
When I teach that class I take w hole  1IO0-minute bundlees o f tim e in between 
exercisses where w e''lll stop dancing. W e''lll group around an ind iv iddua l 
and I ' l l  demonstrate by touching them, correctivees, fo r instance. This is a 
regular k ind o f insert to the pedagogic experience. 
O nly  occasiionalllly in his M odern Dance II I class w ii l l  he stop the class in 
that way; a lthough when he does demonstrate a touch experience w ith  one  
student in  fron t o f the class he is m ore assured o f what the student is sensiing. 
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More frequenttlly, Steven has students explore a concept through studentt-to- 
studentt-touch. He does not feell he has the luxu ry  o f time to be the prim ary 
toucher, even though he does not have complete confiddeence that studentt-ton- 
studentt-touch is always perform ed w ith  the highest skiill. O ver time, however, 
he wittnneesssed an im provem ent in  his students' abiilittiiees w ith  touch.  
Steven enjoys hands-on w o rk  w ith  students outside o f class because it 
esttablisshes a rapport w ith , and a base o f knowleedge for those particular studenths. 
A ftte r he has worked w ith  students ind iv\·iduallly , when he is back in the studioP 
w ith  the enttire class he feels free to engage those ind iv iidduua lss w ith  even more in- 
depth touch. He knows that they w ant it, are comfortable w ith  it, and 
understand what he is try ing  to communicate through his hands. Like Ed, 
Steven waits for students to request one-on-one time w ith  h im ; he does not 
suggest it to them. If he and a student are w ork ing  in his offiicce he alwavys lke•,a1v\ e~·-s-- 
the door open. He m ight also suggest that they w ork  in a publlic  place, stuKch a,1-.-.. 1in11 
the corner o f a dance stud io \wvh ile  other people are present. [In this way, Shte'v\ eLn'll 
protects him sellf from  potenttial accusattions o f sexual harassment.  
It is interesting to note that both Steven and Ed specciiffiicallly mentioned th.ait 
theiir policiees for w ork ing  one-on-one w ith  students outside o f class invno.llhv·eed ,amn 
open door o r the presence o f a th ird  person, but neither Laurie or M~fary madcek 
this po int. This is like ly  due to at least tw o factors: (a) M ary and Laurie are 
females and thuuss—-iin our current cu ltu ra l cliimmaatete—- are less like ly  to ha\v·e their 
pedagogiical touch interpreted as sexual harassment than that o f a male teacher. 
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and (b) M ary'’s w ork, in  parrticu lar, as a trained practtitiooner o f a hands-on system 
such as in Body-M ind Centering has educated her in skiillss and attittuuddees which, 
to use her term, lead to a "genderless" approach to touch. 
Balancing the Interplay o f Momentum, Continuity, and Comprrcehhcenn:5sion 
As we ha\v'e seen, when teachers structure their classes, they address the 
concepts o f momentum, conttiinuiity  and comprehension in  a variety o f ways. IF'onr 
example, throughout a class students may find themselves repeatting sequences 
o f movement, w ithou t any touch intervention. They m igh t be m o\v'ing w hile 
simulttaneouslly being touched. A t times most mov\'ement w ii l l  be arrested for onne 
student w hile  a partner prov\'iddees tactile guidance, m aniipu la tion, or resistance. 
A  student may remain com pletelly sttiilll while  the teacher (or another student) 
takes fulll respoonnssibibiilliity fo r tacttile intteerrv\e'enntitoionn—-tthrough actions such as 
sttroking, pattting, or siim p ly  placing the hands. Teachers weave combinations o\lft 
touch/m ov\'em ent/stasis into many patterns, alll o f w hich ha\v·e the potenttial tlol 
foster momentum, conttiinuiity  and comprehensiion. It is a m atter o f how eadch1 
ind iv idua l teacher puts together the pieces o f the puzzle o f a modern dance 
technique class. In this puzzle, one o f the most predom inant pieces used byv Ed, 
Steven, Laurie, and M ary  is studentt-to-student-touch. They incorporate this 
touch relationship, in pa rt to m aiin ta in the pacing o f the class. Alsso, however, it 
providdees students w ith  learning opportunitiiees which these teachers value. 
Learning opportunitiees occur through diaalloogguue—e-a dia logue ou f the skin.  
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Dialogue: Engaging in Tactile Conversation  
Dialogue involvees an exchange o f ideas between two or more peoopplel—e-
and much more.. Every touch event in  a dance class is a dialogue. (It is a 
tacttile d ia logue and frequenttlly it incluuddees verbal intterchange. Here we w ill  
explore the concept o f dialogue in a broad sense, and then more specciiffiicallly in  
re lationship to the pedagogiical touch employed by Steven, Ed, Laurie, and M ary.  
Dialogue involvees a re lationship which is reciprocal and in which partners  
are fu lly  present and in-tthe-moment. They are responsive and responsiible to 
each other, and to the relationship. M a rtin  Buber (1965) advocates just such a 
dialogue, one in which partners are able to speak openlly and freelly about that  
w hich  is on theiir minds. He writtees, 
lIt is in this kind o f d ia logue that personal g row th  and em powerm ent can 
take place. The innermost g row th  o f the sellf is not accomplisshed . . .  in 
man's [o r woman'’s]] relation to him sellf [or hersellff], but in the relation 
between the one and the other . . .  (p. 71) 
Elizzabeth Ellsworth''s (1992) critiiqquue of dialogue is instructive. She w ritteess 
about the appllication o f critical pedagogy in her ow n colleege classroom. C ritica l 
pedagogy is an educattiional ph illoossophy—-aartriticulated by Paulo Freire (1985) and 
otheerrss—-wwhhiich  asks teachers and students to consider issues o f pow er relations 
between students and teacher, and the relationship among power, knowleedge, 
and autthqorriity . C ritical pedagogy acknowleedges dialogue as an essennttiial element 
in  learning. Dialogue, in this sense, is open and focused on collaaborativee 
learning. Patttti Lather (1992) describes critical pedagogy as a transform ation o f  
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conscioussness at the intersection o f teacher, learner, and knowleedge through 
practiccees " .... intteended to in te rrup t parrticu la r historical, situated systems o f 
oppressiion" (p. 121). 
Retturning to E llsworth, her com m entary is thought prmov·oking in relation 
to touch as dialogue, and touch as a faciilittator o f dialogue. Ellsworth challeenges 
the v ia biill ity  o f a free and open form  o f dialogue, no m atter how  committed 
students and teachers are to the issues o f bu ild ing  trust, sharring, and im proving 
the q u alliity  o f liiffee—-tthhree attributtees o f critica l pedagogy. She cites the 
" . . .  asymmettrriical posiitions o f difffeerreence and priv\·iilleegge .. .. [between students and 
teachers, as w elll assj j . . .  the dynam ics o f suborrdiinationn present among dclassssrrnoom 
partic ipants" (p. 106) as conttribu ting  factors to this im posssiibbiillity . She discovered 
that, despite her best intentions, her ow n dclass—-MMceddiia and A.n11tit-iR-Raaci:s-t 
Pedaggooggicise—s-was not a safe emnv· ironm ent for true dialot)gue. She fellt this lack w\\"a,sb 
due to experiences o f oppression both inside and outside o f the classroom. ThLe•s~e 
included " . . .  experiences o f being gay, lesbian, fat, women o f color w orking 
w\·viitth  men o f color, w hite  women w o rk in g  w ith  men o f color, and men of color 
w o rk in g  w ith  w h ite  women and men" (p. 107). 
H o ld ing  back and not fu lly  expressing onesellf occurred for numerous 
reasons inc lud ing  feelings o f vu lnerrabbiilliity , fears o f being misunderstood, and 
negattive memories o f speakiing ou t in other siituations. E llssw orth ''s students 
agreed that a greater le\v·el o f trust w ou ld  aid this situation so they planned social 
interactions, outside o f class. These gatherings helped students to better 
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understand each others' contexts. [Indeed, the same issues o f race, gender, status, 
and body image exist in a dance class. However, when senssiittiively mentored by 
a teacher, sttudentt-to-student-touch faciliittaattees the posssiibbiillity for dialloogguuee—--and 
through dialoguee—-- meetta--dance practice.  
Regarrding one's body image, researchers M adhu lika  Gupta and Nicchollaass 
Schork (1995) found that physical modes of nurturaance du ring  childhood, such 
as touching and hugging are im portant in the developm ent of body imaaggee—-- 
espeecciialllly among females. Theiir most sallient fin d in g  ·waas a direct correlation 
among females between (a) theiir d rive  for thinnnneesss and (b) a perceived 
deprrii\v'ation o f tacttile nurturance d u rin g  childhood and a current desire for more 
tacttile nurturance, as adults. The researchers' fiinnddininggss—-wwhhiich they stress may 
be parrtticularly relevant to the re lattive ly touch-deprived N orth Americcan 
culttuurree—-ssuugggest thatt "  . . .  tacttile nurturaance continuees to play a signifiiccant role 
in the maintenance o f a heallthy body image in adullthood"” (p. 188). 
Due to its structure, Gupta'’s and Schnork'’s s tudy leaves the reader w ith  
some im portant unanswered questions regarding touch. The research was based 
on a survey o f 200 volunteer adults. lIt u tiliizzeed previously esttablished scales for 
'’D rive for Thinness'’ and '’Body D1is:s::a.<t1ist1fasfcactitoion'’ in conjunction w ith  the 
parrticipants'’ response to three statements: (a) "”I1 have fond memories o f being 
hugged a n d / o r cuddled by my parents/c caarreegiveerss du ring  my earrlly childhood 
years,," (b) "Il w ish lI had been hugged o r cuddled more du ring  my childhood," 
and (c) "A t the present time, I often w issh I  could get more hugs from others"  
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(pp. 186-187). Specciiffic issues o f interest which are not addressed include (a) the 
amount o f touch w h ich  is considered to be enough touch, (b) the quallity  o f touch, 
and—~xexcceeppt for statement a—-((cc) the parrticular people do ing the touching. [If 
being touched by a dance teacher contributtees to a student's awareness of her or 
his body, and demonstrates a caring attittude from  the teacher, there is an 
increeased likeeliihhood o f that student's posiitive body image, and avaiillabbiillity  to 
open dialogue. 
[In a modern dance class, dialogue may be fostered through a number of  
touch relationships: teacherr-to-student, student-to-tteeacher, and studentt-to-
student. [It iis this last relationship which has the greatest potenttial to engender  
dialogue. Because students are touching their peers, the teacheerr //student  
hierarchy moves in to  the background. [In fact, because o f the 'equal footing'’ 
between particippaants w hich is avaiilable through studentt-to-student touch, one  
m ight argue that it is the on ly  touch relationship w hich is tru ly  a dialogue. Onte1 
student noted that th rough studentt-to-student touch she learns equallly in both  
roles, as toucher and touchee. She addressed the issue o f status this way: 
I th ink sometimes w ith  a partner it''ss more comfortable, just because 
they're more on the same level as [I  am and they're sttiill learning. The 
comments o r corrections lI get from my peers are easiier to take on. I  guess 
lI get eassiilly in tim iiddaatteed by a teacher because I w ant to do it right. W ith  
your friieends you 're  not as concerned w ith  do ing  it exacttly right because 
we alll know  w e make mistakes in the learning process. So, i f  you know 
that we're alll learn ing together, it''s easiier to accept the ir corrections and 
say, "“ Oh, yes, I was do ing  that wrong. I ' l l  fix  it."  
A majjor d ifffeerreence between Ellssworth''s class and a dance claassss—- whiich  
may lead to a greater likeelliinneesss o f open com m unication in the dance cllaasss—-iis the 
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difffeerreence between verbal d ia logue and tactile dialogue. Student particiippaanttss 
remarked: "Touch can im part sometthing very quiick ly  that w ords alone, cannott."  
"W hen you're touched it''s immediate. You get it right away. Viissuals don 't  
always do thatt." Its im m ediacy and intim acy may also help to move touch more  
successssffuulllly towards the relational d ia logue of Buber, the sociiallly and pollitica lly  
conscious dialogue o f E llsw orth , and the caring dialogue of Noddings.  
Dialogue, as explained by N oddings (1992) involvees a num ber o f  
proceessses w hich are esseennttiial to an effective pedagogy of touch, and which  
engage one in meta-dance practice. 
Dialogue is open-ended . . .  neither party knows at the outset what the 
outcome or deciision w ii l l be .. . . .  Dialogue is a common search for 
understandiing, em patthy, or apprreecciiaattiioonn ... . .  It givees learners 
opportunitiees to questtion "w h y ,"  and it helps both partiees to arrive at 
w elll-iinnffoorrm eed decisions. Dialogue serves another purposse in moral 
educattiion. It connects us to each other and helps to m aintain caring 
relations., (p. 23) 
Much o f what is invo lveed in creatting dialogue is 'intteerpersonal reasoniing,' 
an adaptable and malleable form  o f critica l th inking (Noddings, 1991, 1992, 
1998). There are five components o f interpersonal reasoniing, alll o f w hich are 
esseennttiial for effective touch, arn.d for meta-dance practice outcomes: (a) an 
attittude o f care and sollic ittude, (b) atttention, (c) flex ibiility , (d) the act o f 
culltiva ting  a relationship, and (e) the search for an appropriate response.  
Students develop skiills  in these areas through dance and through touch. Below, 
specciiffic examples are offeered to c larriify  the elements o f intterpersonal reasoning as 
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they occur in a dance technique class. However, to engage students fu lly , each 
studentt-to-student-touch event simulttaneouslly w ii l l  enttaiil alll five aspects. 
Dialogue Through an Attittude o f Care 
An a ttittude o f care is absollutelly esseennttiial w hen students touch each other.  
Ed, Steven, Laurie, and M ary alll m entor the use o f touch as a considerate, 
empatthettic, thoughttffu l, and nu rtu ring  acttiiv ity. M ary  remarked, 
I th ink studentt-to-student-touch teaches them to be senssiittive to alll the 
learning that takes place when we touch someone else. We ta lk about 
respect, and tellling  each other i f  it doesn''t feell comfortable. It puts them 
in a certain state to touch. 
This senssiittive and respeccttfful approach to touch is liberating for students 
because both particippaants learn that it is alll righ t to express what they need, and 
to respond to an expressed need. When some students are in the earrlly stages of 
learning to touch each other, or they are touching a new partner, they are tim id. 
But the attittude o f care w hich is fostered by these teachers u ltim ately builds 
students' sellf confiddeence and helps them mov~e beyond theiir reticence. 
Steven prom oted a sense o f care during  a floo r sequence. In the exercise, 
one student lies on the floor w ith  knees bent. The toucher takes hold o f one leg 
and genttlly moves it to give the touchee a sense o f m obiillity  in the femorall joint. 
Because one o f the goals o f this exercise is for the touchee to feell safe enough to 
completelly relax and to not assiist or resist, Steven instructed the toucher to 
protect the knee, statting, " Itt''ss very comfforting to feell support inside o f the lower 
th igh."  
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Another w ay in  w hich Steven promotes an attittude o f care is du ring  a 
standing exercise invo lv ing  one dancer taking the posiition o f an ou tw ard ly  
rotated fron t a ttittude w ith  the torso flexed forward in a contraction; the posiition 
simulaattees a forw ard-hovering leap. W hile the toucher holds the pellvis, offering 
resistance and p ullling  backwards, the touchee reaches her or his energy forward. 
The goal is to find  an equal fo rw ard and backward pulll through the body. 
Steven asks the toucher to be carefful o f the soft tisssues, and to hold the bones, 
instead. 
Like Steven, M ary instructs students to take care o f the ir partners. In one 
instance, a student (A) lies on her back in a Big X shape in which the body is 
spread w ide, as if  fo rm ing  the letter X;  Mary is in contact w ith  A ''s righ t arm, and 
another student (B8) is in contact w ith  A's left leg. The two touchers create a 
jiigg liinng  action along the diagonal o f the body to help A feell how  energy can 
freelly travel on that diagonal, and to feell the compression and release in the left 
h ip  jo int. M ary instructs students to hold above the ankle o r knee jointts, but not 
on the jo iinntsts—-a touch w hich supports and protects the jointts but does not 
compreess them; she also clarifiiees that the two touchers need to take care to w ork 
in  a synchronous rhythm .  
A  num ber o f students commented that an attittude o f care and respect is 
demonstrated when a teacher o r fe llow  student asks permission to touch, or to 
touch in a certain way; they appreciated this act. Yet other students had become 
so accustomed to touch as the norm  that they fellt permission was unnecessarry. 
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Ed, Steven, Laurie, and M ary alll mentored a caring attittude through the ir own 
actions and words, and students could fu lly  practice a caring a ttittude when they 
partnered each other. 
Dialogue Tlhzrouglhz  Attention: M indfull Acts o f Toucc/h1 
Charles M. Johnston (1986) addresses the inextriccable lin k  between two 
aspects o f touch pedagogyy—-aatttennttiion and confirmation. He w rittees, "A n y  time 
we risk realllly hearring someone, le tting  who they tru ly  are dance against the 
intiim aate  core o f our being, what we give that person is the g if t  o f themsellves" 
(p. 233). 
The acts o f touching d u ring  a modern dance class teach students to pay 
atttention and require that they pay atttenttion; touching demands our focus and it 
teaches us how to focus. N oddings (1992) uses the term engrossment to describe 
" . . .  an open, nonsellecttive receppttiiviity  . ..."  (p. 15) to another person. M ary 
describes this as "being present w ith  another person" and she feels that it 
transfers to one's abiillity  to lissten d u rin g  a spoken conversattion. Steven says, 
"Touch helps someone focus in ." Ed maintains that touch helps students 
perceive relationships w ith in  the body. Laurie notes, "Touch bringss 
awareness.." Through studentt-to-student-touch there are an in fin ittee number o f 
ways to practice paying atttention. 
Laurie teaches a touch sequence w hich offers students practice in paying 
attention. This partner exercise regullarrly  ends her classes to g ive  students an 
experience o f cool-down and relaxation. For most o f this exercisse the touchee  
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stands in front o f the toucher, inverted, completelly flexed fo rw ard  from hips, 
buttocks towards the toucher. This is a vulnerable posiition  and it requires trust 
on the part o f the touchee and attention on the part o f the toucher. 
The touchee begins standing, w aiting , and lisstening tacttiily  for the 
toucchheer—r- w ho is standing behiinndd—-tto in ittiiaatte a fo rw ard  rolll o f the spine by 
genttlly  pushing the back of the touchee'’s head. Once the touchee has completely 
rolled fo rw ard  the toucher uses cupped hands in a percussive m ottiioonn—- a 
Swedish massage action known as tapotte1m11ecn1t—1t-and pats the back, pelvis, 
shoulders and backs o f the legs. Laurie invittees the toucher to do a kneading style 
o f massage in any o f those areas. D uring  the pattting and kneading the toucher 
pays attention to contacting flesh, not bone, iw.vhhiich could be paiin fu l. Then, the 
toucher w alks her or his fingers up from  the sacrum to the top o f the head, 
watch ing and feelling each vertebra; the touchee fo llow s the tactile sensattiion o f 
the fingers and rolls up, extending the spine to a standing posiition. If, during 
this spiine//finge r dialogue the toucher feels that the touchee's spiinal extensiion is 
too quick, m oving faster than the toucher's the fingers, the toucher m ight 
communicate by pausiing, or by genttlly  pushing the touchee back down, sllightly. 
F inallly, the touchee arrives at a vertica l posiition and the toucheerr—-aat tteennttiive to 
any subtle adjustments required to help the touchee fin d  correct vertical 
a lignnm eenntt—-ggeennttlly places her o r his hands over the ears, carreffullly  rotates the 
head from  side to side, pulls the head verticallly, and releeases the touchee. 
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During that exercise the toucher has, fo r a substtanttiial length o f time, 
complletelly focused on  the needs o f her o r his partner. The toucher's goals are to 
assiist the touchee to attend to a num ber o f aspects of dance technique:  
(a) releasiing tensiion, (b) sequueennttiialllly articu la ting the spine, and (c) fin d in g  a free 
and lengthened use o f the neck and head. Ilt should be noted that Laurie, hersellf 
is in a continual state o f paying attention throughout the class, m aking ongoing 
assessments based on such considerations as: "H ow  comfortable is th is student 
w ith  touch?" "H o w  m igh t [I assiist these tw o student partners to w o rk  more 
efffecttively w ith  each other?" "H o w  could [I m odiify  the exercisse so it is more 
beneffiicial to this student?"  
One of Laurie''s students who noted on the questtionnaire that studentt-to- 
studentt-touch was on ly  faiir at prom oting her learning recalled the above-­
descrribed partner exercise w rittiinngg,, "[I  am uncomfortable when students touch me 
in class, for  example, the massages at the end. [I do not like students massaging 
my legs or back." O n the questtiionnaire, this same student reported that (a) she 
m iild ly  dislikees being touched du ring  a dance class, (b) touch m iild ly  detracts 
from  the development o f a posiitive rapport w ith  the teacher o r fe llow  students, 
(c) touch miild ly  detracts from  her awareness o f tension in  her body, and (d) in 
the pastt—-pprriio r to Laurie ''s claassss—-ddance teachers had trieed to over-stretch her 
and had maniipulated her in  a physiicallly paiin fu l way. O f the 14 students from 
Laurie''s class who returned questtionnaires, this student had, by far, the most 
negattive response to touch. One can on ly  speculate as to the relationship  
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between her recollections of her previous dance teachers, her past experieences  
w ith  touch in any context, and her current co m fo rt/a avaiila biillity  to touch.  
Another student o f Laurie's wrote, 
As a student, it''s hard to accompllish w hat a teacher is descrriibing to you 
because you have so many muscles and parts to control and m aniipull.a1tte. I 
associate movements w ith  how they feell in m y memory, and u nttiil the 
teacher places you in the "“ new " m ovement you r memory can't record it 
because unttiil then you were unsure o f what you were try ing  to 
accompllish. TOUCH IS VERY IM PO R T AN T IN  DANCE. 
This student noted that touch, in general, is v ita l for learning. She also  
specciified that every siingle learning area lisstted on the questiioonnnnaairiere—-ffrom  
understanding anattomiical principlees, to awareness o f alignment, to the abiillityv to  
use imaageerryy—- was sttronglly aided through the use o f touch. Laurie''s students  
provided a broad specttrum of responses to touch. O f particu lar intterest is tlhlLe' 
wide range o f responses to the questions regarding the abiillity  o f touch to  
develop a posiitive rapport w ith  the teacher, o r among the students in class; th1e..• 
answers included sttrroo1n1gly co1n1ttrribibulltlet!ss, miild ly conttriblulltte!Ss, neither co1n1trtribibullttecs or 
detracts and miildly detracts. A pedagogy o f touch requires the teacher to pay  
atttenttion to the 'm ixed bag' o f student responses to touch.  
Three examples from Ed's teaching demonstrate the vita l necessiity o f an  
atttentive attittude when touching w h ile  locom oting through space. In one  
sequence a group o f dancers stands in  a tig h t circle, arms wrapped over each  
others' shoulders in the shape o f a huddle. They perform  a sequence o f  
d im in issh ing  counts (44 4 3 3 2  221 1  1) w hich  consttanttlly shiifts weight and d irection.  
Touch alllow s students to taciitly attend to each other''s subtle changes in  w eight,  
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time, and space. In a second sequence Ed requeessttss " . . .  forw ard propulsion,  
acttive in the whole spiine. .. . "  as students run  quiick ly  across the floor. For this  
event a toucher stands to the side o f a partner, one hand placed on the touchee's  
sacrrum; they run in tandem, the toucher pushing from the back, keeping pace, 
and m aiin ta in ing visual and tacttile contact w ith  the runner. Using touch in this  
fashion assiists the runner in shiifting  the pellv is fo rw ard. In a th ird  sequence,  
in ju ry  is a possiible consequence if  a ttention lags from  either participant. Here, a 
runner advances towards a parttnneer—r-tthe lifftteer. When they meet, the runner  
pushes dow n on the lifftteer''s shoulders; the lifftteer elevates the runner by ho ld i;ng  
the pellvis and moves the runner in the d irection  already establisshed through the 
run. Again, full l attenttioionn—-tto time, w eight, space and m omeennttuumm—-iis crucial.  
Teacher and student particippaants commented that touch enhances (a) their  
a biillity  to clearrlly observe and (b) theiir perceptiveenneesss to the acttivittiiees in class. FE.d 
remarked how  studentt-to-student-touch fosters students' abiilittiiees in dancing,  
teachiing, communiicating, obserrving, and, u ltim ate ly , more effective hands-on  
intervention. The abiillity  to touch bu ild s  on itsellf. Ed noted, 
I f  I''m  going to acttualllly put m y  hands on somebody, then I  have to look 
pre tty closelly at what's going on and make a choice, "Iss it here o r is it 
here?" When I  have them w o rk in g  in pairs, what I  generralllly do is roam 
around and watch w hat they're  do ing  and then I  intervene. Sometimes I  
even take theiir hands and place them in  a d ifffeerent place on the partner''s 
body. I use touch to help c larriify  the touch intervention. So I''m  touching 
the toucher. One o f m y majjor goals fo r them  is to be better observers.  
A nd I th ink  studentt-to-student-touch helps them in the ir ow n tra in ing  and 
I th ink  it  helps them be a better a id o r gu ide  to their peers. I f  they've been 
do ing some kind o f hands-on m aniipu la tion  on the floor, then later in  class 
in  a larger combiination I have them in groups and say, "O0..K ., now  be 
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observers fo r each other and o ffer some verbal feedbacckk.." This bu ilds the 
ingredients o f that relationship so that u ltim a te ly  they w ou ld  be able ton 
problem-solve and answer the que,s:;ttiioons, "W hat do [I see and w ha t kind of 
hands-on technique w ou ld  help facilittaate that?"  
Ed's commentary returns us to the concept o f the siim ultaneiity o f timee—-- 
parrttiicularly the ideas o f the in1L-t-htleze--mmomce1n1tt//phce1n1oomec1n1oolloogical now o f the class, and 
the in11-t-hthec-jfuturce//lliifce--llo1n1gg ffraamework fo r further grow th. One student's 
commentary reflected a common response about studentt-to-student touch: to 
simulttaneouslly see and feell, look and touch., enhances one's abiilittiiees to observe. 
She noted: 
From touching a partner in the knee exercise [I am able to look at peoples' 
plies in  parralllel now  and see the posiition o f the knees and ankles and tilnw* 
whole allignm ent o f the legs and see if  it looks correct. From feelling ,alnlld 
seeiing the pathways that the bones should travel on in the pliees,. now  I''m  
acttualllly able to look w itthou t using the touch and think,. "Oh, I1  remember 
how that felt, the way it should go, and that looks correct."  
An a ttittude o f attention may be focused exterrnalllly, at one's partner,•  •a ind 
also internallly, on onesellf. Ed, Steven, Laurie., and M ary want theiir students t,o 1 
attend to theiir inner sensattiions. Ed noted that touch providees a tactile  
stim ulation that helps peoplee " . . .  move inside, in to  the ir own proprioception, to 
locate movement orig ins and connecttions." As mentioned in Chapter (III[,, 
teachers also encourage students to find  an inner intention or focus fo r the ir  
danciing; this may be a dramattic m ottiva tion; it may be sensiing the 
countertensions inside the body; and it  may be feelling how the deep postural  
muscles support one's alignment.  
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Touch, in conjunction w ith  im agery and words can bring students to an 
iinner  focus, and to greater anattomical awareness. Laurie used imagery from  a 
science fiction film  to focus students in ternallly  and to c larriify  anattomical 
inform ation. She instructed her students,  
You have to do Fantastic Voyage w ith  yoursellf. You have to pu t yo u r m ind 
in  a tiny  littttliee space ship and send it alll over the inside o f your body to 
learn how to use you r left adductor magnus; you have to know where it is 
and how to use it, w itthou t engaging your left quadriceps.  
A rtis t, Ben Shahn (1957) writtees that the objective o f a liberal educattion is 
to produce a cu ltu red citizzen, and an integrated person. The outstanding qu.a1lity  
o f this person is perceptiivveenneessss,, "  . .  .. an awareness o f things and people, o f their  
quallities." Shahn notes, "Theese are the indiisspensable quallitiees for  the artist  
tooo—-. . .  to look and look, amn1d think and liissttemn, and bet' aware"”  (p. 115). 
A tttteennttioionn—-iinner and outer—-- devellops such skiills as sellff-m oniitoring and  
sellf-reflecting. Students ask questions o f their own dancing; they revisse the ir  
choices, and they explore further. 
Dialogue Through Flexiibiillity: Lii1m11bbecrii1n1g Up  to the Many Possibillitiitei6s 
In any colleege m odem  dance technique class, no matter how 
homogeneous the level o f dancing skiilll, numerous factors contribute to studte>nntbs'' 
opportun itiiees to practice an attittude o f flex ibiility . These include varietiees o f 
(a) body type, (b) learning style, and (c) response to being touched. D uring  any 
given semester a student may particippaate in studentt-to-student-touch 
experiences w ith  many d ifffeerent partners, having to, as Ed stated,, "  . . .  problem  
solve w ith  d ifffeerrent bodies.." Laurie belieevees it is valuable for students to w o rk  
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w ith  partners who are at m any d iffeerent skiilll levels. Sometimes she pairs 
advanced students w ith  beginners; at other timees the parings are more equallly 
balanced, or random. It depends on her goals for a particular partnering event.  
Flexiibiillity  is an open atttitude  that a llows for shiifting means and ends 
(N oddings, 1991, p. 16). N ot onlly  does one need to take into account a variety of 
body types, but also one must have a flexible and malleahble focus that recognizes 
the m yriad  o f phenomena w hich  occur simulttaaneously when someone is 
dancing.  
F lexiibiillity  came into p lay as Laurie assiisted a begiinniing-le\v·el dancer w ith  
a 'striikkee'—'- a posiition in w hich the dancer stands on the left leg and extends the 
righ t leg, h igh and to the side, tiltts the torso left, and lengthens the arms to the 
sides o f the body. [In this instance, Lauriee''s goal is to help the student 
(A/I) o u tw a rdlly  rotate his righ t leg and extend his energy through a pointed foot. 
A  held the posiition, Laurie took hold o f his righ t leg, and another assiistting 
student (B) helld A's left arm fo r balance and support. Laurie genttlly  adjusted ,A-V's 
leg in to  greater outward rotation w hile  she simulttaaneously supported the weight 
o f the leg. A t this moment in the learning experience, students A  and B  had 
tacttile, visual, and aural perceptions o f the energy necessarry to perform  the 
sttrike; the rest o f the class took it in on ly  v isuallly  and aurralllly. Alsso, alll o f the 
students had the opporrttuniity  to understand this lesson through 'kinesthetic 
em patthhyy'—'- a bodiily  response to the imagined physical sensattions w hich  they 
wittnneesss in  someone else. (This concept w ii l l  be explained in more dettaiil in 
Chapter V.) 
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To fu lly  beneffiit from the experience described above, a flexib le awareness 
was required o f alll the students. They needed to consider at least some of the 
fo llo w ing  phenomena: (a) A is a begiinniing-level, large male; (b) a strike requires 
parrticu la r posiitioning o f arms and legs; (c) the torso is tiltteed ; (d) certain elements 
are resttrricting /A\''s perffoormrmanacnec—e-w hat are they? (e) A has a parrticu la r sennssititiiv ity 
and openness to toucchh—- what do I  perceive this to be? and (e) there are certain 
ways in  w hich  A m ight be touched effeecttiivveelyly—- what are they? Students are 
required to perceive, reflect, and act on many levels, sim ulttaaneouslly.  
Peggy Hackney (1998) articulaattees the idea that a m ovem ent event has 
many facets as she reflects on her studies w ith  Irmgard Barteniiefff. "Irrm ggard 
Barteniiefff consttanttlly reminded her students that 'TThheere  is a lw ays more than one 
th ing  go ing on.' She implored us to look at the whole system and see the 
orchesttrrattiion" (p. -414-1)). To use Barteniiefff's  wwords, "There are m any possssibibiliiltiiteie:-s." 
(p. 1) when it comes to learning,. understandiing, and obserrving movement. 
Tactile d ia lloogguuee—-wwhhiich encompaassses and necessiitates an a ttittude  o f fle x ib ilitty\·—-- 
w ii l l  enhance students'’ avaiillabbiillity  to alll o f the "possiibiilitiiees."  
As mentioned in Chapter IIlIl, when Ed teaches dance partnering  he 
frequenttlly  uses the theme o f '’the architecture o f support and the giif t o f surrender 
in  ledg ing and draping forms..'’ He wants students to learn how  to provide 
strong and reliable architectural support systems throughout the body; he also 
creates opportunitiiees for students to y ie ld , drape, and surrender the ir weight on 
to the architecture o f another human. Ed stated th att"" . . .  th is creates alll 
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posssiibiilitiiees for d ia logue or negottiiation back and forth  between people." He  
encourages students to recognize the ir methods o f (and responses to) a lternating  
between the roles o f supporrting someone and alllo w in g  onesellf to be supported.  
Ed faciliittaattes an atttitude o f fle xiibiillity  through his !ledging and draping  
explorations. He stated, 
I th ink if  they buiild  theiir faciillity , confiddeence, and enjoyment o f both ends 
o f that continuum  it gives them more strategies for coping out in the 
w orld . It gives them a broader range o f ways o f relating to people; they 
can flow  eassiilly back and fo rth  between those d ifffeerrent roles. 
Students commented that experieences in studentt-to-student-touch  
contribute to theiir abiilitiiees to be flexible. One student remarked,  
It''s been interesting because I  th ink  every tim e we've worked, IJ''v,•ep had a 
d iffeerent partner. Every siingle one o f them has sometthing d ifffeerrent, a 
d iffeerent w ay o f touching and a d ifffeerrent w ay o f showing mee—-eevven 
ho ld ing m y hips, the level, where they hold them and how tig h tly  they 
hold. H aving people touch me in d ifffeerrent ways lets me learn about the 
movement, and feell  it in d ifffeerent ways. 
A second student noted, 
Sometimes I''m  w orking  w ith  partners and, if  they're your friieends, or 
you 're  not in to  it, you just k ind o f do it and d o n 't reallly understand w\Vhhaat 
you 're  doing. But then when you do get a good partner it''s d ifffeerrent. I  
was partners today w ith  the boy in our class and he gave me new vissual 
images that Steven hasn''t g iveenn—-nnew ideas, like sternly saying, "''H o ld  
these hips d o w n " and it wasa vse~ry hellp fu l.  
A th ird  student remarked, 
W orking  w ith  a student affects m y learning because I''m  learning how  to 
interact w ith  other people, too. And when you 're  that close to someone 
and you 're  try ing  to learn and teach sometthing, you get a better 
understanding o f what you 're  try ing  to do by hellp ing them. If  you  can 
teach it to someone that means that you reallly  do understand w hat you 're  
doing. \WNhen partnering someone w ho has a d ifffeerrent agenda, o r w ho is 
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not as intterested as you aree—-[I th ink  you probablly get more milleeage, 
because i f  you want to be a choreographer, i f  you w ant to teach, you're 
going to get a w ide range o f people. So [I guess it w o u ld  almost be more 
fun to have a partner w ho is not as into itt—- a person that needs more help. 
[If you can help someone w ho needs more help, then, heyv, more power to 
you. 
Dialogue Through Cufl tiivmating Rellationshiips 
M artin  Buber (1923/1970) wriitteess,, " .... relation is reciip rociity " (p. 60). 
Apparent from  m y obserrvations and intervieews, this g ive-and-take between two 
people who meet as equals occurs through touch, and because o f touch. 
Touching in a dance class, according to many particippaants, de\v·elops a posiitive 
rapport among students. Steven commented, "Touch is responsiible for sharing 
and bonding between students.." He encourages this posiitive rapport; du ring  .a1 
partner touch event he requests o f the touchers, "Ta lk to them w ith  your touch; 
give them a sennssibibiilliity ."  
Studentt-to-student-touch esttablisshes a level o f com fort that, as one 
student noteed,, " ... .  makes the learning experience more pleasurablle." Students 
commented that the com fort fostered through touch helps them to feell less 
constriicctetedd—-eemmoottiionaalllly  o r physiccaallyly—- so they can fu lly  partic ippaate  in class. 
One student asserrted that a higher level o f openness from touch ing  carries over 
from  studio to stage; when she is perform ing w ith  her collleeaagues from  class they 
can alll more fu lly  express themselves. 
The posiitive relationships fostered through studentt-to-student-touch 
offsset an atmosphere o f com pettiition that is common in  a dance class. A  student 
remarkeed,, "[I  th ink  it gives a sense o f com m uniity. W e're w o rk in g  together  
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instead o f competting w ith  each other. W e're hellp ing each other ou t and try ing  
for everyone to im prove instead o f just caring about yoursellff."  
Along w ith  a sense o f com m uniity , trust is another im portant aspect o f  
relationships. A  student expressed the idea this way:  
I th ink when you have to trust somebody and alllow  yoursellf to be 
vulnerable, to trust theiir eye to watch you r body (which auttom attiicallly  
makes it realllly personall), it  opens some doors. It''s hellp fu l, espeecciiallly w itth  
the partnering that we've been w ork ing  on. These are the people you 
need to be w ith  every day and essseennttiialllly trust your life to—-ii f  they'’re 
ho ld ing you in the aiir. 
A ftter Ed taught a technique class w hich was expresslly devoted to dance 
partnering, students commented on a majjor difffeerreence between that class and a 
more tradiitiona l modermn dance class. They remarked that even though they are 
consttanttlly together in classes, students tend to remain in their omwvn, isolated littttllee 
bubbles, dancing side byv side. Parrtnering, on the other hand, requirees constant 
interaction between them. 
fFor Ed, touch is used p rim arriily  to teach students about numerous aspects 
o f theiir bodies and o f movement. However, a secondary agenda is to 
consciiouslly assiist his students in  devellop ing a posiitive rapport amongst 
themselves. For example, Ed faciliittaattees a trust circle in which there are any 
num ber o f peoplele—-ffour, five, o r six—-ccrreeaattiing the perimeter of a circle. One 
person is inside the circle, a lternatelly g iv ing  w eight to the various people on the 
perimeter. The p rim ary  functions o f this touch event are (a) to feell grounded 
and resiilient when absorrbing someone's w eight, (b) to be able to set someone  
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back on to her or his ow n support, and (c) to g ive one's own weight to someone 
in the circle. Secconnddaarriilly, this exercise is about bu ild ing  trust between people.  
A modern dance technique class is a com m unal acttiiv ity. Some degree of 
interaction among particippaants is buiilt in to  the genre. However, the 
development o f relationships among partic ippaants, depending on the teacher, can 
take greater o r lesser precedence. The inc lus ion  o f studentt-to-student-touch 
inevitab ly gives it greater precedence. [I fin d  John Dewey's (1933-41) com m entary 
on the connecttion between the quallitiees and metaphors necessarry fo r 
(a) cu ltiva ting  relationships, and (b) deffin in g  '’fo rm ' in art, to be in trigu ing . He 
writtees,  
. .  .. relations are modes o f interaction. They are pushes and pu lls ; they are 
contractions and expanssiilo1ns; they determ ine ligghhttnneesss and w eight, ris ing 
and falling, harm ony and d is coorrdd ... .. A r t expresses, it does not state; it is 
concerned w ith  existences in the ir perceived quallitiees, not w ith  
conceptions symbolized in terms. A  sociial relation is an afffa ir o f affections 
and obligations, o f intercoursse, o f generrattion, inflluueence and m utua l 
m odiification. [Itt iis in this sense that "“ rellattion" is to be understood when 
used to define form  in art. (p. 13-41) 
Dialogue Tlhzrouglhz tlhzec Searrch fo r  1a11n1 Appropriate Response 
Every engagement o f studentt-to-student-touch is not only an ongoing 
search fo r an appropriate response, but an act o f identtiify ing a range o f possiible 
responses. The range o f posssiibiilitiiees is vast because o f the range o f movements 
and partners. This search for a response w orks best as a learning a cttiiv ity  when 
students embrace attittuuddees o f care, a ttention, and flex ibiility , and have a sense o f 
re lationship to theiir partners. lIt involvees kinesthetic empathy—-ffeeeelliing  
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sensattions in one's ow n body in  conjunction w ith  being able to see and feell the  
same m ovement issues o n /in  another body.  
Despite its challenges and obstacles, more often than not this search  
between partners is a sattiisffying journey, and one w hich students value. It 
requires students to w ork as independent duos. According to one student, " Iltt''ss 
almost like  we can remember it more because we had to figure it out ourselves."  
Another claimed, " [I t  teaches me more about m y ow n body and what [I m igh t be 
doing r ig h t or w rong. [I just enjjoy touching other people, too. ICt'ts's reallly relaxing  
for me. There's a feelling of m oving through someone's body."  
Students learn about themsellve:s, when they touch others. Ed, Ste\v·en, 
M ary and Laurie alll advocate the idea o f partnering a variety o f people. A  
student remarked on the posiitive nature o f having m ulltip le  partners: 
Touching a d iffeerent body every tim e providdees difffeerent experiences. I 
learn sometthing about that person's body and how to w\vork w ith  their 
lim iittaattiioons. Each person has lim iittaattiioonnss. [I see what it is that needs to 
happen or w hat needs to be encouraged. Or, i f  they're doing great then [I  
jus t help them sttabiilize whatever they're do ing  and [I figure out w hat it is 
tha t [I need to do to help them more. [I usuallly ask, "H ow  was that? Did 
that sattiisffy you? Was that O.K.? Was that good?" Most o f the tim e they''lll 
say, "Yes." Sometimes they''lll say, "Leet''ss do it agaiin."  
Sometimes this search for an appropria te response can be frustra ting and  
confusing. [It may be diifficu lt for an experienced toucher to w ork w ith  someone  
w ho is unskkiilled  in  touch, or who is uncomfortable w ith  it. One student  
commented, " Itt''ss realllly a useless waste o f tim e to be stuck w ith  someone w ho is 
w ishy-w ashy. I always try  to grab someone I know, whose opinion I trust. But 
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sometimes you get stuck w ith  somebody and it''s paiinffull."  Siimiila rly, another  
student noted that she is dem andiing of people and that it is disheartening when  
she experiences a noncom miitta l level of touch from  her partner. For her, most o f  
the time, touch from  a student partner is not readiily effective. However, the 
siituation can im prove due to her willlininggnneesss to p rov ide  her partner w ith  
feedback. This student relayed an incident that supports Ed's previous comment  
that reticence on the part o f a toucher can lead to a compressing, rather than an  
ellongatting m aniipu la tion  o f her partner's jointts: 
'We were do ing  leg liftts, when the person lifttss m y legs o ff the floor and 
sllow ly  lowers them. The other person just lowered my legs and there 
wasn''t a p ullling  so my spine would stretch, so I  asked this person, "Can 
you please p ulll on my legs more so I can feell m y spine realllly stretching, 
because I th ink  I can feell that more and I''d like your hellp ." Sometimes I  
probablly sound a litttle  cross but that's the honest truth. I  th ink  that it''ss 
on ly  honest fo r me to say that, because if  I  d id n 't say that it w ould be 
frustra ting for both o f us. 
Certain students are not at ease taking on the role o f teacher. Some have a 
sense o f proprie ty  and etiquette that is d ifficu lt to cross: They are in class to be 
attentive learners, not to telll someone else what to do. Others s im ply feell 
unqualliified to give advice. \WVhen they touch each other, students are conttinuallly 
put in the posiition o f m aking inforrmed decisions based on their accumulated 
experiences. For this reason, paiiring  rank beginners together, or rank beginners 
w ith  seasoned dancers may not always be consttructive choices. This was 
substtantiated in the questtiionnaire. Nearrly 90'1%/o o f the students at Lane 
C om m uniity  College, U niversiity  o f Utah, and U nivers ity  o f Oregon stated that 
sttudentt-to-student-touch was eiither good or excelllent at enhancing their learning  
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process. However, less than 50% o f the students at Iowa State U niversiity  gave  
this rating; over 50''%.;1 o f the lIowa students rated it as poor o r fair. The participant  
populations in the m odem  dance classes at the first three schools were quite  
homogeneous in terms o f experience and skiill level. A t [Iow a State University the 
students ranged from those w ith  professional perform ing experience to rank-
beginner, and every level in  between. 
As noted through student particippaants' responses, the accumulated  
experiences which one's fe llow  students bring to a dance class p lay a siignificcant  
role in the success of a studentt-to-student-touch acttiiv ity. Accum ulaatteed  
experience exists, to a substtannttiial degree, in the form  of body-know lleedge. This  
concept was noted in Chapter mIII. Ed mentioned that he believed that the body  
has its own organic or kinesthettic intelliiggeence that w ii l l alllow  the body to find the 
most effficient way to perform  an acttion. Mary spoke o f the intellliiggeenncce of the 
body, contrastting it \wViitth  learning or functioning from  a bra in  perspecttive. For 
her, the function o f touch is to facilittaate and bring a remembrance to a body  
intelliiggeence that is already there; body intelliiggeence is the a biill ity  to feell and sense 
from  the inside o f the body. Hackney (1998) notes Irm gard Bartenieff''ss thoughts  
on the issue o f body-knowlleedge.  
[In her manusccrriipt, the A rt o f Body Movement as a Key to Percepttion, 
Irm gard states, "The m ain object o f alll this materrial is to suggest 
addiitional modes o f perceiiving yoursellf and the w o rld  around you, using 
your live body to ta lllyy—-bbooddyy /m in d //ffeeeelliningg—- as a key to that perception. 
The heart o f that 'Iliveeneess' is movement and, therefore, it is the movement 
itsellf that we have studied. H ow  your body functions in  movveemmeennt—t- 
B odyy //E fffoorrt/tS/Shhaappee—- and what that means to your perceptions and 
expressiion.." (p. 3) 
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Like Ed and M ary, Hackney (1988) notes the im portant role of kinesthetic  
understanding w ith in  the learning process: 
The first step in any creattive process (and learning is cerrttaiin ly a creative 
process), is the act o f merging, identtiify ing and becoming one w ith  that 
which is there to be known. This part o f the process generralllly happens at 
a pre-conscious level. Most adullt learners do not acttiivelly acknowleedge 
this part o f the proocceesss—-aand therefore do not teach the parrticu la r skiills of 
this stage to others. Here is the crux o f the current educattiional problem. 
The  abiility to knowiv tlhzrouglhz merging lhzappens bodily. lIt is almost celllu la r 
knowleleddggee—- grrounded and made vita l through moving,. (p. 27) 
Touching another person opens the gate for Hackney's merging, p rovid ing  
students w ith  opportun itiees for discovering and identtiify ing  appropria te  
responses. Hackney clarifiiees, however, that she does not advocate m erg ing vs. 
diffeerentiation. She notes that setttting boundaries is an im portant act in  the  
learning process; m erging precedes difffeerentiation and is fo llowed by integratio, mn  
(p. 27). D uring  m y observations of numerous studentt-to-student-touch  
explorations lI noted that students engage in a spectrum of tactile in tim acy. lIt 
ranges from  boundarry-settting touch to merging touch (or 'b leendiinngg')'—)-ffrom  
touch that difffeerreenttiiaattees the toucher from the touchee, to that w hich does not. 
Exploring alll variations o f intimacy is part of a student's discovery process. The 
teacher participants, due to theiir extensive experiences o f teaching w ith  touch  
were much more consiisttenttlly w orking w ith  a h igh ly  percepttive and senssiitive  
touch, but one that maintained a boundary. (The reader may w issh to refer to the 
discussion on interfaace, blending, and streaming touch in Chapter HIIII.)  
lIn Steven's class, fo r example, a type o f m erging occurs as students search 
for m obiillity  and then sttabbiillity  in a partner. The toucher stands behind and  
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shakes, waves, and manipulates the pellvis o f a partner, fin allly  bring ing the 
pellvis to a stable state. The touchee flexes the righ t leg in a paralllel passe as the 
toucher supports under the righ t th igh w ith  the righ t hand, and slides the left 
hand in  fron t o f the left h ip, searrching for a sensattiion o f fllaattnneess and openness. 
The close p roxiim ity  o f theiir interaction and the placing o f a hand d irectly in front 
o f the h ip  is a h igh ly  intim aate interaction for some students. Care, attentiveeneess, 
fle xiibiility , and rapport are all!l needed in order for partners to merge enough to 
give and receiive tacttile feedback. 
Laurie talks her class through an experience du ring  w hich one person sits 
cross-legged and the toucher kneels behind. The toucher assists the touchee ton 
move the torso from  a (curved) contraction into an (elongated) release. To help 
the touchee find the po int o f in itiaation  for the releease the toucher sllow ly appliees 
pressure in the lower back w ith  the flat part o f a fist. The toucher observes the 
sequennttiial extension o f the spine; the toucher then adds to the touchee's sense o f 
elongattion by pullling  the touchee's head w ith  a gentle sense o f traction, gu id ing 
the dancer from  a forw ard t ilt  to a vertical posiition. Laurie offeers worrddss—-wwhhiich 
both partic ippaants try  to emboddyy—-tto in fo rm  the dances what they should be 
do ing and experriencing: "Start at the base o f the spine. Do not d rop  your energy 
as you come out o f contraction into release. L ift and extend the spine." Laurie 
guides the students in theiir search for a sense o f lengthening, ta lk ing them 
through the how  and w hy o f touching. Verballly, she conttinuallly  refines their 
actions as they search for appropriate responses. 
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Siimiila rly, the words M ary uses to accompany her students' touch guides 
them in theiir search for theiir partners' appropria te responses. "Keeep the jointtss 
open; th ink  about the joints being h ollllo w. . . . "  she says as a toucher givees 
dow nw ard  pressure on a touchee's pellv is w h ile  the touchee extends her legs 
from  a plie. Here, M ary wants students to sense the use o f the hamsttrings and 
the pushing acttion through the legs. 
As student partners travel on a com m on search for understanding thle'Yy 
are bound, from  time to time, to venture into  a realm which Ed refers to as the 
'’psychosomattic d im ensiion..'’ This is a m enttall/em ottiionall/phys ica l dom ain in 
w hich humans make sense o f theiir w orld  by acknow ledging that how they (a.mnd 
others) move affects how they th ink and feel, and vice versa. Ed challeenged his 
students to take note o f theiir experiences in the psychosomattic dimension wi tth 
his toboggan im provisation d u ring  w hich students experience the acts o f beingh 
in conttro l, and being conttrolled. He recognizes the therapeuttic impliiccaatiioons 1o ,ft 
touch; fo r example, touch can comffort us, help us feell accepted, or bring  up 
deep-seated emottional responses. These are not his p rim ary  objectivees o r 
explliiciitly  stated goals, but they are secondary gains from  the use of touch. Ed 
commented,  
This psychosomattic dimension deals w ith  w hat they're learning ablolut 
theiir ow n erogenous zones, and w hat they're learning about \w\Thhaat kinds 1o>ff 
touch they like and d on''t like. They're  learning about what parts o f the 
body they feell comfortable w ith  and w hat parts they don't. They're 
dealling w ith  lots about sellf-imaage and body image, sensuuaalliity, sexualliitvy, 
and m oralliity . [I th ink they are even com ing to understand which parts o f 
the body they have greater o r lesser sensattiion in. [I th ink some people start 
to become aware o f areas where they have blocked sensattiion. 
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The five aspects o f Noddings's (1998) interpersonal reasoning are 
interwoven into a whole; a ttittuudees o f care, attention, and fle x ibiility , and acts o f 
culltiva ting  relationships, and searrching for appropriate responses are integral to 
a tacttile dialogue between tw o  students. These aspects are not on ly  required for 
a m eanniingffu l tacttile d ia logue to occur, they are the meta-dance outcomes which 
are the resullt o f touch. 
C onffirm ation: \WViittnneesssing Another''s Uniiqquueenneesss  
C onffirm ation is a v ita l element o f tactile dialogue. For N oddings (1 l 94918') it 
is a majjor component o f her theory o f moral educattion from  the perspecttive of  
care. When dance teachers encourage their students to practice acts o f  
conffirm ation they are strengthening the humaniitarian s piir it behind meta-dance  
practice, and w ith in  theiir students.  
The term "w ittnneess ing " is used in this secttion delliberatelly , reflecting itb> u,^1e.• 
in Authentic Movement. A u then tic  Movement is a practice o f dance//monv~emel'nt  
therapy in which the re la tionsh ip  between a mover and a w ittnneesss is explored.  
The mover works w ith  eyes dclosed, fo llow ing  internal im pullssees to move. 
According to Janet A d le r (1999), the wittnneesss  
. . .  practices the art o f seeiing. Seeiing clearrly is not about know ing wh,a1t 
the mover needs o r m ust do. The wittnneesss does not 'lo o k  a t' the mover 
but, instead, as she [o r he] internalizzees the mover, she [o r he] attends to 
her [o r his] ow n experiences o f judgment, in terpre ta tion  and projection in 
response to the m over as catallyst. As she [or he] acknowleedgees ownership 
o f her [or his] experiences, the densiity o f her [or h is] personal history 
empties, enablling the w ittnneesss at times to feell that she [o r he] can see the 
m over clearrlly and, more im portanttly , that she [o r he] can see hersellf [or 
h im sellff] clearrlly,. (p. 194) 
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The wittnneesss observes the mover's im provissation w ith  an a ttittude of 
support fo r the mover's uniqueeness, not looking for the '’r igh t'’ im provissation. 
F olllow ing  the im provissation there is an option for each party to verballly  share 
experiences. Together, the m over and wittnneesss may achieve a degree of 
percepttion o f sellf and other that evokes respect, empatthy, and conffirm ation.  
C onfirm ation is the act o f afffirrm ing  and encouraging the best in other~s 
(Buber, 1965). C onfirm ation is embedded in three previouslly disscusssed 
pedagogiical elements: (a) how the teacher shapes a class for touch, (b) how 
touch is mentored, and (c) how teachers and students engage in dialogue. Yel't, 
the singu lar impollrrttaance o f confirm ation in educattion warrants a separate 
discussion.  
Tw o elements are v ita l fo r confirm ation to occur. One, as mentioned 
earrllier, is the abiillity  to see another person as '’other,'’ not as someone who we 
hope to make more like ourselves, o r even whom  we attempt to emulate. The 
o ther element is trust. A  student needs to trust her or his teacher and fe llow  
students i f  any acts o f conffirm ation are to be deemed credible. Students must be 
able to trust the motivees behind acts o f confirm ation. Trust requires conttiinuiity ; 
w hen students and teachers w o rk  together over time they gain a famiillia rity  w ith  
each other w hich is necessarry fo r conffirm ation. H ow  can we possiiblly confirm  
someonnee—-idideennttiiffy  her or his "better sellff" and encourage its develooppmmeennt—t-ii f  we 
have not had ample tim e together?  
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Teachers and students demonstrate respect for another person's  
uniqueeness in numerous ways. From the very beginning o f the semester the 
teacher shows respect by g iv in g  students permission to forgo touching, as w elll as 
to communicate if a parrticu la r type o f touch is paiinful, uncomfortable, or  
confounding. M ary''s attention to her boundaarrieiess—-kknnoow ing where her energy  
ends and the student's begins (disscusssed in Chapter IlIlIl))—-sshhows her regard for 
her students. A student o f Laurie'’s commented on a wayv in w h ich  Laurie  
demonstrates conffirm ation, noting that she embraces the im porttaance of  
" . . .  learning how to use the instrum ent that you've got." As w\Vee have noted  
earrllier, alll four teachers, as described by themselves and the ir students, teach 
dancers to understand movement from  the inside, rather than by pastting on an 
external standard. One o f Steven's students noted, 
He's very concerned w ith  learning to use your bodyv in a w ay that's go•o 1dd 
for your body. The emphasis is what you can do. [Itt iis not so much snome 
ideal o f having a 180'°' tu rnou t and gettting your leg up to the ceiiling, but 
sometthing that is com fortable and can sttiill be aesttheettiicalllly pleasing. 
Through ever-changing partnerships in studentt-to-student-touch exenrc:issel's 
dancers learn that each in d iv id u a l is unique in strengths, lim iittaattiioonnss, attittuuddees onfi 
fear and risk, comfort w ith  touch, and in many other ways. This is learned  
through touching, speakkiing, lisstening, and seeiing. Over time, students mature in 
theiir abiilitiiees to care, pay atttenttion, remain flexible, cultivaatte a relationship, and  
identtiify  a range o f responses; they become more able ( if not a lways more w illiinng)  
to embrace a variety o f ideals pursued by an array of '’others.'’ 
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There is no one righ t form ula for making someone a dancer (although 
some students seek out a teacher w hom  they believe has this form ula). This is 
the message taught when a teacher alllows time for students to experim ent and 
explore du ring  theiir touch encounters. Each time a teacher's in tu itioon , o r 
kinesthettic intelliiggeence whisspers, "She's not ready to be touched; stay ou t o f her 
kinesphere" o r prods, "Touch is exacttlly what he needss""—-iit is an act o f 
confirm ation. Ed, Steven, Laurie, and M ary go to great lengths to encourage the 
developm ent o f alll o f the ind iv iidduua ls  in their classes. They are w ill iinng  to answer 
questtions. They may offer an uncomplicated afffirm ing  press o r a stabiilliz ing hold 
as they siim p ly say "Yes" to conffirm  an ind iv idua l. Or, the touch may be 
accompanied by entthusiiassttiicalllly shoutting "Oh, Magico!!" as Laurie does. 
Setttting asiide everryth ing noted thus far which promottes and demonstrates 
conffirm ation, let us acknowledge that touch, itsellf, stands alone as confirm ation. 
Consider, for a moment, how frequenttlly we touch ourselves in  d aiily  liiffee—-- 
pressing or rubbing our hands, massagiing a tight muscle in the neck, resting the 
chin in  the palm  of the hand w h ile  th ink ing, o r unconsciiouslly p lay ing  w ith  our 
haiir. Do not these gestures, to some degree, confirm  for us that we are indeed 
here as ourselves, allive, and O.K.? Deane Juhan (1987) writtees, "Touch, more than 
any other mode o f sensattiion, defines for us our sense o f realliity " (p. 29). A  
senssiittive, practiced, atttenttive touch from  onesellf, a teacher, o r a student can, and 
does function as confirmation.  
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Trust 
As noted earrllier, trust is an esseennttiial element in the act o f conffirm ation;  
students need to be able to trust theiir teacher's and fe llow  students' motivees for 
confirmation. Ed described an example o f a group touch exercise d u rin g  which  
the touchee learns to trust, not on ly  her o r his partners, but also hersellf o r himsellf  
and the space around the body. (The concept o f '’trusting space'’ m ay appear to 
be metaphysiical rather than physical. However, dancers learn that they have the 
capaciityty—-tth rough acts o f shaping the body, and through spattiial in tteennt—t-tto  
interact w ith  space in ways w hich make the space palpable, w ith  viscosiity and  
texture.) The m over steps into an undercurve in plie and then risses up to a releevne; 
on one supporrting  leg. The action is one o f spreading horizonttallly  (as w elll as 
rising verticallly) into a forward-leeaning arabesque;; this classiical ballle t  
posittioionn—-eennttaaiilling  the dancer balancing over one foot w ith  the o ther (gestturing)  
leg extended behind and the torso held in the vertical d im eennssioionn—- has been 
adapted by m odern dancers. Students w o rk  in quartets, w ith  touchers at each 
arm  and at the gestturing leg. Ed commented on this exercise, 
We're w o rk in g  on trust—-eeccceennttrriic contraction and lengthening for 
balancing. So, rather than pullling  in toward the center they 're  trusting 
space and reaching out into the edge o f the periphery. Three people are 
teaming up, try in g  to help that person trust the extension in to  the distal 
edge. The helpers provide a litttle  b it o f actual support, like  a balllet barre 
but they also coax the elongattion, so it''s a spattiial impetus; as it''ss rising, it''s 
also spreading.  
[In this example, we can observe that trusting (a}) one's technique, (b}) the 
abiillity  to maneuver one's ow n weight, (c}) one's capacciity to respond  
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apprroprriia telly, and (d) the space around the body, works synerrgiisttiicallly w ith  
trusting one's teacher and fellow  students. Just as w ith  the concept o f '’m aking a 
dancerr,'’ there is no one form ula for b u ild in g  trust in a class. Yet w itthou t it, 
learnniningg—- and, I  w ou ld  venture to say danciinngg—-iis like ly to maiintain a 
mechaniical qualliity , rather than become fu lly  human. Over time, trust can be 
b uiilt as teachers place theiir students, litterallly , in each other's hands, as w elll as in 
their own. Teachers provide trus t-buiild ing  experiences du ring  which one 
partner must surrender the 1w,,eveigighht o f a lim b, o r o f the entire body. 
Simultaneouslly, the other partner experieences the meaning o f absorrbing another 
human being through the skin, bones, and muscles. 
There is potenttial for trust to develop when teachers (a) understand and 
respond to the ir students' backgrounds, (b) m entor the use o f clear intent when 
touching, and (c) promote candid verbal feedback about touch experiences. The 
greater the level o f trust among teachers and students, the greater one's com fort 
level and receppttiiviity fo r being touched. And, the more avaiilable one is to touch, 
the more one w ii l l  be able to respond to and learn from it. 
Remaiining Availaable to the M u ltip lee Layers of Perrcepttion 
Students and teachers are required to perceive and act on many levels, 
simultaneouslly, in order for touch to be efffecttively used in a dance class. 
Converselly, w hen touch is included in a dance class students are p rovided w ith  
numerous opportun itiiees to develop a flexible, m ulti--ttiieerreed awareness. Ed, 
Steven, Laurie, and M ary create class environm ents in which students are able to  
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be fu lly  avaiilable for learnniningg—- on m ulltip le  levels. The teachers sequence theiir 
classes to balance momentum, conttiinu ity , and comprehensiion. Each teacher 
explorees ways to help students take the time to feell the inner workings o f their 
m oving  (or sttiilll) bodies, to repattermn movement habits, and to balance the 
conceptual w ith  the somattic levels o f knowing. 
Ed, Steven, Laurie, and M ary provide students w ith  opportun itiees to 
develop the ir skiills  in adaptable and malleable forms o f seeiing, feelling, th inking, 
m oving, and obserrving. Through touch, students have enllivening opportunitiieess 
for sellf-d iscovery and artistic g row th  w ith in  the paradigm  o f meta-dance 
practice. Again, however, it bis  w orth  noting that using touch both requires and 
cultiivvaattees (a) an attittude o f care and sollicittude, (b) attentivveenneesss to onesellf and 
others, (c) flex ibiility , (d) the culltiva ting  o f relationships, and (e) the abiillity  the 
search fo r appropriate responses. Embedded in each o f these phenomena are 
two o the r requirements and outcomes. One is conffirm ation. C onffirm ation exists 
when students and teachers are w illiinng  to see and respect people for who they 
are and to trust that they w iil l do the same for us. A nd  tw o, embedded in acts o f 
conffirm ation is kinesthetic empatthy: the abiillity  to understand and interpret 
onesellf and others through one's own bodiily  sensattiions. 
For effective touch experiences to occur, teachers and students require an 
atttitude  w hich  existenttiiallist Gabrriiel Marcel (1952) refers to as 'd issposabillitiyty'—'-
"  . . .  the readiness to bestow and spend onesellf and make onesellf avaiilable . . . "  
(p. 80). One who is disposable has a readiness to recognize that she or he has a 
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sellf to invest and give, w hile  engaging w ith  others in the w orld . Once agaiin, it  is 
noteworthy that the effective use o f touch requires us to remain 'present' and in - 
the-moment, and it  teaches us that abiillity .  
Steven, Ed, Laurie, and M ary develop theiir pedagogies by weaving 
together appllication, dialogue, and confirm ation. First, they make the tiimee—- and 
take the tiimee—-tto stop, include tactile interactions, and help the ir students to feedl 
inwardly in order to gain new levels o f awareness about their dancing. The 
teachers accompllish this in the face o f many students'’ d rive  to move quiick ly and 
remain entertained. Second, the teachers engage theiir students in critical 
pedagogy through the practice o f tacttile diaalloogguuee—- an engagement which entails 
the students' invo lvveem ent as caring, attenttive, flexible ind iv iidduua ls who cultivvaattee 
relationships and seek appropriate responses in theiir partners and in themselves. 
And th ird, the teachers conffirm  the ir students'’ uniqueeness, and m entor/ 
encourage students tow ard a conffirm ing po int o f v iew  and behaviior w ith  each 
other.  
[In this, and the preceding chapter, Steven, Ed, Laurie, Mary, and their 
students have clarifiieed and described how touch may be used effectively in the 
teaching of dance; the ir w ork  offers other teachers the opporrttuniity  to reflect on 
theiir own uses o f touch, and to invent new ones. The next chapter detaiils a 
pedagogy o f touch. 
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CHAPTER V 
META MEANS 'LATTEERR'—'-'A MORE SPECIIALIZED FORM' 
* * * * *
CONSTRUCTING EMBODIED KNOWLEDGE: 
A PPEEDAGOGY OF TOUCH  
A pedagogy o f touch is possiible on ly  if  teachers create environments that 
alllow  for touch. A ndrew  Kaplan (2000) notes that teachers do not teach students 
d irecttly , but by conttrrollling  the environm ent. A teacher creates an environm ent 
\wvhich " . . .  callls cu t the responses o f students" (p. 379). Dance teachers do not 
mold students'’ characters or theiir dancing bodies. They create conditions where 
students may (a) gain awareness o f the ir current choices, (b) reflect on which 
choices are, or are not, effective, and (c) learn how to make new choices. 
In order to create an environm ent for touch, it is essennttiial for teachers to 
recognize the ways in \wvhich the 's im ultaneiity  o f time' plays out in the 
teachiing /learn ing process: \WVhat transpirees in their classes is the resullt o f a 
'chemical reacttiion'’ o f m ixing the teacher's and students' narratives/historiees, 
theiir expectations forr—-aannd trajectoriees in ttoo—-tthe future, and the in-tthhee-moment 
praxis o f each dance class. One cannot overstate the importtaance o f a teacher's 
acknowledgement o f student narrativees and how those narrativees intersect w itth  
the teacher's educattiional paradigms. It is through this recogniition that teachers 
are able to consttruct a beneffiicial praxis fo r shaping students' experiences. 
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An effective pedagogy o f touch providdees students w ith  touch experiences 
that not on ly help them to reshape the ir dancing, but also rew ritte the metaphors 
w h ich  are embodied in theiir danciing. Through touch students have 
opportun itiees to interrogate theiir metaphors for such ideas as tlhzec body, body 
image, and theiir personal movement scopee//lliim ita tioonss.  
\WVhen dance teachers incorporate touch into  theiir pedagogy they have 
situated theiir teaching w ith in  the educattional paradigm  o f meta-dance practice. 
This is a way o f engagiing in the study o f dance technique w hich  takes students 
beyond theiir development as dance technicians and performers. Meta-dance 
practice is ak in  to the larger educattiional ph illoossoopphhyy—- moorral educattion. Moral 
educattion entaiils the idea that devellop ing aspects o f a studeenntt—-ssuuch as 
character, personaalliity, and a sense o f righ t and w rroonngg—-aarre as much a part of 
w ha t a student should learn as is the parrticu lar subject matter. In the case o f 
meta-dance practice, what can be learned beyond dance, through the use of 
touch, includes such traits as attentiveeness, flex ibiility , and rapport w ith  others. 
These are also part o f Ne!l N oddings'’s (1998) theory o f moral educattion from the 
perspecttive o f care. 
We begin a discussiion o f a pedagogy o f touch w ith  three core constructs: 
(a) tthhee  iinssiide//ouuttssiide  nnaattuurree o off d daanncciinngg,,  aanndd  ooff  lleaarrnniingg  moovveemeenntt,,  ((bb))  tthe  
importtaance o f student histories, and (c) the signifiiccaance of in tentional touch. It is 
im perative that teachers account fo r these foundational elements i f  touch is to be 
used efffectively. 
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Creatting and Environm ent for Touch 
Tlhzec lInllsided/0O1u1tside Nature of Dancing and Leamrning Movement 
One o f the core constructs which underliees the effective use of touch is the 
ins ide/outside nature o f dancing, and o f learning movement. Touch propels one 
to sense the inner w orkings o f the body. Through in terio r sensiing a dancer is 
assiisted in fin d in g  greater c la rity  o f the outside performaance o f moveemeennt—t-tthat 
which is visible to the audience. Inherent in modermn dance, as a perform ing art, 
is an emphasis on external presenttattion o f the choreographic product; the 
dancers' proceessses notw itthstanding, they perform  and an audience watches to 
see how and w hat they perform . Through touch a dancer learns the beneffits o f 
internallly sensiing technique to support its external maniife!s,tation. 
A dancer's experience o f the ins ide /ou ts ide  nature o f movement may be 
described in a num ber o f ways, such as (a) understanding movement internallly ,  
(b) feelling or sensiing movement on the inssiiddee—-hhaavviing an internal sensattiion, and  
(c) know ing one's body from  the inside out. These expressions, while seemiinglly 
vague, describe a number o f specciiffic pedagogiical goals for the teacher: 
1. Developing an awareness and functionall use o f the deep supporrtive and 
postural muscles, such as the iliiooppssoas, the transversus abdominus, the 
abdomiinal obliques, and the pellvic d iaphragm  (floor). 
2. D iscovering an awareness o f ways to use the breeaatthh—- and an internal 
sense o f energy fllooww—-aas the impetus fo r movement.  
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3. Leamrning to alllow  internal sensationss—-pphhyyssioiolloogiical and em otiioonnaal—l-tto 
fullffiill l specciiffic movement goals, rather than sim ply try in g  to replicate the 
demonstrated movement from  an external image o f it. 
\W-Vhheen a dancer accesses internal awareness and support first, he or she has the 
potenttial fo r a broad range o f movement choices; w ith  a more expansive palette 
o f avaiilable movement in performance, a dancer may also discover more 
com pelllling interpretations, whether in d ram attiic /narra tive  roles or in  non-­
narrative works. Steven Chattffie ld noted that, while he considered his technique 
to be 'functional human movement tra in ing ' and lacking in theattrriicalliity , its 
fundam ennttaall//ffuncttionall basis leads the dancer to the atta inm ent o f higher 
aestthettiic expressive quallitiees. 
Using touch to help dancers understand the ins ide /ou ts ide  nature of 
movement is in the serrvice o f expanding the ir physical artis try, and the ir 
mettaphorriical imaginations. Maxine Greene (2000) notes that as humans learn to 
ellim inate theiir habiituall separrattions o f inner from  outer, or subjjective from 
objective they are able to "" . . .  give im agination its proper importtaance and grasp 
w hat it means to place im agination at the core o f understtandiing" (p. 1-410). 
Peggy Hackney (1998) also addresses the inside/o utside nature o f 
movement, noting that the goall o f Barteniiefff Fundamentallss " . . .  is to facilittaate a 
live ly  interplay o f Inner Conneeccttiiviity  w ith  O uter Expresssiiviity to enrich life "  
(p. 3-41). Through the use o f touch dancers develop an understanding o f the 
process//product continuum . On one end is the inner w orld , typ icallly  the  
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province o f therapy; on the other end is the ou te r w o rld , the tradiitiona l reallm of 
technique and performance (p. 34). Dancers enhance the ir artistic livees by 
accessiing the fulll range o f the ins ide-process/outside-product continuum .  
Acknowledging Sttudent Narratiivvees 
A second core consttruct w hich underliees an effective use o f touch is 
student narrrattive; narratives are the stories w h ich  form  a student's h istory, and 
w hich  they te ll//beliieeve  about themselves. In  o rder fo r touch to be used 
efffecttively it is imperative that teachers acknow ledge students' backgrounds ,a1n11dJ 
theiir inflluueence on the teachiing /learn ing process. Teaching and learning are 
shaped by such issues as the extent o f a student's dance studies, her o r his 
experiences w ith , and readiness for, touch, and cu ltu ra l, religious and famiilia l 
backgrounds. Lest teachers w orry  that th e ir teaching w ii l l  be hampered by  
consiidering student histories, teachers m ay be pleasanttlly surprissed that this 
consiiderattion, according to E liot Eisner (2000), leads students to learn more th,arn 
theiir teachers intended. Educators have learned from  a consttrructtiiv ist approach  
to educattion that students create meaning fo r themselves, based on the tools they 
bring  w ith  them. The meanings they create are not siim p ly  a function o f what  
teachers intend for them to learn. Eisner w rittees,  
These tools consist, in the broadest sense, o f the backlog o f their 
experiences and the 'languages' they know  how  to usee—-wwoorrds, images, 
numbers, [movements, modes o f/ttaab o o s  fo r touch iinngg]—]-tto represent those 
meanings. Meanings are indeed constructed but, the tools that students 
use to construct meaning are not lim iitteed  to w ha t teachers p ro viid e. .. .  
Educators should alll be grateffu l fo r that. (p. 344) 
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"Constructivissts believe that realliity  is sociiallly consttructed," writtees James G. 
Henderson (1992a, p. 206). He notes thatt—-wwiitth in  this educattiional paradiiggmm—-aalll 
forms o f knowing are human creations and touched by human interpretation, 
and that " . . .  both teachers and students must learn to become active interpreetters 
o f the ir classroom experiences" (p. 206). A  teacher's recogniition o f the tools 
w hich  students bring callls for a respect for the in d iv id u allity  o f each student. A~s 
Greene (2000) notes, w hat a student wanttss "  . . .  is a feelling o f ownership o f onte.>''ss 
personal history" (p. 16-41). 
A distinguishing feature o f m any colleege level dance programs is cultural 
d iversiity . Teachers have opportun itiiees to w\vork w ith  students from a range o f 
culturrees w ith in  one claasss—- o f both nattional and international origins. This factor 
adds to the challenge and interest o f creatting a pedagogy o f touch which servne·s 
every student. By dem onsttratting respect and sennssititiiviity  to ind iviidduals, teachhte•r~s 
have the potenttial to coax alll students towards effective partic ipation in h,arndJ~s- 
on intervention.  
A student from Mexico c la rifiieed the fact that w ith in  her "Latin American 
culttuurree"—"- as she termed itt—-tthhere is much d ifffeerentia tion  regarding touch, in 
both a ttittude and behaviior. This varia tion  is due to the sociial class structure and 
the parrticu lar context o f a given interaction. She also noted that liv iing  and 
dancing in  the United States had dram attiicalllly  shiifted her previously open and 
unrestrained attittuudees about touch, to behaviors w h ich  were more inhibitteed.  
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This studentt'’s experiences calll attention to the importtaance o f a teacher's 
sennssititiiviity  to cu ltu ra l difffeerreencces, i f  touch is to be used effectively.  
The concept o f d ive rsiity  in educattiional environments encompaassses <a1 
range o f perspectives inc lud ing  coun try  (and region) o f o rig in , prim ary 
language, race, rellig ion, gen9der identtiification, sexual preference, history o f 
sexual abuse, and body type. A n  effective pedagogy o f touch requires teachers 
to consider students, firs t as ind iv iidduua ls , and then w ith  regard to the groups wi tth 
w h ich  they identtiify ; effective pedagogy necessiitates an open and inclusive 
atttitude. It is imperative, however, that teachers and students avoid stereotvypes 
linked to a parrtticu lar identtiifie r. Greene (2000) notes the ineffectual nature of 
stereottyping, w rit inng , "To v iew  a person as in some sense 'representtattive' of 
Asian culture [o r Hisspanic, Jewish, o r homosexuall!] . . .  is to presume an objjle•ctiv, el' 
realliity  callled 'culture,' a homogeneous and fixed presence that can be adeqquu,1attte'Il\v· 
represented by existing subjects" (p. 163). 
Teachers have the potenttia l to engage alll o f theiir students by 
acknow ledging the ir backgrounds, narratives, values, inh ib ittiioonns, and prejudiccees. 
This acknowledgement, in tandem w ith  the teacher's content knowleedge is sttiill 
not the enttire p icture when consiidering the effective use o f touch. Fulll 
engagement o f students can occur o n ly  when teachers gain the students'’ trust. 
And it is the to tallity  o f an unquannttiifiab le  essenccee—-- the teacher's presence, enerr~gy, 
and personaalliity which compels students to trust the ir teachers. The presence 
w h ich  a student senses in  a teacher is closelly tied to the teacher's abiillity  to touch 
w ith  a clear intent. 
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Touching With Ifnllttecnt 
Fundamental to esttabllishing a teacher''s precsserncec  iis  tthe  tteacheerr'’ss  
rrecogniittiion  o f the importtaance of in tentiona l touucchh—-a tth iird   corre  conssttrrucctt  
underrlly iing a pedagogy o f touch. Irreene D ow d (1 992),,  who  supporrttss  tthee  nnoottiioonn  ouff  
iinttenttiional  touch, wriitteess,, "  . . .  I  must approach the other  perrson''ss  rreeaallm  iinn  ssuucchh  aa  
way  tthatt  he//she can understand and accept m y inttent. Then  I  mustt  prrepaarree  
mysellff  so  as  to avoid projecting m y 0o\wvn  conditioonss and  pre--co1n1ccecppttiioonss  onttoo  
h im /h e r"  (p. 51). 
A  tteacher''s c la rity  o f intent is in foorrm eed by a number  o f  ffacttorrss..  Theessee  
ffacttorrs  are  iimperativees fo r touch pedagogy. First, teachers  underrssttand  tthh.a1tt  tthhte.'  
prriim ary  reason for touch is to awaken the student to  sensattiion..  Thaatt  sseennssaattiioonn  iiss  
lliike  a  spark that ignittees a readiness fo r know ing  in new  waayyss—-aabboutt  tthhee  bbooddvy  
aand  aaboutt  movement.. Second, teachers recognize the intiimaatte  natturre  off  ttoucch..  
Touch  occurs  iin  close p rox iim itiyty—-iit can p rov iddee a sense o f  cnomfforrtt,,  iitt  mav  bLwe  
offffeerred  orr  rreceiived w ith  sexual innuendo, and responsses to  iitt  are  varriiabllee  a.rndd  
hhiigghlly   perrssonall..  Th iird , teachers have a clear idea o f the mozv1e1m1e1n1tt  ii1n~fo(ornmma1ttiioo1n1  tthtwevv  
wiissh  tto  iim partt  through touch. Andrreea Olssen (1991) addreessses  tthiis  tth iirrd   iissssuuee,,  
nottiing  ttha tt  a  tteacher''s inttention and a ttention are both keys  tto  handss--on  w orrkk;;  
one'’ss  choiice  o f  a  particu lar type o f touch o r area for placementt  off  handss  on  tthlwe  
body  iiss  iin fforrm eed  by one'’s p rim ary goal fo r the intervention..  Ollssen  w rriitteess,,  ""IIff  wee  
w antt  tto  relax muscles, we m ight use a m uscular movementt  off  tthe  haand  ttoo  
sttiimullate the flu ids and connect us to muscle" (p..  79).. 
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C larity  o f in tent incrreeaasses as teachers develop the ir levels o f perception, 
and they are able to sense a student's readiness to be touched. M ary Seerreiiter 
noted this in her recolllection o f touching a student's sternum and sensiing that the 
touch experience uncovered emottional te rrito ry  w\Vhhiicch was more than the studJent 
could handle at that moment and therefore, she w itthd re w  her hands. It is 
imperative that teachers learn to perceive a student's ’'psychic boundaarryy’—'-tthe 
edge o f her or his personal space which is com municated through body atttitudJle, / 
language and faciall expressiion, and, thus, can be discerned by a sensiitive tea,Kcher. 
This sensiing w ii l l  lead the teacher to change her o r his apprrooaacchh—-tto move more 
sllow ly or quiick ly, to touch more genttly or firrm ly , to speak w ith  the student aJ blolut 
touch, to assiign tw o students to w o rk  as partners, o r to forego touch intervention 
altogether. Effective use o f touch requires not on ly  that teachers are sensiitive to 
the perrm eaabbiilliity o f a student's psychic boundary, but that, once they enter a 
student's personal space, teachers maiintain a tactile boundary.  
Let us recalll that the function o f touch in  a technique class is to elluciid.a1ttel' 
an internal awareness in  the student, enablling the student to make her or his own 
choices about change. Touch does not function to d ra in  the student o f energy., onr 
to engender a dom inan t/subm iss ive  interaction between toucher and touchee. 
Effectiv\'e teachers learn to touch respectting boundaries; they develop methods of 
touch which engage, in form , and even comfort, bu t w hich do not deplete the 
student o f her or his ow n  autthorriity .  
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The effective use o f touch requires teachers to be senssiitti\v·e to the student''s 
w elll being, in generall, and, specciiffiicallly to issues o f gender and sexualliity-. This 
sennssititiiviity manifests itsellf in  numerous ways. A  teacher considers the body zones 
w hich w ill be touched. Arreeas such as the chest, gro in , buttocks, sacrum, coccyx, 
neck, and thighs w ii l l  be, fo r many students, h ig h ly  intiimaate. Teachers can 
intrrooduce the use o f touch by incorporating less intiim aatte zones/stylees o f 
toucchh—-ssuuch as hand--holld ing or taking the w e igh t o f a partner'’s arm; they can 
then w ork toward incorporating more intiimaate regions o f the body as students' 
skiills and rapport develop. Sennssiittiivity is demonstrated when teachers accomp.arny 
a touch experience w ith  clear spoken desccrriipttiolmn o f what they are hoping the 
student w ill sense through touch. Verbal questtiion ing also demonstrates 
sennssititiiviity. Teachers may inqu ire  as to the touchee's state o f m ind-bodyv asking, 
"Can you feell  this?" or "A m  [I  hurting  you?" O ften, alll a student requires in order 
to feell open to touch is ha\v·ing her or his perm ission requested in a query such as, 
"W ould it be allr igh t w ith  you i f  I  put myv hand on your sacrum?" Teachers also 
reveal theiir sennssititiiviity  th rough a dclear demonsttrattion o f touch on a studdeennt—t- 
physiicallly and verballly c la rify ing  the placement o f hands (or whatever area is 
m aking contact), the tactile pathway (such as long strokes o r smalll circles), and 
degree o f pressure. 
Reflecting on gender, Luke Kahlich (2001) asks teachers to examine issues 
o f gender in the ir w ork, th rough reflective questtions. Perrtinent to a pedagogy o f 
touch, and specciiffiicallly to the signifiiccaance o f intentional touch is his questtiion, "Do  
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we address gender and sexxuaalliity in our choice o f ;w,voorrddss, examples, phrases, 
questtions, corrections, [touch,!] and choice o f metaphors and references" (p. -4155))? 
\WVhile  sennssititiiviity  to boundaries, gender, and a student's readiness are required for 
the effective use o f touch, there are no hard and fast rulees which make touch 
usefful or, more to the poin t, appropriate. Some teachers can 'get awayv' w ith  
teaching behaviioor—r- and efffecttively serve their studeenttss—-wwhhiich w ou ld  be ou t o f 
the questtion fo r other teachers. This returns us to the elusive concept o f a 
teacher's preste'lnlCcet'. \WVhen a student senses a teacher'’s clear intent he o r she is more 
like ly  to freelly giv\·e the teacher permission to touch. A long w ith  the issue o f 
intent, other factors play a part in a student's o ffering permission to be touched:  
lIs the class in a college or in a priv\'ate studio? Have the particular group of 
students and teacher been w orking together fo r a long time? lIs the teacher a 
famous guest artist? This last questtion deals w ith  the fact that some students w ill 
feell more obligated to alllow  welll known professional dancers to touch them in 
ways which w ou ld  otherw isse make them feell uncomfortable. That may be due, 
e ither tlo1 a fear o f appearriing 'unprofessional' o r to an assumpttion that this 
teacher's touch must surelly be the 'correct' way to touch. 
Ed G rofff nlo1tted that he had been an aggressiive advocate for the use o f 
touch in colleege dance classes. He had resisted any efforts to d im in issh its 
presence, even w hile  teaching at Temple U nivne~rs ity where teachers were required 
to attend a 2-hour sexual harassment meetting, and where the realliity o f 
harassment lawsuittss "” . . .  was in the aiir." Ed relayed a story about a class he 
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observed which was taught byv a female instructor, Risa Steinberg, a fo r m e r  
member o f the L im on Dance Com pany, and a master teacher o f L im on''s w ork.  
A female student was in second posiition, w ork ing  on a plie  and Risa used 
her whole forearm right under the crotch and pulleed up on the student as 
she was com ing out o f the plie. And it seemed fine in the context and 
nobody reacted negattiivelly. [I d id n 't sense any d iscomffort, but it just made 
me reallize that it was som etth ing thaatt !I  [as a teacherr] w ou ld  not feel 
comfortable w ith . I w o u ld n 't choose to use that in tervention. A ltthhoough  I  
thought it was w onderrffu l and marvelous that she d id  it. [I could see how 
effective it w ou ld  be and [I just thought, "“ Go, Risa! That was gutsyv."  
Bruce Brownleee (personal com m uniication, June 9, 2002) related a siim ila r  
scenarriio, desccrriibing his experiences as a student in a dance technique class which  
was taught by a male instructor, K ellly  Holt.  
In the late 1970s, Kellly H o lt was teaching a Hawkiinnss--bbaassed modermn dance 
technique cll<a!sss at the U nive rsiity  o f C alliforn ia, Santa C ruz. In this 
technique, dancers try to sense the ir legs hanging from  the pelvis likee 
tassels hanging from heavy draperies. H olt encouraged dancers to jum p  
by pushing dow n  to get in to  the air, and then to alllow  the ir legs to dangle, 
w ithou t any excess muscular tension. To assiist a dancer w ith  find ing  a 
relaxed and flu id  plie and jum p, H o lt w ou ld  stand to the side o f a dancer 
and lace his hands under the dancer's crotch. He gave the dancer a sense 
o f support by making a cradle w ith  his hands. He pushed the dancer up, 
and the dancer was able to let go o f muscular tension due to being 
m om ennttaarriilly suspended in the aiir. H o lt d id  this w ith  both men and 
women. I1 th ink  this technique helped dancers get to a level o f kinesthetic 
understanding that w ould  be diif f ic u lt to achieve, otherwisse. Granted, this 
was Santa C ruz in the 70s, before alll the sexual harassment fears, but no 
one seemed the least b it bothered by it o r uncomfortable.  
[It alll comes back to intent. There w ii l l  undoubtedlly  always be students for whom  
touch by a teacher o f the opposite sex—- or the same sex—-wwiill l  be more o r less 
comfortable, no matter who the teacher is, and no matter w hat the style o f touch.  
The effective use o f touch hinges on a teacher's abiillity  to clearly communicate her  
or his technical and etthical intent. 
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One o f Steven Chattffield ''s female students commented that his claassss—-oone  
w ith  a male instructor, and w h ich  included the use o f toucchh—- was a completely  
new experience for her. She noted that at first, the ideas o f a male instructor and  
touch seemed "strange" to her. However, her abiilitiiees to not on ly  accept these 
factors, but also to g row  as a dancer were due to a number o f issues w hich are 
perrtinent to an efffective pedagogy o f touch. She noted that when touching, 
Steven was "carefful, w itho u t being nervous.."” His "com fort w ith  touch" helped her 
to eassiilly partner the male students in  class. His touch was free o f "sexual 
overtones.." The importtaance o f a teacher's consiisttenttlly ethical approach to touch  
was represented in the student's comment, "There''s som etth ing about the way  
Ste\v·en presents him sellf and how  he's acted up to now; I  feell like  there's no wavy 
he w o u ld  touch w ith  sexual overtones, just because o f w ho he is." The student''s  
finall statement, "Just because o f w ho he is" points to an extrem elly im portant  
aspect o f student//t teeaacher interaction. Posiittiv\·e interactions are a product o f the 
teacher's moral in tegrriity  and the degree o f student trust w h ich  it inmv"ol)kkeess. 
Peggy Hackney (1998) addresses the idea o f intent w ith  regard to  
m ovement phrasing. Her com m entary paralllels the ideal o f c la rity  versus  
vagueness in touch. She w rittees,  
Cllarriity  in phrasing leads to c la rity  and efficiency in  body usage. ... Intent  
is part o f the preparattion stage o f phrasing and it is at this crucial po in t 
that the brain is fo rm u la ting  (even in a spllit second) the m otor plan which 
w ii l l  eventtualllly be reallized in  acttion,. (p. 239) 
I lackney notes that w h ile  c la rity  o f intent can produce remarkable results 
in a m ovement pattern, it is w isse to also acknowleedge if  we are being vague,  
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w ithou t purpose, or exhiibiiting an unconscious in ten t w\vhich is acttualllly counter to  
the stated aim o f the phrase (p. 237). The effective use o f touch requires that  
anyone toucchhiningg—-tto use Donald Schon's (1987) te rm —-bbe a 'reflective  
practtiitioner.' Refflective practitioners are compelled to consider the strengths and  
weaknesses o f theiir practice o f touch and to make the necessarry revisions. A  
reflective atttitude requires that when people engage in a touch experience they 
remain h igh ly  atttentive to theiirr—- and the ir partner’'ss—-aaccttiions and reactions. Thiss 
requires a flexible atttitude. A fixed notion about w ha t 'should' be occurring can 
produce results which ar;e; ineffectual and e\v·en desttructtive. Ed Groff 
demonstrated the \v·alue o f a reflectiv\·e atttittude as he considered the efffe~c~titviveenneesss 
o f his touch w h ile  obserrving himsellf teach on viddeeottaape. A t the time o f the in itia l  
interaction w ith  the student he reflected on hi,s; teaching and altered it. He  
reflected a second time du ring  his sellf-observation:  
lI don''t th ink  I'm  being crystal clear here. lI th ink  my hands are sort of 
flu tte ring  about, w ith  too many touches in a row in difffeerent locations. 
This second time lI'm  g i\v·ing a clear ind ication o f outw ard rotation; lI get 
more determ ined and specciiffic about w hy and where Il'm  touching her, and 
m y verbal cues are congruent iw,viitth  what m y hands are saying. 
Through Ed'’s sellff-critiqque, the importtaance o f sellf-reflection on one's use o f touch  
becomes clear. When a teacher acknowleedges her o r his successes and failurres in 
using touch, change is possiible. 
The Ramiifications o f Touch: Power and Empowerment 
A n  effectiv\·e pedagogy of touch requirees teachers to understand that every 
touch interaction in a class has the potenttia l for em pow ering the student. As 
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teachers and theiir mentored students use touch w ith  ever-greater awareness and 
care for clear intention, they w ii l l  empower themselves and those they touch. 
Personal empowerment is, in part, experienced as incrreeaased sellf-knowlleeddge. 
Teachers can be h igh ly effective in  em powering students w hen they move from 
the fron t o f the stud ioo—-sseeppaarratted from  the studeenntsts—- and in to  the student mix; 
here, they move among the students in closse p rox im ity , engaging in hands-on 
com m uniicattion. Students often feell, through touch, that the reins o f 
respoonnssibibiilliity for learning are being turned o\v·er to them. This sennssiibbiillity can 
lead students to more thoroughlly  hear and applly  the corrections their teachers 
o ffe r them; it can also move them to speak, dance, and touch w ith  greater 
in tegrrity  and autthennttiiciity.  
\WVhen students are alllow ed to speak in the ir own ·'voicces'’ they are 
empowered. Magna Lewis and Roger Il. Simon (1996) w rittee that 'voice·' refers to 
one's autthenttic sellf-expression w ith  an understanding t h att"".  . .  people are 
situated in personal historiees o f engagement w ith  their su rround ings / 
com m unitiees through w hich  voice is shaped by class, cu ltu ra l, racial, and gender 
identtities" (p. 256). \WVhen teachers create learning environm ents in which 
students are in posiitions to find  and use their ow n voices they can encourage 
students to feell more than siim p ly  welcomed citiizzeens in  the class; voice has 
p ow errffu l ramiificcations for them in their artistic expressions as choreographers, 
perform ers, teachers, and criticcss.  
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Personall empo\w',,eerment also exists in  the form  of increeased awareness of 
others. Experieences in studentt-to-student touch place students d irectly  in to  an 
interactive com m uniity. Students are empowered because they have been 
recognized as v ita l members of the com m uniity . Personal empowerment has its 
ow n ins ide /ou ts ide  naturree—-iit comes in the form s o f both incrreeased sellf- 
knowledge. and in an enhanced awareness o f the w orld , through rapport w ith  
others.. 
\WVhen the intent o f a teacher'’s touch is dclear and effective it inforrm s the 
student o f her o r his current choices, and o f new, more usefful ones. Reflectiv\·e 
teachers remain aware, however, of the posssiibiilitiiees for touch to promote a 
contrary engagement: Touch may intensiify the hierarchical strattiification that 
already exists between a teacher and student. This can occur when a teacher 
disguisses touch as an act o f frieendship or love, o r uses it to create a barrier 
between hersellf o r h im sellf and the student. A nd rew  Kaplan (2000) classiifiees 
these types o f autthorriity  between teacher and student as personall and impearssuonall. 
He considers each to be dimensions o f a re lationship, noting that i f  we see the 
personal and impersonal as extremes, they become m utuallly  exclusive. Kaplan 
writtees, "W\Vhen we setttle on onlly one mode, w e inh ib it our capaciity to relate. 
These inh ib itiioons lead to two very d iffeerent forms o f autthorriity " (p. 378). These 
forms o f autthorriity  serve as excelllent object lessons o f potenttial outcomes when a 
teacher's touch lacks c la rity  o f intent. 
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Paternalism is Kaplan's (2000) term for a pure ly  personall, "“ one-way street 
o f pow er" based on the bellief that the teachheerr—- male o r femaalele—-iis in charge and, 
in a parental \wVaay, knows what is best for the ch illdd—-tthe student. It appears to be 
a loving, caring relationship, but it is not; it is an interaction w ith  one paternal 
figure having complete conttrol (p. 378). This d isem powering scenarrio can eassiilly 
become a perceived realliity by the student when touch is involved. It may occur 
i f  the teacher crosses the ineffable boundary: instead o f enllightening students and 
gu id ing them towards making theiir own choices, the teacher convinces them that 
the teacher's touch is the onlly true agent for change. Because touch can bring  
remarkable epiphanies to students, and because it is pow errffu l and intimaate, 
some students w ii l l  be convinced to relinquissh the ir personal power to a 
patterrnalliistic teacher. 
Autonomy is a type of autthorriity that is pure ly impersonal and arisses ou t of 
recogniition by both teacher and student that a complete d iv ission  between them 
must not be compromised. Autonomy, writtees Kaplan (200l0'}) "  . . .  encourages us 
to be ind ifffeerrent to each other as persons and to have regard instead for the 
expertness o f the pOow\ver we bring to any siituattion" (p. 378). Whereeas 
paternallism creates a false caring and a boundary-frreee blending between teacher 
and student, autonom y builds a brittle  barrier between the tw o w hich is diif f ic u lt 
to permeate w ith  touch in any tru ly  efffective way. 
H ow  do teachers find the balance o f personal and impersonal interactionss 
to enable a m eanniingffu l and etthical touch encounnteter—r- one w hich empowers the  
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student to find her or his own awareness o f choices? Effective encounters can 
occur when teachers practice the same princip lleess o f toucchh—-ssooon to be disscusssed 
as 'tactile diaalloogguuee'—'-iin which they mentor the ir students. These principlleess 
include attittudes which are caring, atttenttive, flexib le, conffirm ing, and 
empatthettiic; they involve acts o f culltiva ting  relationships and searrching for 
appropriate responses. 
An effective touch pedagogy requires teachers to recognize that touch has 
the potenttial for pollitical, sociiological, cu ltura l, and psychological ramifiiccaatiioons. 
A  student's sense o f identtiity  and empowerment in relation to sellf and 
com m unittyy—-bbotth inside and outside the studiioo—-iis inforrm ed by these contexts. 
When a teacher places a student in a posiition o f autthorriity  by asking her o r h im  to 
touch another student, the teacher honors that student's process of m oving from 
a '’place o f unknowiing'’ into a '’place o f know ing.'’ W\Vhen a student does not feell as 
though he or she is expected to be perfect at every moment, there is potenttial for 
a more enllivened sociiall engagement w ith  fe llow  students, inside and outside o f 
the class. Inv iting  a student to take on the role o f teacher in a touch event can 
communicate to the student a message of, " I  believe that you understand th is" 
or, as Peggy Hackney has saiid to me, "Enter this experience from  a place o f 
know ing." Psyychoollogiicalllly, that is em powering.  
\WVhen students encounter theiir earrlly experiments w ith  touch it is not 
uncommon for them to w orry about offending a partner, or to feell uneasy about 
whether or not they are touching in a correct manner. Teachers are responsiible  
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for  m aiin taiin ing a w attchffu l eye as students engage in these interactions. They 
offer specciiffic hands-on and verbal corrections as w elll as words o f 
encouragement. As students become empowered the ir concerns have the 
potenttial to change. Students stop w orry ing , w h ich  opens them to the posssiibbiillity 
of discovering new sensattiions in the iirr—-aand the ir parttneerrss'—'-bbooddiies.  
Empowerment can also be facilittaated when a student is inv itteed to touch 
the teacher. By touching a teacher w h ile  the teacher demonstrates a particular 
acttion or qualliity  a student can, in some cases, di:s:c;coover a m issing piece o f the 
puzzle in understanding a teacher's intent. Touching a teacher can lead a student 
to a reacttion of, "Oh, now  I  get it!" A t times a teacher may sense that whenever 
he or she approaches parrticular students to engage in touch, those students 
exude a sense o f fear and paranoia that they are, in  the w ords o f one student, 
"doing sometthing w rong." In these instances it may be h igh ly  effective to inmv·itte 
students to in itiiaate  touch on the teacher. This approach can provide students 
w ith  a sense o f pmowver and conttrol over the situation so that, u ltim ate ly , the 
teacher may effectively touch those students in the future. 
Psychoollogiicalllly, touch may force em ottional responses, littera lly , to the 
surface (of the skin). This may happen w ith  any type o f toucchh—-ffrrom  a light, 
gentle touch intended to release tensiion, to a firm , deep pressure into the femoral 
jo int to help a student feell the action o f the illiiooppssooaas muscle. Effective use of 
touch requires the teacher to remain attentive to students' responses by asking  
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such questtions as, "Can you feell  this? lIs th is too hard? Am [I hu rting  you? Do 
you understand the sensattiion wvve are going for?"  
Tomie Hahn (1 99966)—)- in her discussion o f teaching classical Japanese dance  
({nihlwon buyo) through toucchh—-pprrom pts the reader to remember the contexts in 
which we teach, touch and learn. She comments,  
Touch is personall. The encounter negotiates the very boundaries o f our 
physical sellf. Touch is pollitica l. C om plex issues raised by tactile 
experience between sellf and other va ry  according to the cu ltu re  and 
context o f the experience., (p. 162) 
In nihon buyo touch reinfborces the relationship o f dancers w ith in  the group.  
Teachers are of superriior status; they may touch students, but students very r<a1rreely 
touch theiir teachers. Hahn writtes, "The body as transmiitter and conveyor o f the 
art form  is treated serriiouslly and trained rigorously. Respect for experriential  
knowleedge lies in w hat the older dancers o ffe r and posssseesss—-as embodiments of  
mature, liv in g  arrtists" (pp. 168-169). Indeed, the students of Steven, Ed, Laurie, 
and lM'vlaary, touched theiir teachers, onlly  on rare occasiion. The infrreequency of this 
touch relationship seems, however, to be less about the teacherr// student hierarchvy 
and more about the teachers' interest in other touch relationships, parrtticu larly  
studentt-to-student touch. 
The body, as Hahn (1996) states, transm its and conveys the art form. It 
also receives it from  those who teach it. Everyth ing  received th rough touch  
impacts the arrtis try  o f the dancer. The dancer's embodiment o f the art is affected 
by how  and where he o r she is touched, and by her o r his pollitica l, sociiological, 
cultura l, and psychollogical responses to touch. Touch can lead a dancer toward  
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or away from  parrticu lar manifestations o f body image, fearleesssness, fearfullnneess, 
metaphor, range o f m otion, movement quallitiees, anattomical understanding, use 
o f breath, and tension release. Touch inforrm s the dancer in  alll o f her o r his 
rolleess—-ssuch as choreographer, performer, teacher and critic.  
[In summ attion, creatting an environm ent for the effective use o f touch 
necessiitates a teacher's recogniition and u tiliizzaation  o f her o r his underrlly ing 
educattiional belliefs as they interfaace w ith  dance--making. Three pedagogical 
constructs w hich are parrttiicu la rly  sallient to the use o f touch are the ins ide /o outtssiddee 
nature o f dancing and o f learning movement, student narrativees, and intenntitoion.n.1a1l 
touch. These three constructs function to em power th~e student, thus enablling the 
student to reap the beneffits o f touch. W ith in  a settting for touch, teachers engage 
theiir students in the praxis o f touch. 
Theory and Practice: The Praxis o f Touch 
Praxis Explained 
The effective use o f touch entaiils a complex interweaving o f acting, 
perceiiving, and reflecting. W ith in  this web it is the reflecting which moves 
teachiing beyond siim p ly  a percepttive engagement between teacher and student. 
As teachers and students reflect on the ir uses o f touch and the impact touch has 
on theiir danciinngg—- and the dancing o f those they toucchh—-tthey develop new 
modes o f touching. 
Schon (1992) has delineated a num ber o f ways in w hich teachers reflect onn 
theiir w ork ; three o f these ways w ii l l be noted here in the context o f touch. First, 
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'reflection in acttion' is one's recogniition o f what is transpiiring w h ile  in the m idst 
o f a touch interaction; it entaiils making on-the-spot sense o f one's partner''s 
response to touch and o f her o r his 'danced reacttiion'’ to it. As w ith  the 
unquannttiifiable nature of a teacher's presence, reflection-in-action, as Sch6on notes, 
". ...  is an ephemeral episode o f inqu iry  that arises m om enttaarriilly in the m idst o f a 
flow  o f action and then disappears, g iv in g  w ayv to s0ome new event, leaving in its 
wake, perhaps, a more stable \v"iieew o f the siituattion" (p. 125). 
Second, a 'conversation w ith  the siitua tion ' is a type o f refleectiioonn--iinn--aacdt ioi 1nn 
which occurs when teachers and students are faced w ith  a surprisse incident 
which they had not predicted, and w hich requires them to in te rrup t and ch.arnn.~gte• 
what they are doing (p. 125). For example, a partner's response to one's touch 
may be so y ie ld ing  that the toucher is 'in v itteed ' to use more pressure and tcaikLe• 
greater risks. Converselly, a touchee may unprediictablly  sttiffen under the 
toucher'’s hand which w iil l necessiitate a change o f actiioonnss—-ppeerrhaps a genttkle•r 
touch, o r a verbal explanation o f the toucher's intent. 
Th ird , 'reflection-on-know ing' is the process o f teachers and students 
acknowledging new understandings w h ich  they form  in  the m idst o f acttion. 
Schon offers an example, w r it in g  that effective dance teachers, when explaining a 
new movement to students ask themselves, "W hat do I realllly do at this point?" 
This necessiitates that teachers observe themselves as they)' move, and then 
communicate the ir discoveries. These discoveriees can then be c larifiieed for 
students through words, movements, and touch (p. 126). 
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The interconnecting relationship and fluctuation between acttion, 
reflection, and new action is what Paulo Freire (1985) defined as praxis. The  
'praxis o f touch'’ is as much a verb as it is a noun: One 'does'’ praxis as w elll as 
considers its ramificcations. Touchers reflect on how  they are touching, to what  
purpose they are touching in a parrticu la r manner, and w hy theiir touch is 
ellic iting  a specciiffic response. It is im portan t to note that the effective use o f touch 
requires teachers to not on ly reflect on the ir ow n  use of touch, but to teach the act 
o f reflecting to their students. Katherine S. Cennarmno, Sandra K. Abelll, and  
Mi--Leee C hung (1996) w ritte that one o f the conditions which should be 
incorporated into a consttrructtiivist learning environmrneentt—--one w hich encourr.a1ges 
students to consttruct theiir own know leleddggee—-iis the teacher's nurturaance o f a 
student's practice o f reflecting on one's th in k in g  and learning process (p. -4100). 
The effective use o f touch nel1cessiitates a consttrructtiiv ist approach. 
James G. Henderson (1992b) notes the interactive relationship between  
reflective practice, caring, and consttrructtiiv ism . He writtees, 
Reflective teachers w illiinng ly  embrace the ir deciision-making 
responnssiibbiillitiees, and they regullarrly  reflect on the consequences o f their 
acttiionss ... . .  The three key charactterristics o f reflective practice are an et/htic of 
caring, a consttrructivist apprvoaclhz to teaching, and artistic provbhlem solluviitnzg., (p. 2) 
Refflection prom pts touchers to ask themselves a number o f kinds o f questtions, 
including: 
1. Questtions o f tim ing  and coorrdiinattion: "A mrn I tim ing the m ovement o f my 
touch to create a wave--like acttion, enablling m y partner to feell the cross 
lateral connecttion in her body?"  
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2. Questtions o f care: "A m  [I supporrting my partner's leg in such a w ay that 
he can fu lly  relax and not fear that his jointts w ii l l  be taxed?" 
3. Questions o f ethics: "Am  [I touching my partner h igh enough on the leg so 
that she understands m y intent o f encouraging energy flow  through the 
jointts, but not so h igh that she may misconstrue any sexual overtones?"  
4. Questtions o f content knowledge: "What do [I understand to be the 
function o f a cross lateral connecttion in the body for us as dancers?" 
5. Questions o f visual and tactile percepttion: "Do [I see or feell  my partner 
ho ld ing  tension in his chest, consttrriicting the flo w  o f enecrg6y?" 
6.. Questtions o f appllication: "How can [I alter w hat I'm  doing or saying to 
assiist in the release o f my partner's tension?" 
7. Questions o f atttitude: "A m  I  alllow ing myv partner to experience a rannggt:e> toif 
responses by remaiin ing flexible, or am I  lim ittiinng  her experience because I  
expect a parrticu lar outcome?" 
8.. Questtions o f conffirm ation: "Does my touch let my partner know tlh1.a1t I1  
honor and value him  for who he is, and that I  w ant h im  to discover his 
ow nn—-nnot m y—-ppeerrssoonnall best performance?"” 
9. Questions o f kinesthettic empatthy: "Am  I  fu lly  a ttending to my partner so 
that, th rough m y touch I can acttualllly particippaate  in her sensory 
experiences o f movement?" 
When touchers respond to theiir own reflective questions by changing the 
ways in w hich they touch, they have moved to a pedagogiical space where the  
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theory and practice o f touch intteerrsseecct—t-tthat o f praxis. A t this place of 
intersection reside the elements w hich are necessary fo r effective touch 
intteerraaccttioionn—-tthe pedagogiical imperativees for touch. They include students' 
learning modallitiees, the ways in which classes are structured to facilittaate touch, 
the teacher's process o f m enttoring students, and the acts o f tactile dialogue 
which occur du ring  a class. 
Sttructturing tihle Learmning Experience 
Leamrning Modalities 
In consiidering the structure a modern dance technique class in its 
simplest terms, it is p rim arriily  a time and space o f do ing  and m oving; what 
transpires in the class is that the teacher teaches movement and the students 
learn about and move theiir bodies. Dance technique is im prin tteed on students in 
the forms of muscle strength and flex ibiility , coordination o f alll parts of the body, 
balance, integration o f breath, quallita tive range, and many more elements. This 
im prin ting  occurs through the various ways in w hich students perceive and 
process infoorrmmaattioionn—-iinccllud ing  toucchh—-aand through teachers' recogniition of 
those variables. 
For teachers to be effective it is important that they acknowleedge 
ind iv idua l learning styles, and desiign theiir learning environm ents accorrdiingly. 
Cherryl A. Coker (1 996) speciifies that 'learning style' is composed o f such 
variables as the immediate environm ent and a student's psychollogical, 
sociiological, and physiio logical needs. The avenue through w hich  information is 
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taken in and procceesssseedd—-tthe 'preferred perceptual moddee'—'-iis but one variable 
which teachers can manipulate and which w ii l l  im pact their use o f touch. A ll 
people have access to alll perceptual modes, bu t ind iv iidduuaalss have a ffin ittiieess for 
one or more o f these modes (p. 66). 
Coker describes four types o f learners w ho  may be characterized by their 
preferred modes o f percepttiion: the visual learner, the kinesthettic learner, the 
thinker, and the lisstener. The visual learner learns best by watching someone 
else demonstrate a movement. The kinesthetic learner desires to know  w hat 
movement feels like; for this learner the correct sensattiion becomes the frame o f 
reference by w h ich  he or she compares other versions o f the performance. Touch 
is parrttiicularly effective for the kinesthetic learner. Touch is also effective for 
illluum iinnating  anattomiical princciippleless—-aassssiissttiing the th inker, who requires concepts 
and principlees to c larriify  the requireements o f a parrticu la r movement. The th inkle•r 
likes to investigate, experriment, and anallyze. The lissttener focuses on sounds and 
rhythms to understand movement; the use o f verbal cues, clapping and music 
assiist the lisstteener (pp. 66-68). 
It is no tew orthy that even if  teachers do no t inttegrate touch into the ir 
teachinngg—-ssppeeccififiiccaalllly addressiing the needs o f the kinesthetic learrnneer—r-ssttudents 
have an ongoing tacttile relationship w ith  the floo r. Ed G rofff commented on the 
importtaance o f a student's "partnerriing" w ith  the floor. It stimulaattees tactile 
sennssititiiviity, and it  providdees a usefful preparattion fo r contact im provissation. He 
also remarked that contact w ith  the floor teaches dancers how to (a) assert the ir  
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w eigh t and push, (b) release theiir w eight and yield, and (c) sense theiir use o f 
breath.  
Movement and Stasis 
Taking into account these- learning modallitiees, teachers move, talk, 
observe, and touch. And allthough technique class is about m oving, using touch 
often requires a sllow ing or arrestting o f movement. The effective integration o f 
touch into  the class compels teachers to consciienttiously structure their classes to 
include and interweeave stasis, in combination w ith  movement and touch. Touch 
may occur as someone is m oving. For example, students may tacttiily  guide their 
partners in  movement sequences w h ich  travel across the floor. O r teachers may 
place theiir hands on a student's legs, spine, or abdomen w h ile  the student 
perform s a plie, in order to b ring  the student's awareness to numerous issues 
such as ou tw ard  rotation, abdomiinal support, and the in itiiaation  o f the action. 
A  touch in te racttion / iinntteerven tion  m ight also occur when the touchee is 
com plle telly sttiilll, or m oving onlly  slligh tly . The quietness, stilllnneesss, o r total stasis of 
this sort o f experience alllows students to imagine actions and repattern 
m ovement habits more fu lly . To release tighttnneesss in a student's lower back the 
student m igh t stand quiiettly  w h ile  the teacher strokes dow nw ard  on the student''s 
low er back, buttocks, and backs o f the legs. This touch can be aided through the 
use o f L u lu  Sweigard's (1974) imagery: "Viissualizze the buttocks as unbaked 
loaves o f dough and watch them slide dow nw ard to the back o f the heells" 
(p. 237). Sweigard asserts that in  order to repattern movement habits one must  
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do so w ith  the im agination rather than through vo lun ta ry movement because 
". .. .  the conttribu tion o f any vo luntary efffort negates the inflluueence o f the 
imagined movement on the subcorrttical patterning o f muscle coordinattion"  
(p. 223). 
[In alll three examples o f simulttaaneeous movement and touch, the touchee 
receives immediate sensory input regarding the c la rity  o f her or his performaance 
w hilie the mom entum  o f the class is maintained. Siimiila rly, Hahn (1996) notes 
that a teacher o f 1n1iihlzo1n1 buyov must decide, for particu lar students and movement 
phrases, which type o f corrections w ould  be most appropriate. Sometimes it is 
most useffull to touch a student w hile the student is m oving; Hahn refers to this .a1ss 
'synchronous transm ission via touch.' This style o f correction gives the student 
instantaneous feedback, reinforces the conttiinu ity  o f the dance, and m inim iizzeess 
correction d isrup tions du ring  class (p. 161). 
The integration o f m ovem ent/stasis/touch also occurs when teachers 
guide and observe students through new dance sequences, w itthou t using touch. 
This may occur over an extended period of tiimee—-dduurriin g  one particu lar class 
sessiion or over a num ber o f class periods. Then the teacher may arrest alll 
movement d u rin g  a class and, through touch, c la riify  a po in t about that sequence 
w ith  one student w h ile  the rest o f the class lisstteens and observes. Depending on 
the dettaiil involved, th is instructive demonsttrattion m ay take a few moments, o r 5 
o r 10 minutes. A ll students have the opporrttuniity  to take advantage of this time 
to learn through th eiir  preferred modes o f lisstening, anallyzing, obserrving,  
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and—--on themselves or a partnerr—-pphhyyssicicaallly try in g  out the correction they are 
w ittnneessing through movement or touch. W hile  this sort o f demonsttrattion can be 
extremelly beneffiicial, it has the potenttial to b riiPn.g the momentum o f the class to 
such a screeching hallt that it adverselly affects the student's energy, thereby 
com prom ising students'’ comprehension du ring  the remainder o f the class. Hahn 
(1996) notes that verballiz ing a correction after the student has completed a 
performaance offeers another challenge. The teacher is faced w ith  having to 
articulate w hat physiicallly transpired, from  memory, and also express the needed 
changes (p. 161 ). 
Part o f w ha t shapes the structure o f a class, and the students' experiences 
in the class, are its momentum and conttiinuiity . The momentum is the d riv ing  
force w hich moves the class over the length o f one meetting, o r a week, semester, 
o r year. The conttiinuiity  o f a class can as w elll be observed over the length of one 
class period or for a longer stretch. When a class has conttiinuiity  students sense a 
sttabbiillity  o f the teacher's philosophy, intent, style, or focus o f the class; students 
arec able to connect the materials o f class together in to  an understandable whole. 
M om entum  and conttiinuiity  are subjjective traits o f a technique class, somewhat 
like  the ephemeral quallitiees o f a teacher's presence and her or his abiillity  for 
reflection-in-action. A ny tw o students may have opposing opinions on whether 
a class felt enerrgiizing and 'made sense'’ o r i f  it seemed sttiltted and disconnected. 
The use o f touch necessiitates periods o f stasis w ith in  a claasss—-aand more so 
than classes that do not include touch. Using touch takes time. I f  touch is to be 
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used efffecttiivelly it is necessarry for  teachers to desiign theiir classes, in  part, 
through balancing the m om entum  o f the class, the conttinu ity  o f the class content, 
and the comprehension o f the students. There is no prescrriiption fo r find ing  this 
balance. Touch moves students to greater levels o f understanding about danncce—e- 
such as its quallita tive  requirements, use o f breath, o r body-part relationships. 
Because o f these greater levels o f understandiing, teachers may find  that, through 
touch, they are able to w ork  on the same material for longer perriico,d,Js o f time and 
''go deeper' w ith  it. Repettiition o f sequences or conceeppttss—-ppoossssiibbllyv w\\· itth  
variations on a theemee—-iis one way to make certain that there is tim e to "" . . .  stop, 
go in, and feeel.l ..."  as M ary Seerreiiter descrribed it. And, because learning the 
correct technique for g iv ing  and receiiving touch takes practice, repettiition of the 
touch experience itsellf w ii l l  assiist the momentum of the class from  collaapsing 
altogether w hile  it deepens comprehension and enhances conttiinu ity . Touch 
interventions can also be varied through (a) w orking w ith  d ifffeerent partners,  
(b) ttrraannssppoorrtitinngg  tthhee  ttoouucchh  ttoo  aannootthheerr a arreeaa  ooff  tthhee  bbooddyy,,  oorr  ((cc) ) cchhaannggiinngg  tthhee  
posiition o f the touchee from  ly ing  to standing, or from  siitting  to w a lk ing.  
In large measure it is the teacher's attittude about student sellff-­
respoonnssibibiilliity w h ich  w ii l l  inflluueence the students' perceptions o f a class's 
momentum, conttiinuiity , and theiir ow n comprehensiion. Let us re turn to the 
potenttial problem  o f a teacher arrestting the momentum o f a class w ith  a tactile 
demonsttrattion on one student. Teachers can mitiiggaate m omentum probleems 
w hich are caused by periods o f stasis by settting a tone. This tone fu lly  engages 
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students so they do not feell as though they are siim ply standing around and 
w aiiting  to dance agaiin; they reallize that they are dancing d u rin g  every moment 
o f the class. Steven C hattffie ld , Ed Groff, Laurie Sanda, and M ary  Seerreiiter buiilt 
in to  theiir pedagogies expectations that students w ill take respoonnssibibiilliity  for 
themselves, and theiir learn iinngg—- an esseennttiial element for the effective use of 
touch. Ressppoonnssibibililiity includes (a) sttaying focused and acttiivelly engaged w ith  the 
task at hand, (b) sellff-m oniitoring and applly ing corrections, and (c) rem aiin ing 
aware o f the group and the shared stud io  space. Student respoonnssibibiilliity  hinges 
on the teacherr'’s conviction that students are capable o f experim enting w ith  their 
current knowleedge and consttructing new knowleedge out o f o ld. Students' level 
o f sellff-respoonnssibibiilliity is also dependent on the teacher's faciillity  fo r em pow ering 
them as respected ind iivvididuuaalsls—- wiith  their own authenttic voiciceess—- and as 
members o f a collaborative com m uniity.  
Lilia  I. Bartolome (1996) describes an instructional m odel called 'strategic 
teachiing' which explliiciitly  teaches students to consciiouslly m oniito r theiir ow n 
learning. She writtees, "This is accomplisshed through the developm ent o f 
reflective cogniitive m oniito ring  and metacogniitive s kiilllls ... .  Readers m oniito r their 
understanding o f a text by asking questtions, making predictions, and testing 
theiir predictions as they read" (p. 244). Siimiilarly and d iffeeren tly , dancers 
m oniito r theiir understandiing o f touch and the body by (a) ve rballly  and taciitly 
asking questtions, (b) m aiin ta in ing a flexible attittude about possiible outcomes,  
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(c) oobbsseervrviningg  tthheeirir p paarrttnneerrss' ’ rreessppoonnsseess  ttoo  ttoouucchh,, a anndd  ((dd))  ccoonntitinnuuiinngg  toto e exxppeerriimeenntt  
and sellf-monitor.  
Mce1n1ttoring  Touch 
For touch to be used e ffective ly a teacher is required to take on the active 
role o f mentor. A teacher cannot assume that students understand the 
complexitiiees o f touch. Touch is in tiim aatte and it has boundaries; it is mattterr-of- 
fact and it  is personall; it is p lay fu l and it is em ottiionallly charged; it can bring 
about new understandings and it can confusse or cause great d iscom fort.  
One way in which teachers can m entor the use o f touch is through their 
ow n sellf touch. Effectively mentored, teacherr--seellff-touch is deliberate, not 
haphazard or vague. When teachers place theiir hands on themselves, theiir own 
bodies re:s;pond to the kinesthettic sensattiion and theiir movements become a more 
precise demonsttrattion o f theiir aestthettic intent. Students wittnneesss how  teachers 
touch themselves and they note a teacher's ow n personal k inetic changes through 
sellf-touch. This teaches students no t o n ly  how  to move, but hmowv to touch 
themselves and others; in fact, teacherr--sellff-touch is a usefful preamble to a 
studentt-sellf-touch exercise d u rin g  w h ich  students repeat the actions o f their 
teachers. Through sellf-touch, one receives p rim ary  and immediate 
proprioceptive feedback; this p roviddees one w ith  a reallization about what touch 
can do for others and for onesellf. Louisse Steinman (1986) writtees, "Proprioception 
is litterallly , how we 'sense oursellves"' (p. 11). She notes that one o f three main 
sources o f inpu t into our proprioceptive  system is kinestthessiiaa, ,"  . . .  the feelling o f  
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movement derived from  alll skelletal and muscular s truc tu res ... .  the feelling of  
pain or orientation in  space, the passage of time, and rhy thm " (p. 11 ). 
Sttudentt--sellf-touch may be prompted by teachers through such cues as, 
"Place your hands on your tw o pellvic crests to sense a lengthening on both sides 
o f the torso.." A nd , when mentored clearllyy—-tteecchhnniiccaalllly and eth icalllyy—-ssttudent-
sellf-touch has the potenttia l to evolve into a common occurrence w itthou t any  
prom pting from  the teacher. One student commented,  
I 'l l use my ow n  hands, just to remind mysellf where m y core is, o r my 
rotation, or where a movement is in itiiaating . It w orks pre tty w elll to do it 
on yoursellf because you r m ind can d raw  back to when somebody else 
touched you. 
A  second w ay in which teachers are able to m entor touch is when they 
touch a student, and other students observe. M entoring  can be enhanced whLe·n a 
teacher's verbal instructions regarding touch accompany the act o f touching; they 
c larriify  the placement o f hands, degree o f pressure, and the intent o f the 
interaction. (Converselly, one o f the prim ary reasons that teachers find 
themselves im pelled to touch a student in the first place is to reinforce verbal 
information.) The importtaance o f menttoring touch cannot be overestimated if 
teachers intend to incorporate studentt-to-student touch in the ir classes. 
Teachers m ay verballlly explain to students the placement o f hands, the 
type o f pressure o r acttion (such as sttroking, pattting, o r shakiing), and the intent of 
a parrticular touch intervention which they assiign to student partners. However, 
that is not enough to send them on theiir way as apprentice tactillee--tteeaachers. 
Students commented that theiir teachers' touch also uncovered for them deeplly  
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sensed, yet ephemeral phenomena: (a) instantaneous conneeccttioionns—s-tto the 
toucher, and w ith in  the ir ow n  bodies; (b) a sense of care and consideration from 
the toucher; (c) a c la rity  o f in tent o f the touch w ithout any extra, confflic ting  
inform ation; and (d) fearrlelesssnneess—s-kknow ing  what it is like to receive touch from 
someone w ho is not a fra id  o f causiing hu rt or embarrassment. [It is much easiier to 
telll a student where to place her o r his hands and how to move them  than it is to 
convey the unquannttiifiab le  charactterristics o f practiced touucchh—- or to use Steven 
C hattffiielld'’s'’ term —-'e'exxpperrt touch.' Yet, teachers can mentor these skiillss thrwou~gh 
theiir actions and words.  
The effective use o f touch is enhanced when teachers perrmiit studentbs tio 1  
speak (verballly and tacttiily) form  the ir ow n v\·antage points. [In fact, personal 
voice, w ith  its em pow ering capabbiillitiiees is a requirement fo r student-to-student 
touch. When teachers take on the mantle o f touch-mentor, they also consseennt—t- 
consciiouslly or nott—-tto guide theiir students into apprenticeships. Bartolome 
(1996) notes that teachers act as culltu ra l mentors when they in trroduce sttudLen'nths 
to, not on ly  the cu ltu re  o f the classroom, bu t to the particu lar subject matter; 
teachers help students appropriate the skiills  to behave as insiders w ith in  the 
discip line (p. 246). This empowers students to take on greater degrees o f sellff-­
respoonnssibibiilliity. 
For dance students, apprentticeship includes: (a) acquiisiition o f a 
knowleedge o f touch, (b) ways to organize the ir acts o f touching so they make 
sense to theiir partners and to themselves, and (c) means to speak about touching. 
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Bartolome writtees about apprentticeship, noting that the languages, techniques, 
and ideologiees o f a subject [such as touch] are ma~stered in paartr"t ... .  through 
supported interaction w ith  people who h;a.1vve already mastered the discourse. 
The apprentticeship can be immenselly usefful w ith  subordinated students if  it 
faciliittaattes the acceptance and va lorization o f students' p r io r knowleedge through 
a menttoring process"” (p. 2-416). The author's last po in t is w elll taken when 
consiidering the fact that teachers who engage in touch may welll have 
opportunitiees to w ork  w ith  students w ho have been silenced in some wayv, .amnd 
w ho have experienced touch as an act o f violleence, abuse, and repressiion. 
[It is a simple fact that a modern dancer w ii l l  do thousands o f pliees over Lthhe 
course o f a career. This fact is true for many movement acttiivitiiees which a dancer 
repeats; it is part and parcel o f the rehearsal required for learning dance 
technique and perfecting a performance. In this discussion we w ii l l  use the pliel' 
as an example. When teachers mentor touch they have the potenttial to not only 
make the un famiilia r famiilia r, but to make the famiilia r unfamiiliar; in fact, it is 
questtionable if  those tw o acts are able to exist as separate entities. Teachers c.amn 
penetrate students' habiitual moveemeenntsts—-ppusshhiing students to interrogate their 
typical choices and experience movement in  new ways. 
For some dancers a p lie  is a bending o f the knees; for others it is a 
releasing of the pellv is dow nw ard ; and sttiilll for others it is a stretching o f the callf 
muscles. There are many ways to mentor touch to enable students to experience 
pliees in new ways. For example, placing one's hands on a partner's waist and  
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pressing d o w n /p ro v id in g  resistance as the touchee stretches her or his legs can 
accentuate the push o f the lower body, a sense o f grounding, and the use o f the 
ham sttring muscles. O r, tracking the dista l end o f a partner'’s femur over the m iid-­
foot as the touchee descends in the p lie  can h igh ligh t a qualliity  o f ligghhttnneesss, and 
the spattiial intent o f the knees. The posssiibiilitiiees for touch to awaken dancers to 
alternativees to theiir usual patterns are lim itteed on ly by students'’ and teachers' 
imaginations.  
Kaoru Yamamoto (2001) notes that, w ith  the guidance of a mentor a 
student can experience a transformation. This transformation represents a shiift 
in the studentt'’s w orld  view. He writtees that a mentor induces in a sttu d enntt"".  . .. <a1 
reexamiination o f the known w orld , a broadening o f the perspecttive, and a 
bearring o f the attendant sense o f am biiguiity  and uncerrttaiintty" (p. 187). rM-.etennttooriing 
touch in wavys w hich encourage student transformation requires te.a1cchers tno tfind 
a balance between alllow ing  and internv-ening. Teachers alllow  students to 
investigate, flounder, and invent en route to theiir new comprehensions. They 
also interveene, guide, and clarify. 
Tactile Dialog1ute: A Spiiralling Comnv.•ear:s;ation tlhzro1utglhz lMvfultip lec L1ny/er>:; 
A t the heart o f an integrated use o f touch in a modern dance technique 
class is tactile dialogue. Tactile d ia logue is communication between tw o  o r m,oJre 
peopplele—- an exchange o f inform ation w h ich  occurs through touch. It may be 
supplemented by words, but words are on ly  an accompaniment to the p rim ary  
mode o f com m uniccaattiioonn—-ttoouch. Tactile dialogue is possiible when a teacher  
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touches a student, when a student touches a teacher, and when students touch 
each other. Howe\v·er, the tactile dialogue between tw o or more students invittees 
students to take the greatest risks, to make the famiilia r unfamiilia r, and to 
reexamine theiir asssuummpptit,i.o.-ns about dancing and about touch. \WtVoorrk iing w ith  a 
fe llow  student tends to push students to take more respoonnssibibiilliity for themselves, 
and for others. Studentt-to-student touch places particippaants in posiitions of 
speaking (touching) in  theiir mowvn, authenttic, empowered voices. 
Tactile d ia logue is a complex interaction because particippaants make 
meaning for themsehlv·es through m ulltip le  lavyers, siimultaneouslly. Theyv learn to 
care for another hum an being, and to recognize thaatt—-tto quote Irm gard 
Bartenieeffff—-""There are many posssiibbiillities" (Hackneyv, 1998, p. l1) when it comes to 
learning, understandiing, and obserrving movement. To better appreciate the 
concept of m ulltip le  layers it is enllightening to refer to George Beiswanger''s 
(1962) use o f the term  'goings-on.' The term 'goings-on' describes the 
choreographic process//product, and the idea that a dance is more than muscular 
capacciity. [Itt iis th rough the choreographer's im agination and use o f metaphor that 
muscular momv·ements become 'goings-on.' Beiswanger w rite s,," . . .  dances are not 
made out o f but lulpon movement, movement being the poettic bearer, the 
persistent metaphor, by w hich muscular matterriial is made avaiilable for the 
enhanced, m eanniingffull, and desiigned goiinggss-0-o11n that are dance" (p. 88). 
As w ith  Beiswanger''s 'goinnggss--oonn'—'- which a llude to the fact that a dance is 
more than siim ply m uscular moveemeennt—t-a dance class is more than learning  
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steps. It is b uiilt upon dance sequences, tacttile explorations, aestthettiic and 
practical choices, and the structure o f the class. [It contains movement and 
stasiiss—-mmoomeennttum , conttiinuiity, and the students' everr-evollving comprehension. 
A  class is esttabllished through less tangible features such as the tone o r character 
o f the class; this is a qualliity  which a student m igh t say he or she can 'taste' but 
not fu lly  descrribe; it is sometthing that attracts students to attend one teacher's 
class but not another's. The gvoii1n1ggss--ovn progrreess far beyond the acts o f do ing  and 
learning dance. A k in  to the teacher's essence, and her or his dextterriity  w ith  
reflection-in acttion, the goings-on are sim ulttaneouslly undergirded by 
consciientious, reflective pedagogy, and they are unquannttiifiable. \WVith  touch as 
an integral part o f class, the goings-on exist in a m iliieeu  which is m ulti--llaayyeerreed. 
Students spiira l through this environment as theyv particippaate in tactile dialogue.  
There are like ly  as many ways to name and describe the layers o f learning 
w hich occur through tacttile dialogue as there are participaants in these dialogues. 
Here we w ii l l consider seven layers o f learning and experience w hich, by desiign, 
appear sim ulttaaneouslly and in overlapping occurrences. In fact, it is frequenttlly 
diif f ic u lt to d is tingu issh where the quallitiees o f one layer end and another begins: 
(a) an atttittude o f care, (b) acts of paying attention, (c) a search for appropria te  
responses, (d) a flexible approach, (e) the culltiva tion  o f relationships, 
(f0) conffirm ation, and (g) kinesthettic empatthy. They are necessarry fo r the full l 
experience o f tactile dialogue, and they are outcomes o f tactile dia logue that 
siigniify  benchmarks o f a student's grow th.  
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Care and Attention  
Tactile d ia logue occurs on ly when students m aiintain an a ttittude o f care 
for each other. Nel Noddings (1991) w rittees, "The attittude o f care is characterized 
byv attttennttiionn .... . "  (p. 161). Caring, according to Noddings (1988-41) entailss 
consiidering the other's po in t o f v iew , her or his objectiv\·e needs, and w hat she or 
he expects o f us. "’’[(W hen we care, our] mental engrossment is on the cared--for, 
not on oursellves" (p. 2-4l). Caring goes beyond sim ply attending to the safety 
issues o f touching another perssonn—-hhoolldiing  the weight o f a bodyv part, or 
m aniipu la ting the joints. [Itt iis a degree o f attentiveenneesss w hich m anyv students may 
not experience from  others (or in themsellves) in other contexts o f the ir liivvees—s- 
parrtticu la rly  not at school. Simone \WVeiil (as cited in Noddings, 1991) describes the 
atttenttiv,·e d isposiition o f care: "The soul empties itsellf o f alll its ow n contents in 
order to receiive into itsellf the being it is looking at, just as he [or she] is, in alll his 
[or herr!] t rutth .. . .  " (p. 161). 
Through acts o f paying atttention to another person, students learn how to 
assess situations, retf1lect on theiir assessments, sellf-monitor, and revisse their 
actions. Paying attention teaches students to become reflective practitioonners; 
theiir skiills as performers, choreographers, teachers, and criticcs g row  because 
they become better observers. Tacttile d ia logue providdees students w ith  
experiences in  w hat Ed G rofff referred to as "liisstteening non-verrbaalllyv." This is the 
act o f rem aiin ing so avaiilable to—-aannd in tune w iitthh—-tthe energy and movement 
between the person whom  one is touching and onesellf, that one can '’hear'’ and 
know —-tthhrrough the skin. 
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Another metaphor for the senssiittiv\'e use o f touch, along w ith  'lisstening ' is 
''seeiing.' Steinman (1996) recallls a teacher o f A lleexaander Technique who had 
de\v'eloped 'evyes in her fingers;;·’ she was able to reveal to those she touched where 
to p inpo in t theiir own attention in theiir bodies. This teacher stated, '""'Your 
eyes . . .  can get in the way. If  you look at sometthing, it can look completely 
d iffeerent from  how  it feels. H ow  it feels is more im portant than how it looks, 
because looking  can be very deceppttiive""'’ (p. 19). 
Co,n~ffirmatioun and Tru:s;t 
If we are able to care, and w illiinng  to pay full l attention to another person, 
there is the posssiibbiilliity  that we can engage in acts o f conffirm ation. Confirm ation 
is an o\v'errid ing  attittude of acceptance of o ther people for w ho theyv are. Larger 
than that, it is a compassionate outlook, genuine and from the heart, which 
engages humans in acts of hellp ing one another. C onffirm ation is as much a 
psychollogical disposiition as it is an acttii\v' ity, therefore, one may questtion whetthhLe'r 
or not it can bte: taught. It can be mentored, and im ppaarrtetedd—-nnot just through 
words, but more immediatelly, through touch.  
C onffirm ation, according to Noddings (1998) sets caring apart from  other 
approaches to moral educattion. Through tacttile dialogue, students ha\v'e the 
potenttial to develop theiir abiilitiiees for respectting and encouraging the ideal o f 
each partner. Noddings (1988) refers to one's partner as the "other;" this is 
whom we should see, touch, engage w ith , and promote, rather than looking for a 
shadow o f oursell\v'eSs (p. 19-41). Through acts o f confirm ation, students learmn to 
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value ind iv idua l interpretation and experrimentation. C on firm ation  may be seen 
as an im portant requisite o f hum ane behaviior. It also faciliittaattees one's artistic 
growth. It has the capaabbiilliity o f engaging us in taking stock o f o u r parameters, 
expectations, and fixed notions o f technique, art, body type, beauty, and 
movement potenttial. As students learn to applly their teachers'’ notions o f inside/ 
outside, personal narrattive, and intentiona l touch, confirm ation becomes a 
greater posssiibbiillity. 
Over time, and w ith  practice in  touching, trust develops between 
students. W ith this trust students are able to give and receive confirm ation, 
know ing that care and respect fo r the '’o ther'’ motivaattees that confirm ation. 
Conffirm ation is on ly possiible i f  students are able to w o rk  together and set 
asiddee—- at least to some degrreeee—-- the com pettiitive attittuuddees w hich are an 
undeniable aspect o f the dance technique class. Through conscientious 
menttoring by teachers, it is possiible for students to releease com pettiitive notions 
when engaged in tacttile dialogue, w h ile  at other times d u rin g  a class they may 
compete w ith  themselves, and sttrive  to surpass the w o rk  o f others. One o f the 
outcomes and functions o f touch is to develop a posiitive rapport among students 
and between students and teacher. As one student remarked, "Touch givees a 
sense o f com m uniittyy—- we'’re w o rk in g  together instead o f com peting w ith  each 
other. We'’re hellp ing each other ou t and try ing  for everyone to im prove instead 
of just yoursellff." 
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Flexiibiility 
In order to engage in the open-m inded/hearted behaviior o f confirm ation 
a student is required to remain flexib le regarding the outcomes o f a touch 
interaction. When one enters a tactile dialogue w ith  a fixed notion as to what 
mode o f touching or what responses to touch are '’correct,'’ the touch dialogue 
moves from  being two people in  a give-and-take conversattion to sometthing more 
akin to a rancher brandishing a cattle prod (at a powerleesss steer). 
The abiillity  to be flexib le pertains not on ly  to open-ended outcomes, but to 
the notion o f a malleable focus. When engaged in  tactile dialogue the toucher 
feels/liisstteennss//sseees through the hands (or other contacting body parts), eyves and 
ears. There are as many places to focus on a partner, and responses to her or h im  
as there are parts o f the body. For instance, as we touch the shoulders o f a 
partner we may feell the muscles release, hear the breath change, sense the 
associated response o f the spine, observe the change in elevation o f the leg 
gesture, and nlo)te the qualliity  o f bound flow  becoming ftree. And, the touchee has 
as many oppuortunitiees to practice a flexible awareness as does the toucher as she 
o r he observes the m yriad o f changes in the body. W\Vhen we can respond to the 
m ulltip le  changes in the body w h ich  are generated by touch we become 
adaptable, malleable dancers; w e can center ourselves in the m idst o f losing our 
balance, or we can giv,·e into a 'm istake' and keep going in such a way that no one 
notices. When a teacher invittees students to engage in tactile dialogue w ith  a 
varie ty o f partners, there is even greater posssiibbiillity  to learmn flex ibiility . Any  
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dancer who has traveled across a studio floor w ith  3 or 33 fe llow  danncceersr—s~or 
done the same on staggee—-kknnows that a flexible awareness is an absolute requisite 
to arrtis try  w ith in  an ensemble. 
Appruopriatet' Responses 
The act o f searrchiing for appropriate responses emphasizes tactile dialogue 
as a process o f discovery, rather than a hunt fo r the teacher's one 'magic egg.'’ 'We 
can contemplate this search using the metaphor o f a desiign project. Thosse 
engaged in the tacttile dialogue are the architects, and the materials are touch and 
the dancing body; however, the client has not stipulaated anything in parttiiccuulalar—r- 
completelly trusting  the creattive process o f the designers. Using this m etaphor o f 
tacttile d ia logue as desiign project, Schodn'’s (1992) statement rings true, that 
"Designing and discmov·ering are closelly coupled forms of inquiiry"’’ (p. 131). Schon 
writtees, "W\Vhen a desiigner reflects on the strategies and assumpttions that underrlie  
her [or his!j choices, daring to d is rup t them, she [o r he] may learn critica lly  
im portant th ings about /hzea:r_s;eflf  [or himseeUlfl]" (p. 132). Schon'’s notions about 
desiigning rem ind us of the importtaance o f m aiin ta in ing a flexible attittude in  ou r 
search for appropria te respoonnsseess—-iif  we hope to learn through touch. Deane 
Juhan (1 l 987) rem inds us that touch, itsellf brings ou r awareness to the 
posssiibiillitiiees fo r greater fle xiibiillity  and appropriaatteenneesss in our responses. He 
writtees, "Practiced touch can . . .  convey a smoother style, a larger repertoire, a 
greater fle x ibiility , and a finer appropriiaatteenneesss to ou r m ovemennttss ... .  a whole new 
manner o f sensiing and behavviing" (p. 3-412). The spiira ling  nature o f learning  
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becomes clearer: We touch to gain fle xiibiility  so that \wVe may engage more fu lly  
in  tactile dialogue, which teaches us to be more flexible. 
Kin11eesstthlzet'tlic Empathy 
lT1h1rroouughout this discussion it has been noted that the effective use o f  
touch involvees both specciiffic, consciienttiouslly developed, reflective pedagogy, and  
elements which are nearrlly ungraspable. The w indow  w hich opens to alllow  tw o  
people engaged in tactile dialogue to enter fu lly  into each o therr'’s space may be 
described as 'kinesthetic empatthy.' Empathy, in a trad itiona l sense involvees  
people understanding each otherr'’s feelings and situations, and verballiz ing that 
understanding w ith  such statements as, ""(I know just how you are feelling.." \WVhen  
em pathy is kinesthetic it engages a person in litteralllyv feelliingg;, inside her or his 
mo wvn  body, what another person is experiencing.  
Deidre Sklar (2001) writtees that kinesthetic empathy refers to thee "  . . .  
capaciity to participate w ith  another's movement or another's sensory experience  
o f mmov·emeenntt ... .  [[It islj a mode o f apprehending kinetic quallitiees, no more or less 
reasonable than the mode o f apprehending w ords" (p. 199). Kinnesthetic empathy  
is at once the most sellfless and sellfish experience; in order to be fu lly  engaged  
w ith  another human being one must be fu lly  engaged w ith  onesellf. This is but  
another manifestation o f the ins ide/outs ide nature o f learning movement.  
Kinnesthetic empathy is not the end goal o f tactile dialogue; it is the fulll 
experience o f that dialogue. Sklar writtees., 
The body does not ho ld  experience; rather, it is experience, a process 
rather than an object. Somattic understandings emerge as a process of  
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incorporating and conffiguring inform ation in to  the body one is always in 
process o f becomiing.."” (p. 193) 
As we watch a performance o f "Romeo and Jullie t" we m igh t see Julliet s ink 
in her chest and release her head back in anguish w hen she finds Romeo's body. 
\YVVe then reallize that we, too are feelling anguish and do ing  the exact same 
movements in  o u r seats. This is kinesthetic empathy. VYet when we have made 
physical contact w ith  another person and our in tention  is to tacttiily lissten to the 
needs o f her o r his muscles, bones, blood, and organs, o u r kinesthetic empathy 
can go much deeper. 
Redlatt ions/hzips 
Tactile dialogues can be described m ettaphhoorriicalllly; they come in as manyv 
shapes and sizes as those who engage in them. Y\ Ve can experience an intiim aatte 
conversattion where ou r skin is contiguous to anotthheerr's's—-tthe meetting o f tw\vo 
country's borders. \YVVe may be confused and chatter away, dabbing alll over 
someeLomne'’s map, bu t no place in particular. Y\ Ve m igh t be caressed by a 
whispering brush, pressed w ith  a sermon, or shaken by a harangue. Y\ Ve may be 
stroked by a spellllb ind ing  sttorytelller whose metaphors lead us to new, palpable 
reallities. H ow ever they are descrribed, tactile dialoguees invo lve  relationships.  
If we allternatelly look at tacttile dialogue as an interaction between dance 
students and teachers in  the studio, and then we consider it as an interaction on 
stage or in everyday life, we w ii l l  reallize that touch engages us in cu ltiva ting  a 
number o f types o f relationships w hich facilittaate g row th . If, however, we have 
no interest in  culltiva tin g  relationships it w ii l l  be diif f ic u lt  to engage in any sort o f  
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tactile dialogue. The relationships that occur through touch in a dance class are 
prototyppees for other relationships.  
Noddings (1992) places the culltiva tion  o f relationships between people 
above nearrlly every other aspect o f learning. She wriitteess,, " . . .  at bottom, subject 
matter cannot carry itsellf. Relation, except in very rare cases, precedes any 
engagement w ith  subject m attter" (p. 36). When people are engaged in tactile 
dialogue they are involved in relationships founded on com m uniication and 
cooperattion. It is unllike ly  that every fe llow  student w hom  one touches in dclass is 
desttined to be a close frieend. However, experiences w ith  the care, intimacyv, and 
lisstening qualliity  o f touch are carried beyond the studio 1w.vaalllss. They inform  nour 
com fort levels w ith  touch and ou r a biillity  to tru ly  lissten to someone during  a 
conversattion; indeed, this was one o f M ary Seerreiiter's specciified goals for the use 
o f touch. 
One's personal life  no tw itthsstand ing, tactile d ia logue impacts a dancer' s 
artistic life. An ensemble perform er has a relationship w ith  each and everyv 
member o f the group. E\v·en a solo dancer engages the audience in a relationship. 
Tactile dialogue teaches students about partneerriningg—-iits sensattiions, risks, give- 
and-take o f weight, and attentiveeneess. As one student noted, '"These are the 
people you need to be w ith  every day and essseennttiialllly trust you r life to—-iif they're 
ho ld ing  you in the aiir." 
Tactile dialogue engages students in a discovery o f the relationship 
between internal sensattiion and outside performance. Glenna Batson (199-4t) 
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describes this process as she experiences it th rough the A lleexaander Technique; 
this process awakens one to an internal m ovem ent impulsse and to an external 
d irection. She writtees, "By c la rify ing  the re lationship between kinesthettic sensiing 
(where the dancer is) and directional in tent (where the dancer can move toward), 
the dancer can improve movement q u alliity  and effficiency" (p. -4100). 
Let us consider an earrllier example from  ou r discussion o f the flexible 
nature o f tactile dialogue in order to understand another aspect o f cu ltivating 
relationships. Imagine that a dancer is a ttem pting  to perform a side leg 
extension (developpe in second posiition) bu t he is having diif f iccu lty  gettting his 
leg to the desiired height. H is partner notices his diifficu lty  and she is parrtticularly 
aware o f his shoulder tensiion. \W-Vhheen she places her hands on his shoulders he 
releases his tension and feels a chain reacttion in the bodvy. He notices that as hi~s 
shoulder tension releases he hears h im sellf exhale; he had been ho ld ing  his 
breath. He energizes the v errttiicaaliltly  o f his spinal alignment. H is  femorall joint 
relaxes, his leg moves higher and he senses the overalll dynam ic o r qualliity  of hii:s:, 
flow' change from  binding to freeing.  Tactile d ia logue brings ou r awareness to the 
relationships between alll parts and actions in  the body. The no tion  that to 
change one th ing  in the body changes everry th ing  is part o f the fram ew ork of 
somattic and repattterning systems such as Barteniiefff Fundamentals (Hackney, 
1998). 
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Tlhze  M ultip le Amphibian 
A n am phiib ian is an adaptable creature that spends part o f its life on land  
and part in the water; skiills in m allleabbiillity  are esseennttiial for its grow th  and  
devellopment. A lddous Huxley (1966-41) describes humans as "m u ltip lee 
amphiibians" (P. 67) that exist at one and the same tim e in a num ber o f univeersses. 
He compels educators to keep in m ind that an educattion is inadequate if  it 
cannot prepare humans to make the best o f alll the w orlds in which they live. 
H uxley writtees that a human  
. . .  is at once an aniimal and a rational intellect; a product o f evollu tion 
closelly related to the apes and a spiir it capable o f sellf-ttrraannsscendence; <a1 
senttient being in contact w ith  the brute data o f his [or herr!] own nervous 
system and the physical environm ent and at the same time the creator of 
the home-made univeersse o f \wVoorrdds and other symbols, in which he [or she] I  
livees and m ovess ... .  (pp. 67-68) 
Tactile d ia logue can assiist humans in negottiiating theiir m ulltip le  w orrllddss—-wwoorrlds  
w hich are more \v'aried than an am phiib ian'’s tw o w orlds in water and on lanndd—-
and in recogniizing the relationships between alll o f those worlds. Humans ha\v'e 
w orlds inside the stud io  and outside o f it. They understand through the sollid  
feell o f a contracting muscle and through the ephemeral pressee1n1ce in someone's  
hand. Through touch, dancers learn technique and steps, and they also disco\v"el'r 
what it means to be caring, attenttive, and observant ind iv iidduals. Everything  
learrnneedd—- be it technique or meta-dance (beyond techniiqquuee)—)-i]s learned because 
o f the process o f danciing; teaching dance through touch avaiils humans to 
consttruct theiir ow n understandings o f theiir worlds. Touch can lead us to see the 
relationships betweeeenn—- and embrace the seemiinglly unrelated parts o f—-oour  
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natures. We are senttient beings who dance in  the physical environm ent w h ilee 
we are s im ultaneouslly making up the environm ent in  w h ich  we are dancing.  
'W-tVee are concluding this exploration w ith  a siim ila r concept as one which 
launched this journey—-ssimimuullttanneeiity, or, to be more specificic—- muullttip le  
simulttaaneous reallitiees. It is clear that the effective use o f touch in teaching and 
learning dance entaiils an approach which co nttin u allly  intterweeav\'es and intterssects 
the s im ultaneiity  o f timee—-ppaasstt, present, and fu ttuurree—-wwiith  the siim ultaneiity o f 
one'’s experieences in  m ulltip le  w orrldldss—-bboth inner and outer. Teachers and 
students w o rk  w ith in  this temporal and geographiical \wveb. W ith in  the web, 
teachers and students relly on a flexible awareness in the pursuiit o f m ulltip lee 
simulttaaneeous respoonnsseess—-bboth in themselves and in theiir parttnneerrss—- w hich  
moves them tow ard greater understanding o f others' and theiir own dancing 
bodies. 
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CHAPTER VI 
META MEANS 'M O VING  BEYOND' 
* *  * *
ENCOURAGING TOUCH FORWARD  
Summary  
Through this research I  have de\v·eloped a pedagogiical theory o f touch. As 
ial  theory, versus the theory o f touch, it is f irm ly  and specciiffiicallly grounded in mvy 
parrticu la r research data—-- obsseerrvattions of, and intervieews w ith  teachers and 
students from  four specciiffic h igher educattion setttings. Dance teachers have been 
incorporating touch into theiir teaching practiccees long before 1I  chose it as a 
research topic. M y hope is that this inqu iry  can promote a discussion and 
exploration o f the use of touch in teaching, and enable teachers and students to 
use it as—-aannd in—-ththeeiir conscious and conscientious practice. 
I entered this process w ith  intteereests in how teachers use touch, and in their 
understanding of how touch functions in  teaching dance technique. Alsso, I  
hoped to understand students' perceptions o f how touch affects their learning 
and artistry-. M y concern went beyond the 'nuts and bolts' o f touch when I  
reallized that what loomed even larger than how, was what elssee—--w hat else 
besides dance was being learned th rough  touch. I  chose to calll this 'w hat else·’ 
meta-dance practtiiccee—-'b'beeyyond' dance practice. Steven Chattfield, Ed G roff,  
Laurie Sanda, M ary Seerreiiter and theiir students showed me that w hat could be 
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learned in an educattiional setttting went beyond the particu lar subject matter; in 
theiir cases the setttting was the dance studio and the subject matter was modermn 
dance technique. This notion  took me on an excursion into the liitteerraatture on 
m oral educattion. On this route I was intrroduced to the w o rk  o f Nel Noddings 
(1984, 19911, ,1992,, 11998, 2002) whose theories about moral educattion from  a care- 
perspecttive 'rang loud and true' for mee—-aand for the data. Her fou r major 
theorettical concepts o f m odelling, dialogue, practice, and confirm ation paralleled 
many ideas which the teacher and student particippaants had expressed, and 
w h ich  lI had observed. 
lI discovered that 'meta' means more than 'beyond,' and the meanings I  
found provided usefful frames for looking at my theory o f touch as it was 
emerrging from  the data. Meta also means '’behiind,'’ ’'transform atioon//c chhaange,'’ and 
'’la te r/m ore  speciiallized fo rm..'’ The pastt-presenntt--future aspect o f '’meta'’ focused 
me on the concept of the "s im ultaneity o f time" (Hanstein, personal 
com m uniicattion, October, 2000) which coursed throughout the data. I  became 
aware o f the importtaance o f (a) student and teacher backgrounds, (b) the 
d isposiition o f remaiining '’presentt'’ and in-tthe-moment d u rin g  touch interactions, 
and (c) the effects o f past and present on students' progressions forw ard into 
theiir futures as artists. A ftte r lI cast a w ide net, reaching beyond dance technique, 
[I returned to touch, uncovering the specciiffic acts and attittuuddees o f teachers and 
students.  
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Signifiiccaance o f the Study 
The signifiiccaance of this research lies in  the fact that it offers teachers ways 
to understand and clarriify  what they already do, o r to discover inroads to 
teaching and learning which they may not have considered. It is clear from  this 
study that touch can play a siigniificcant role in teaching dance technique. Some 
teachers may have lim itteed theiir use o f touch to m aniipu la ting students through 
the pathways o f a dance sequence, or m oving a lim b to a specciiffic posiition w hilee 
verballiz ing simulttaaneeous statements such as, "Put your arm here.."" It is valuable 
for teachers to know  that touch can promote a student's learning in many other 
areas inc lluuddiningg—- but cerrtaiinly not lim itteed to: (a) understanding anattomical 
princip llees and movement quallitiieess/dynam ics; (b) develloping a posiitive rapport 
w ith  the teacher a n d /o r between students; (c) receppttiiviity to the teacher's 
instructions; (d) perceptiveeneess to the acttiiv itiiees in class; (e) abiillity  to use imagery, 
to clearrly observe, and to balance; and (f) awareness o f alignment, spattial 
orientation, tension, breathing, the three-dimensional nature o f movement, site o f 
movement in itiiaation , and inward and lo)uUttw aard  rotation o f the limbs. 
This study also offers teachers specciiffic ideas on how students may be 
touched such as: (a) surrroundiing /m o ld ing  around a dancerr'’s body, (b) touching 
bony landmarks, (c) tracing a pathway, (d) ho ld ing, (e) gu id ing, (tf) stroking,  
(g) massagiing, (h) jigg liing, (i) sim ultaneouslly touching two areas, (j) adjjusting or 
realligning body parts, (k) p rov id ing  resistance to a motion, (1I) supporrting,  
(m) pressiing, (n) rocking or ro lling, (o) shaking, (p) tug giin g//pulllin g , (q) !ledging  
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and draping, (r) carrrying, and (s) m aniipullating. Teachers may feell they have a 
licceense to explore and invent w ith  touch sim ply by having a vocabulary for 
desccrriibing its 'w hy ' and 'how.' Sometimes alll it takes is nam ing o u r ideas to give 
us the confideence to try  them out. 
This research is siigniificant because it demonstrates to teachers that 
touching leads to a range o f consequences. The ways in  which touch is u tiliizzeed 
in claassss—-ssuch as w ho is touching whom, and how  carreffullly  or haphazarrdlly 
touch is menttoorreedd—- has ramiificcations which impact students far beyond how 
w elll they learn dance steps. Yes, it is unllike ly that a touch w\vhich iss " . . .  not 
crystal clear and which fluttters about w ith  too many touches in a row  in d ifffeerent 
loccaattioionnss"—"-as Ed described his own ineffective toucchh—-wwiill l help a student 
achieve the teacher's dance technique goals. But the message to the student who 
receives that imprecisse touch goes beyond the teacher's ineffeecttiivveenneesss in 
transmiitting dance inform ation. Touching w ith  clear intteentt—-tetecchhnnicicaallly and 
eth icalllyy—-eempowers students. [1  bellieve that a touch w hich has a clear intent for 
specciiffic goals o f dance technique also has a clear ethical intent because the 
purpose is clearrlly experienced as pedagogiical. I have difffeerreentiiaatteed the two 
terms here to h igh ligh t for teachers the importtaance o f questtiioning the ir 
intentions, on alll levels. 
This investigation presents to teachers and students the value o f reflective 
practice, and it offers them specciiffic types o f questions to interrogate the ir 
practice. These include questtions o f care, ethics, content knowleedge, attittude,  
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conffirmation, and kinesthettic empatthy. Part o f reflective practice is a teacher'’s 
recogniition that students enter theiir classses w ith  numerous issues which impact 
learning. [Issues o f gender, body image, sexual orientation, cu ltu ra l background, 
and posiitivee/negative experiences w ith  touch are the materials w ith  which 
students waillll consttruct theiir new understandings o f danccee—-aand o f toucchh—-iin the 
m ilieeu o f a dance class. 
lIn this study, teachers are rem inded that every experience in a dance class, 
including touch, is not on ly  interpreted through pollitica l, sociiological, cultural, 
psychollogical, and arrttistic lenses, bu t that every experience carriees w ith  it 
ramiificcations in each o f those contexts. H opeffullly  readers w ii l l  regard the 
teachers and students' comments herein w itthout panic. The ir remarks regarding 
the (a) d iffiicculttiieess w ith  touch, (b) remedies for inappropriaate touch and (c) sexual 
harassment concerns, not on ly  g ive us a reallistic picture o f the com pllexiity of 
using touch, they alllow  us to recognize the merits o f touch and the wavys in 
which touch ]is absoolluttelly appropriate.  
This research paralllels and supplements current educattional discoveriees 
supporrtting consttrructtiivist learning paradigms in which students become part o f 
the teachiing/l leearning process as agents o f their own g row th  (Belenky et al., 1997; 
Black &  McClintock, 1996; Eisner, 2000; Henderson, 1992; Cennamo et al., 1996). 
Teachers give students am ple opportun itiees to consttruct know leedge when they 
include studentt-to-student touch events in their classes. [In this study [I have 
elucidated both the potenttia l fo r posiitive grow th, as w elll as the p itfa llss o f 
students touching each other.  
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For some modern dance teachers the liinnees have begun to b lur between 
modern dance technique, soma tics, bodywork, fiittnneesss/c ondition ing, 
gym nastics/d ance sport, marrttial arts, w orld dance forms, and a host o f other 
studies. Some o f these practices already engage hands-on techniques, such as 
Aleexander Technique and Feldenkrais Technique (Alleexaander &  Maisel, 1989; 
Feldenkrais, 1977). The research presented here can open up a dialogue among 
practitioners, enrrich ing the metthodology o f touch in each secttor. Alsso, touch 
imparts many aspects o f movement knowleedge w ittho u t need of the spoken 
word. Therefore, touch can serve as a connectting thread to assiist dance students 
and teachers in  theiir investigations o f other forrm ss—-eevven in parts of the w orld  
where theiir o w n  language is not spoken.  
Further Study  
There are tw o avenues for further study w hich  parrtticu larly intterest me as 
I  bring this s tudy to a close. The firs t is to investigate the relationship between 
the paradigm o f meta-dance practice and touch in  other ways. For instance, if 
touch is an inroad to meta-dance practice, thereby teaching students to (a) take 
resppoonnssibibiilliity fo r theiir own learning, (b) observe w ith  c larity, and (c) behave as 
caring ind iv iiddua ls , what else m igh t be an inroad to such qualittiieess? Besides 
touch, what o ther endeavors could move students into and beyond techniquee?  
Touch can be explored to facilittaate g row th  and personal agency in  other 
learning contexts besides technique. Ann Cooper A lb rig h t (2000) has siimiila rly  
experimented w ith  movement, b ring ing  it into the dance h istory classroom and  
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asking her students to " . . .  use theiir bodies not siim p ly  to fo llow  or im itiatatete—- but 
as vehicles for historical th in k ing " (p. 7). She wanted to teach aspects o f Classical 
Indian Dance w itthou tt " ... .  tokenizing the experience" (p. 7). A lb righ t questioned, 
". ...  how do we th ink  through a body that is centered in another cu ltura l matrix? 
. . .  I  decided that I  wanted m y students to take the risk and launch their bodiees 
into a somattic explloration o f this matterriiaal l . . .  "" (p. 7). A lb riigghtt''ss somattic history 
lesson gave her students the opporrtuniity  to lisstten to, and trust thaatt—-iin a very 
litteral as \wveill as metaphorrical senssee—-kknnoowledge is housed in the body. Is 
movement an inroad to meta-dance history practicee? Is touch? 
Teachers w ith in  colleege dance programs can examine their curricula and 
brainstorm the goals and objectives o f their course offerings. If  they decide that 
theiir goals and objectivees fo r student learning should embrace a!n1d move beyond 
the subject matter, they can explore numerous routes toward meta-dance 
practice. 
The second avenue for further research that is o f particular interest to me 
is the idea that touch enables the student to take a journey that migrraattees beyond 
the meta-facets thus far explored: Touch enhances the learning o f movement as a 
liv iing  metaphor for everyday life.. 'Everyday liffee' refers to the ways in w hich we 
interpret and respond to ou r environments and relationships on a daiily  basis. 
This term is used to contrast those parrticular states o f heightened awareness that 
may occur when one is dancing or perrform ing. Exploring the ways in which 
movement may be understood as a liv iinng  metaphor fo r everyday life is 
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w orth w h ile  because through recogniition o f our metaphors we can expand  
ourselves as dancceerrss—- and as humans. This expansion comes through venturing  
beyond our 'somattic prejjuuddicicees's—'-tthe lim ittiinng  biases that we develop th rough  
our bodiily  experiences. Deane Juhan (1987) notes that the tactile surface o f the  
skin  teaches us about ourselves in re lation to the w orld. He writtees, 
The dialectic [between the body and w orld!] is liffee-llong, and its form ative 
power can hardlly  be overstated. It establisshes preferences and aversions, 
habits and departures, becomes the very sttufff in which attittuudees are 
ingrained. The "feell" in my skin  and the '"'feelings" in my m ind, w ha t [I 
"feell" and how  I  "feell" about it, become so confounded and ambiguous 
that my internal "feelings" can a lte r w hat my skin "feels" just as 
pow errffullly  as particular sensattions can shiift my internal states., (p. 34) 
D uring my research process, the pedagogiical use o f metaphorr—-fafaccililiitated  
th rough toucchh—-bbeegan to surface in the data, and in my interpretation o f it. This  
was clearrly tangenttiial to my current w o rk  on touch, yet even as [I reach closure  
w ith  this study, issues o f metaphor loom  larrggee—-ppeerrttiinent to the practice o f  
teaching technique. [I  have started to delve into this idea, and w iil l in trroduce it 
here in some dettaiil. Let us recalll Ed's theme for im provissation invo lv ing  the  
architecture o f support and the giift o f surrender in [ledging and draping forms. 
D uring  these tactile explorations Ed's hope was to buiild  students' physical skiillss 
as receivers and givers o f body w eight. He also wanted to give students more  
strategies for coping in the w orld  by enhancing theiir confiddeence and enjoym ent  
o f both ends of the su pppoorrttiin g//y ie ld in g  continuum . Ed acknowledged the  
underrlly ing  metaphors in the acts o f supportinngg//s suurrrreendering , receiiv ing /g iv ing ,  
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and grounding/re leeasing. He believed the students' ow n  recogniition o f these 
metaphors w ou ld  contribute to their g row th  as artists and as humans. 
To understand the teaching and learning potenttia l o f metaphor, we may  
consider just one o f the functions of touch: b ring ing  awareness to, and 
sttim ulating the use o f breath. When explloring breath, teachers m ight lead 
students to consider such questtions as: "W hat does it  mean when I  hold my  
breath? Does ho ld ing  mean possessiing and ow ning, rather than losing 
sometthing? Do I  value ownership o f things? [If I release m y breath am lI g iv ing  
up sometthing? Is that a sign o f my weakness and vu lnerabiillity?  Do I feell free? 
When I1 let m y breath move in and out am I  nourish ing m y body? Is breath food? 
H ow  do I  feell about food?" It is apparent that w ith  just one conncceeppt—t-brreeaathth—-
the metaphorrical im agination has many posssiibiilitiiees fo r exploration and grow th.  
Understanding and experiencing one kind o f th ing  in terms of another is 
the essence o f metaphor. Sondra Fraleigh (1987) w rittees,  
Dance is mettaphorriical in the sense that m etaphor involvees us in 
transferred usages o f expresssiionnss ... .  It is an open, nonresttrriictive symbol 
through w hich  we interpret ourselves in ou r w o rld , poettiicallly. The 
metaphor is poetic because it is open to in terpre ta tion  and because it binds 
us to ourselves and ou r w orld  in an open, m etaphysiical leap from the 
word to the w o rld . Movement functions m ettaphhoorriicalllly  in dance., (p. 171) 
George Lakofff and M ark Turner (1989) refer to ideas such as Fraleigh''s  
'’b innddiinngg’—'-tthis metaphysiical leap from w ord (or movement) to w orrlldd—- as 
'’m appiing.'’ People use metaphors to map certain aspects o f one domain into  
another, thereby producing new understandings. The authors w ritte that  
metaphorr "  . . .  is centtral to ou r understanding o f ou r sellves, ou r culture, and the  
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w orld  at la rge. . . . .  [It iis v ita l that we understand our ow n w orldv iieew s and the 
proceessses that guide both our everyday understanding and ou r im agination"  
(p..  214).. 
Let us consider the imagination: Student and teacher particippaants noted 
that touch faciliittaattees a dancer's abiillity  to use imagery. iImagery is an im portant 
inroad to devellop ing greater functionall and expressiive use o f the body—-wwhhiich 
is one way o f deffin ing  dance technique. For this study, im agery (when disscusssed 
w ith  teacher and student particippaants du ring  interviews) was defined as a 
qualitative or abstracted menttall picture,, wlhticlht clar~iffiiees, alttears, or enlhuamnces a desiired 
phltysiicall activity. A visualiz:ecd imagte! supports and guides a plhtysiical action. Its formmzs  
i1n1cclu11ddec te!Hnergy patterns, creatures, objects, and lhwuman anatomy. 
[In the ir ow n way, Lakofff and Johnsuon (1999) make the lin k  between dance 
and imagery. They claim that how we come to know [or imagine!] the w orld  
depends on embodied understandiing. They w ritte, "W hat we calll 'm in d ' is reallly 
embodied. There is no true separrattion o f m ind and body" (p. 266). N otions o f 
inside/outside, im age/body-m ovem ent, and m in d /b o d y  are uniifieed duallitiees. 
Therefore, how  one thinks about one's dancing and the images one uses to give 
texture and c la rity  to one's dancing are inseparable from how  one is acttuuaal!ll}y' 
danciing.. This a ttittude is counter to a central po in t o f Western ph illoossoopphhyy—-a 
bellief in the existence o f the Cartesian duallis tic person for w hom  the m ind is 
separate from  the body (p. 5). 
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Steven described the integral relationship between m ind, body, imagery, 
metaphor, and touch: 
I th ink  touch helps w ith  visuallization. You can use touch to reinforce an 
imaaggee—-a mental representtattion o f plaaces in the body, and connections 
through the body. Touch can support metaphorrical ideas o f electric 
energy flow ing through the body, o r water shooting th rough the body, or 
a hollownneesss o f bones at the core o f the skeleton.  
If we let our metaphorrical im aginations ponder Steven's bo1n1ees are lhwolllow 
image \wVe m ight th ink about things that are hollow  and come up w ith  the 
metaphor: bones are tubes. Tubes have a variety o f quallitiees: They are empty, 
contain inner space, and resonate sound. They are musical, like a didgeridoo, 
and have a deep tonnee—-oone that may be sensed in the pellvis. If, through touch 
we are compellled to in te lleectua lizzee/physica lizze, or im aginnee//ddaance these 
metaphors we have the potenttial to make sense out o f ou r current paradigms 
and develop new ones; we have the posssiibbiillity  o f devellop ing a new body image, 
and new ways to dance. Ed G rofff (1990) wriitteess,, "  . . .  bodiily  experience proviidte>ss 
an excelllent ground for symbollic reference. Physical experieences o f open ing/ 
closing . . .  balaancceedd //i mimbbaallaanncced . . .  tensed//r reeleleaassed . . .  alll p rov ide  sensory 
distinctions that form the bases fo r conceptual schemas" (p. 16). G rofff notes th.a1t 
we create "imaage schematta" that are absttract structurees o f images. "They are 
gesttallt structures, consiisting o f parts standing in relation and organized into 
uniified wholes, by means o f w hich  o u r experience manifeests discernible 
order" (p. 16). 
M odem  dance teachers trave l an ongoing journey o f fin d in g  new and 
more effective ways to help theiir students understand and em body dance to its 
fulleest. Teachers who use touch, and who embrace the paradigm  o f meta-dance  
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practice take this one step fa rther by encouraging students to understand/ 
embody theiir w orlds and w orldv viieew ss, and to break ground on new w orlds and 
points o f view. This process can occur through the use o f metaphor. D uring 
theiir classes, teacher partic ippaants used numerous metaphors in  conjunction w ith  
touch, includ ing the fo llo w ing : (a) The dancer you are pushing away is a baby 
b ird (Ed), (b) The pellvis is a vase and the bouquet o f flowers is the haiir on top o f 
your head (Laurie), and (c) The acettabbuullum /fem ur connection is a rotary baby 
rattle (M ary used a rattle as a k inesthettiic /v issua l reference for the h ip  socket). 
When dancers fu lly  engage theiir  imaginations they discover the movement 
posssiibiilitiiees w ith in  metaphors, and the metaphors inside their movements.  
Doris H um phrey conceived her modern dance technique on a number o f 
prim ary concepts w h ich  can be mined for the ir rich metaphors. These include 
the concept of fallll and recovery. Hum phrey (1959) wriitteess,, "“  A ll life  flluuccttuuaattees 
between resistance to and y ie ld ing  to g raviity " (p. 106). A dopting  and adaptting 
Nieettzzssche's A po lloon iiaan-D iioonnyssiaan thesis o f extremes, H um phrey developed 
physiiollogiicallly-, psychoollogiicalllly-, and m ettaphhoorriicaallly-rich theoriees o f movement 
(Stodellle, 1978, p. 14). Ernestine Stodellle w rittees, " . . .  A po llo  and Dionyssus 
represented tw o confflic ting , ye t in tertw iinneed impullssees in man: the firrst, to 
achieve perfection and sttabbiilliity ; the second, to experience the ecstasy o f 
abandon" (p. 14). M etaphors fo r A po llo  include w issdom , light, fairrneess, 
measured lim ittaation , calmness, rational behaviior, clear judgm ent and serreniity. 
For the dancer he is repose, sttabbiillity , and balance. Dionyssus evokes wine, song, 
one's instinct for adventure, licceenttiioouussnneesss, g row th , the act o f tem pting fate, 
exploration, and im m inen t danger. D ionysian movement is off--bbaallaance and  
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fa lling  (Stodellle, p. 15). H um phrey notes the metaphors inherent in movement, 
w riting ,  
Fallling and recovering is the very sttufff o f movement, the constant flux 
which is going on in every liv iinng  body, in alll its tinieest parts, alll the time. 
Nor is this alll, fo r the process has a psychollogical meaning as w elll. [I  
recognized these em ottional overtonees very earrlly and instinctive ly  
responded very sttronglly  to the exciting danger of the falll, and the repose 
and peace o f recovery., (cited in  Stodellle, 1978, p. 15) 
Through the data it is clear that touch can assiist dancers to balance and to take 
risks. It is appealling to consider the posssiibiilitiiees o f using touch to specciifficallly  
invoke metaphorriical images tied to Hum phrey''s principllees of falll and recovery. 
One finall aspect o f the intersection o f metaphor and touch w hich  deseLr'vr\, ,e·~s 
fu rther consiiderattion is body know leedge /body prejudice. Carol-Lynnne Monore  
and Kaoru Yamamoto (1988) w ritte,  
The body knowleedge we have regarding mov\·ement meaning is based 
upon generrallizations d raw n  from  ou r ow n embodied experiieenncceess.. .. ·.• et' 
start w ith  a specciiffic visceral happening and by graduallly absttractting ,i  r,. ·-m  
it, we consttruct a lexicon o f generrallized movement meanings. O ur buod vy 
knowleedge becomes the guidebook we use to organize the w o rld  beyvond,i 
words, to judge actions and to gauge ou r reactions to the movements ot 
others., (p. 88) 
Moore and Yamamoto o ffe r an example o f the way our meaniing-making 
process frequenttlly occurs spontaneouslly. They describe our potenttia l for feelling 
uneasy while in the presence o f a lo ittering  stranger in a lobby; o u r first 
movement thought, based on body knowleedge (rather than conscious 
delliberattion) w ou ld  like ly  be a qu ick exit. They remark, "Beeccaausse body 
knowleedge blends the percepttion o f movement behavior w ith  its interpretation, 
it  faciliittaattes swiift reacttiion" (p. 88). A n  autom attic interpretation o f movement c.a11n1 
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also lead to a prejjudiic ia l m isjudgment o f siituations and people. "L ike  body 
knowleedge, body prejudice origiinnaattees from  our capaciity to absttract and 
generrallize on the basis o f our own movement experiences" (p. 89). 
M oore and Yamamoto's exploration o f both the efficient and sometimes 
dangerous consequences o f body knowleedge and body prejudice is inttended to 
broaden o u r horizons when we observe movement. They contend that there is 
no sim ple, one-to-one correspondence between a movement and what it means. 
H ow  does an understanding o f the relationship between touch, metaphor, and 
body know leedge /body prejudice enhance ou r livees as dancers? 
Let us consider how touch m ight inflluueence one'’s responses and 
interpretations o f a dance perforrmaannccee—-- in  this example, a performance o f Saa1n1kai 
fJuuku,  a Butoh dance company from Japan. (Imagine that, for a parrticular member 
o f the audience, laz:y and borri1in1g are the overpow ering  metaphors for the time 
qualliity  o f slow  m otion. Then conssiiddeer—r-tth rough the words o f w riter, Brett 
Johnson (199977)—)-tthat the performance is composed o f "s low  conttortions" during 
which dancers "s low ly  uncoiil theiir tucked bodies,," flow  "s low ly  but inevvitit,1abll~e, 
across the m outh o f the stage" and move w ith  a "s low -m otion  bobbing and 
weaviing." It may be diif f ic u lt for the v iew er to in terpre t the performaance as 
anyth ing bu t lazy and boring. An abiillity  to see fu lly  and appreciate Butoh w ill 
by hampered by a body prejudice founded on lim itteed  metaphorriical assoocciiattions. 
If the v iew er has a larger sphere of embodied experiences and has been 
encouraged towards a greater range o f m etaphorrical associiattions, then she or he 
is more apt to be fu lly  disposed to the event. A  larger sphere o f embodied  
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experiences occurs through touch, as touch can p rov ide  dancers w ith  a deeper 
underssttaannddiningg—- and personal 'palleettete'—'- of movement quallitiieess/dynam ic  range. 
One can begin to gain an appreciiattion of an u n fa miilia r movement style, 
such as Butoh, by personalllly em bodying d iffeerent m ovem ent quallitiees. TiIn1e term 
'qualliity ' is used here in a broad sense. It encompaasses R udollf Laban's Efforts o f 
lig h t and strong weight, free and bound flow , susttained and sudden time, and 
indirect and direct space. A ll fou r teacher particippaants were versed in those 
concepts and term inology. Q ualliity , in this research, also incluuddees any 
desccrriiptors 1w.vhhiicch students o r te3achers used to explain the character, tone, 
texture, or flavor o f a movement. Many teacher and student particippaants 
commented that touch enhances the ir awareness o f m ovem ent quallitiees. 
Body knowleedge and body prejudice impact how  we interpret oursellve~s 
and others. \WVhat we understand through our somattic experience is maniitfte-•sstted 
in our cogniitive struccttuureres—s-tthe wavys in which we make sense in the wourld. 
Because o f the embodied nature o f our understtandiing, the modermn dance 
technique class is an ideal place fo r students to learrnn—-tthhrrough  toucchh—-aabbout 
theiir current cogniitive structures, and develop new ones. 
Tw o body-m etaphor constructs emerged as p arrtticu la rly  siigniificant in this 
study: (a) understanding where and how a movement inittiiaattees, and (b) find ing  
ease//rreleasiing tension. Student and teacher particippaants Oov\'eerw he lm ing ly 
concurred that these were tw o  o f the most pre\v·alent learn ing areas that were 
facilittaatted through touch. It is not a diifficu lt leap to notice how  the constructs no f  
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in itiatioun  and redlte.'ase, in  theiir metaphorrical richness, cross-over from  dance to 
e\v'eryday life; nor is it hard to recognize that they are actual skiills  o f meta-dance 
practice: (a) know ing where and how to begin an action, or a course o f events; 
and (b) understanding how to use on ly  what we need, letting go o f what we do 
not need, and do ing  so in a relaxed, unstressfful manner. 
The w ork  o f Joan Skinner deserves menttion. She has de\v·eloped an entire 
approach to movement tra in ing w hich is based on the release o f tension through 
the use o f touch and metaphorrical imagery. Skki1in1n11ear Rte'lleeaa:.s-ing Tcedc1h11niiq1u1e (SRTI) 
" . . .  u tiliizzees image-guided floo rw ork  to ease tension and promote an efforttlleesss 
k ind  o f movement, integrated w ith  alignment o f the whole self"' (Skura, 1990, 
p. 11). It incorporraattees tactile exercisses to give the imagery "im m ediaattee 
kinesthettic effect" (p. 11 ). Skinner believ\·es that the images she uses take a poetic 
form  w hich she likkeens to haiiku; these image dculu:.s-ttcer:r.s- are brie f and, she hopes, send 
ou t a resonance or reverberattion. Skinner states that the images represent 
archettyppeess—-aarrcchhettypes which reside beneath the images and w hich  "  . . .  need 
some k ind  o f poetic metaphor to represent them, to pret'-sent them to one's 
experriienciing" (p. 11). Studentt-to-student-touch, termed partner-graphics, is an 
im portan t aspect o f SRT. Partners assiist each other in releasing tension, 
frequenttlly  using a ligh t touch. For example, one m ight focus on releasing 
tension in  the tisssues around the h ip  jo int. Or, in order to sense the process of 
reallign ing the body in  a m ultid iim eensional, m ulltid irreectional wayv, a partner w ill 
226 
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use delicate fingers to trace continuous flow s o f three-dimensional energy 
patterns along the surface o f the body (p. 17). 
Through touch, dancers have the abiillity  to gain an awareness o f the 
afffinittiiees, prejudices, paradigms, and schema which frame their choices, impact 
theiir dancing, and govern theiir livees. Teachers ha\v·e an invaluable opporrtuniity  
to open students to theiir paradigms and gu ide them into a much greater range of 
optiioonnss—-ccoonncceeppttuall, aestthettiic, and somattic. This is possiible when teachers 
encourage the use o f metaphor and engage the students' imaginations. Through 
theiir imaginations, dancers learn to find metaphors in movement and movement 
in metaphors. As a dancer's range of metaphors grows so does her o r his range 
of movement possibillitiiteise—s-tthose which the dancer performs and those which 
the dancer is able to observe and interpret as a v\·iieew er o f another's movement.  
A modern dance class offers teachers and students a seemiinglly in fin ittee 
array o f mo\v·ement constructs that may be understood through touch, physical 
embodiment, and metaphor. One o f them is the vi. 1aerttiical di1im11e1n1s::;iio1n1. The 
metaphors housed in images and actions o f the vertical dimension, and in such 
concepts as u p /dmo wvn  and h ig h /lo w  provide a w indow  on our embodied biaases. 
A  number o f authors (Shahn, 1957; Bloomer &  Moore, 1977; Lakoff &  Johnson, 
1980; Johnston, 1986; &  Grofff, 1990) have taken note o f the cu ltura l im port o f 
metaphors fo r the vertical dimension. 
Using touch enhances the posssiibiilitiiees for the imagination to embrace 
metaphorriical reallitiees. W hile  touch is often accompanied by the spoken w ord, it 
227 
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also alllows for a great deal o f silence, and fo r w ork ing  w\Viitth the eyves closed. [In 
silence, and in the dark, touch awakens o u r proprioceptive and kinesthetic 
senses. W ith  our awakened senses we are more avaiilable to tactile images. 
Steven used tacttile images, such as instructing  students to find a level o f 
awareness during  a movemeentt "  . . .  like you were feelling when somebody was 
holding your pellvis." He used touch to esttabllish sensattions that can be 
employed as memory cues for images, later. Siimiilarly, after a studentt-to-student 
touch exploration Laurie asked students to w o rk  solo and to sense the hands of 
an imaginary partner supporrting them in the ir dancing.  
Teachers who use touch, and who consider the possiibiilitiiees for a 
paradigm of meta-dance practice teach the ir students to be cartographers by 
giv,·ing them experiences in mapping the ir jourrneeyss toward new understandings. 
Students buiild  theiir own, uncharted highways. They may connect the sensattion 
o f a teacher's firm  pressure in the femoral jo in t, first tLo) an exhale, next to a 
release o f tensiion, then to an image o f water, and then to a body-m ind epiphany 
o f how this new choice may affect the ir dancing and their livees. In an 
environment o f touch, students have the opporrtu niity  to take an immeensse 
amount o f respoonnssibibiilliity for consttructing the ir interpretations and knowleedge.  
I w ii l l leave the reader w ith  three comments from particippaants. In the firrst, 
a student notes the pedagogiical power w h ich  is generated through a teacher's 
touch. In the second and th ird  statements tw o  o f the teacher particiippaants rem ark 
on how touch decreases a studentt'’s dependence on a teacher through increeasing 
the student's own personal power.  
228 
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The student commented,  
Being dancers, we are often told to feell the m usic or to feell our movement, 
o r to create a feelling w ith in  the audience. [If there is a movement we do 
not understand it is diifficu lt to feell it w ith  just instructional words. But to 
use touch makes alll the difffeerreence. 
Ed G rofff noted,  
Touch is the most reliable means to com m unicate w ith  students. I f  I''ve 
been able to help facilittaate a certain k ind  o f sensattiion relative to a concept, 
then touch empowers them to relocate that fo r themseellvess ... .  that 
sensattiion becomes automaatticic—-a home bassee—-sso they don't need me 
touching them alll the time. 
M ary Seerreiiter stated., 
The purpose o f touch is to facilittate their ow n  a\wvareeness and knowleedge 
that's already there. I'm just rem inding them. I f  they can learn to trust 
the ir bodies and learn to value tuning in and lisstening, they''lll go through 
the ir ow n learning experiences in a lot o f o ther places, other classes, and 
w hen they're w a lk ing  to the bus. 
229 
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Commwunziication Education, 47 (2), 101-119. 
Prestton--Dunlop, V. (1995). Dance wivords. Switzerland: Harwood Academic.  
Reed, F. F. &  Johnson, T. W. (1999). Friieendship and moral educcaatittio.mn: Twin pillars of 
plhzillosoplhzy fo r  clhzildren. New York: Peter Lang. 
Sacks, P. (1996). Generration Xg gooes to college. Chicago: Open Court.  
Schon ,, D. (1987). Educating the reflective practtiittiiomn.e:r: Toward a  new desiign fo r  
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Practice 27 (3), 183-189. 
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APPENDIXES 
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APPEND[IX A  
Letter o f [In troduction  
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January 1-41,, 1998 
D ea r D ance S tud en t o f  L a u rie  Sanda,  
L a u rie  Sanda has consented  to  p a rtic ippaate  in  m y  research p ro je c t w h ic h  I  am  
c o n d u c tin g  as p a rt o f  m y  D oc to ra l D egree  in  dance a t Texas W o m an 's  U n iv e rs ity .  The 
p u rp o s e  o f  m y  s tu d y  is to  u n co ve r if ,  h o w , and  w h y  h u m a n  touch  w o rk s  in  the  teach ing  
o f  dance, a nd  h o w  i t  c o n tr ib u ttees  to  s tu d e n t le a rn in g . Because, in  the p a s t fe w  years, the 
to p ic  o f  h u m a n  touch  in  setttin g s  such as schools and  busineesssses has becom e q u ite  
c o n tro v e rsiia l,  th is  research  is p arrttiic u la r ly  p e rtin e n t. T h is  s tu d y  in v o lvvees  in te rv ie w in g  
a n d  o b s errv in g  dance in s tru c to rs , as w ell l  as in te rv ie w in g  a n d  co lle c tin g  q u e sttio n n a ire  
responses fro m  th eiir  s tu d e n ts  re g a rd in g  the use o f  to uch  in  the dance te ch n iq u e  class. 
T h is  research can u lt im a te ly  b eneffiit b o th  the  teachers and  s tu de n ts  o f  dance.  
I  w ii l l  be o b s errv in g  y o u r  class fo r  a p prro x im a te ly  1IO0 h ou rs  d u r in g  th is  schoo l 
te rm , b e giin n in g  o n  Ja n u a ry  21. Please u n d e rs ta n d  th a t the  pu rposse  o f  m y  presence in  
y o u r  class is to observe  L a u rie ''s  teach ing  stra teg ies a nd  he r in te ra c tio n s  w i th  the 
s tu d e n ts . Rest assured th a t I am  in  no w a y  e v a lu a tin g  o r  ju d g in g  y o u r  d a n c in g . In  fact, 
lI a m  p arrtt ic u la r ly  p leased th a t I  w ii l l  be o b s errv in g  y o u r  class w h ic h  has s tuyd e n ts  w ith  a 
w id e  v a r ie ty  o f in te rests  a n d  w h o  are m ajjo r in g  in  a m u lt ittuud e  o f fie ld s  o f  s tu d y .  
I  w ii l l  be ask ing  y o u  to  s ign  a consen t fo rm . T he  p u rpo sse  o f  the  fo rm  is to  ensure 
th a t y o u  u n d e rs ta n d  th a t I  w ii l l  m aiin ta in  y o u r  c o nff id e nttiiall i ty  and trea t y o u  w ith  respect. 
I  w ii l l  ask y o u  to  f i l l  o u t a q u e sttiio n n a ire  re g a rd in g  y o u r  experieences in  th is  class, 
h o w e v e r, f i l l iinng  o u t the  q u e sttiio n n a ire  is c o m p le te ly  v o lu n ta ry . Y o u r n am e  w ii l l  no t 
a p p e a r o n  the  q u e sttiio n n aiire , and y o u r  responses w i l l  re m a in  a n o n ym o u s . I  w ii l l  a lso ask 
a n u m b e r o f  s tuden ts  i f  th e y  w o u ld  be w i l l iinng  to  be in te rv iieew eed  so th a t I  m ay d isscusss 
w i th  th e m  th eiir  expe riences in  th is  class. A g a in , y o u r  p arrttiiciip.a1t io n  in  a n  in te rv ie w  is 
c o m plle telly  v o lu n ta ry . Y o u r  o p in io n s  a re  e x tre m elly  v a lu a b le  fo r th is  s tu d y . T he  resu lltbs 
o f  th is  research w ii l l  be d o c u m e n te d  in  m y  D octo ra l D issse rta tio n , fro m  Texas W o m an ''s  
U n iv e rsii ty .  
[I lo o k  fo rw a rd  to  m e ettin g  yo u  a n d  w ii l l  be h a p p y  to  a nsw er a n y  o f  y o u r  
q u e sttio n s  w h ile  [I am  in  A m e s , and a fte r  I leave. M a n y  thanks.  
S in ce relly ,  
R o b in  C olllte!n  
1707 M id v a le  A ve . 
Los A n ge les , C A  90022-41 
310-447799--11523  
245 
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APPENDIIX B 
Consent Form: Teacher Participanttss 
246 
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TEXAS W O M A N 'S  U N IV E R SIITY  
SUBJjECT C O N SE N T TO PARTIC IPATE IN  RESEARCH  
The Significance and Role of Touch in Dance Pedagogy: 
Tactile Communication for Aesthetic Development  
Investigator: Robin Collen (310)) 4-1779-1523 
Advisor: Penelope Hanstein (9-4tO0) 898-2087 
As a participant in the study, I  understand the following to be true: 
Pur:ppoosse and Procedures: 
•  I  will be involved in a data gathering process, the focus of w\•.h:hiicch will be the role of touch 
in teaching dance. 
•  TThhee d daattaa g gaatthheerreedd  dduurriningg t hthisis s sttuuddyy w wiilll  bbee  uuttiililzizeedd f foorr  tthhee i ninvveessttigigaatotor'rs's d dooccttoorraal l 
disserrtation, and possiiblly, subsequent publications and presentations. 
• I wI willi lln onto tr ermemaiani na naonnoynmymouosu,s n, onro rw willi llt hteh en anmame eo fo tfh teh ein isntsituittuiotino na ta wt whihcihc hI  tIe taecahc.h. 
• MMyy c coonnffiiddeennttiiaallitiyty  wwiill l bbee m maainintatainineedd t hthrroouugghhoouut tt hthee d daatata g gaatthheerriningg p prorocceesss.. 
• PPaarrtitcicipipaatitoionn i nin t hthisis s sttuuddyy i sis v voolulunntatarryy a anndd I  Im maayy w witihthddrraaww a at ta annyy t itmimee w witihthoouut tp peennaaltlyty. . 
•  AAnn o offfeerr  hhaass b bete.'tn'n  mmaaddee t oto  aannssweerr a alll  ooff m myy q quueessttioionnss a anndd c coonncceerrnnss a abboouutt  tthhee s sttuuddyy.. 
•  I Ih haavvee b beeeenn  mmaailieledd  ttw\'voo  ccooppieiess o off t thhee c coonnsseenntt  ffoorrmm..  I Iw wiilll  ssiiggnn b bootthh a anndd m maaiill o orr  FFAX  ththee  
other to the investigator. 
•  TThhee i ninvvesetsitgigaatotor rw wilill la asskk s soommee o of fm myy s stutuddeenntst st oto b be ei nintetervrvieiweweedd. . I Iw wilill ln noot tb be ei ninfoformrmeded  
of any discussions between the investigator and my students. 
•  lT1h1e investigator w ill ask my students to fill  out anonymous questtionnaires. I  w ill not be 
informed of any responses of particular students by name, although I  will receive a 
summary of the results of the questtionnaire. 
• M yy  ttimimee  iinnvvoolvlveemmeenntt  w iitthh  tthhee  ssttuuddyy  w iillll  ccoonnssiisstt  ooff t twwoo  oorr  tthhrreeee  iinntteerrvvieiew   sseesssioonnss,,  
lasting a total o f from  three to five hours. 
• Thhee  iinntteerrvviieewss  wiillll  bee  ttaappee  rreeccoorrddeedd.. 
•  Thhee  purrppoossee  ffor  ttaappee  rreecorrdiinngg  tthhee  iinntteerrviieewss  iiss  ttoo  prroviiddee  tthhee  iinnvveessttiiggaattoorr  wiitthh  rreelliiaabbllee  
data, through a verbatim transcript. The crediibiility of the study would be weakened if 
the data was gathered only through writtten notes and the memory of the investigator. 
•  Thhee  iinnveesstiiggaattorr  iiss tthee  only  perrsson  whho  will hear  tthee  ttapeess.. 
•  Thhee  ttaappeess  will be  keeptt  for  fiivee yeeaarrss  aftterr  tthee  iinnveessttiiggaattoorr's's  diisssertation  iiss  completted,,  att  
w'hich time they will be erased. 
•  Duurriinngg  tthhee  iinntteerrvviieewss  II  maay  rreeffuussee  tto  aanssweerr  any  queessttiioonnss  andd  II  maay  tteerrmiinnaattee  tthhee  
interview at any time. 
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•  I  w ill ha\v·e the opportunity to re\v·iew and edit the transcript of my interviews prior to 
their usage as daat<ta1 for this study. 
•  The invesstitgig<a1ttor will be observing one of m y dance technique cdlas,s;es for a minimum ont 
ten hours. Depending upon my teaching schedule, the investigator may be at the 
research sittee—- my instittuuttioionn—-ffor up to three weeks.  
• The inv\'estigator w ill be unobtrusive during her class observations.  
• The invte'Sstitgig<a1ttor w ii ll be \wvr ittiin g  notes d u r in g  her class obserrv< a1ttiioonnss. 
Risks: 
•  One of the possiible risks to my safety is public embarrassment.  
•  The investigator w ii ll m in im ize this risk by g iv in g  me the o pp orrtu niity  to review and edit 
the transcrriip t o f my intervieews p rio r to its use as data.  
•  The investigator will infiorm me if she perceives that her data from our interviews or hLe•r 
observations (witthout compromising the privacy of the student participants) includes 
particularly sensiittive materials, so that we may disscuss these matters. 
•  The investigator understands that I have a professional reputation to maintain and shhLe· 
will respect this in every way possiible. 
•  M y students' remarks will remain unknown to me so that my rapport with them will not 
be adversely affeocted by this study. 
•  To insure that the data from this investigation is not improperly released, and to 
maiinnt<ta1in my priv\'acqy· , the inv\'estigator w ill secure writttten and electronic files in a locked 
file cabinet in her home., to which onlyv she w ill have access. A ll writttten notes will be 
burned, and audiotaped rLec'Coorrddiinngs ~w-ill be erased, on or before Ml\faarrch 1I , 2007. 
Potential Benefitts: 
•  M y \w..-oork as a teacher will be featurne. >. dd in a dissertation whiiic.:h w ill be presented to the 
schollarly community-. Such a dissemiination of my work could lead to future professiion.aiil 
engagements for  myselif, and further contributions to the artistic and educational 
commu nit tiiees. 
•  This research endea\v'or is designed to encourage sellff-reflexivity by examining my 
process of teaching from a unique perspective from which I  can explore my own work. 
Therefore, the study may beneffit me by involving me in the union of theory and practice. 
•  This study w ill allow me to contribute to the expansion of the litterature in the field. 
•  M y students w ill be afforded the opportunity to observe and speak with a 
dancer//r re~seaarrcchheerr. 1Tlh1iis siituation may provide them with opportunitiess for exploring 
and questtioning their artistic and theoretical studies in w ays w’hich would otherwisse not 
be available to them. 
If I  have any questions about the research or about my rights as a subject, I  should ask the 
researcher: her phone number is at the top of this form. [If 1I  have questions later, or wissh to 
248 
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report a problem., I1  may calll the researcher or the Office of Research & Grants Adminisstration at 
8 1I7 -898-3377. 
lT1h1e researcher w ill try to prevent any problem that could happen because of thibs rte."sSeeaarrch. I 
should let the researcher know at once if there is a problem and she w ill help me. I  understand., 
however., that TW U  does not provide medical services or financial assistance for injuries that 
might happen because I  am taking part in this research. 
I  hereby release the Texas Woman''s University and the undersigned party acting under thte• 
authority of Texas Woman''s University from any and all claims arising out of such taping., 
recording., reproducing, publishing., trarni.s.5mmiitttiing, or exhibiting as is authorized by the Texas 
Woman''s University. 
Signature of Participant Date 
•  rMvly image w ill be recorded on videotape, while teaching technique class., if I  provide writtten 
consent bellOo\w'v. Not signing the consent form does not disqualliify me from participating~ in 
this research. 
•  The purpose for videotaping the classes is to provide the investigator with reliable data., 
through observable videotapes. The crediibiility of the study \w,·ould be weakened if the data 
was gathered only through writtten notes and the memory of the invte.-ssttiiggaattor. 
•  The investigator and the dance instructor are the only people who w ill look at the \v"iiddeeoottaapes., 
except in the following circumstance. If the instructor feels that the students in the 
videotaped class would find it educattiionallly benefficial to view the tapes., students will view 
them., as well. 
•  lTlhie \v"iiddeeoottaapes w ill be kept for five years after the investigator''s dissertation is completed., at 
which time they w ill be erased. 
I do hereby consent to the recording of my image by Robin Collen. I  hereby release the Texas 
Woman''s University and the undersigned party acting under the authority of Texas Womrna.mn''s 
University from any and all claims arising out of such videotaping, viidt.e>o recording, reproducing,. 
publishing, transmiitting, or exhibiting as is authorized by the Texas Woman''s University. 
Signature of Participant Date  
The above consent form was read, discussed, and signed in my presence. In my opinion, the 
person signing said consent form did so freely and with full knowledge and understanding of its 
contents. 
Representative of Texas Woman''s University Date  
249 
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APPENDIX C 
Consent Form: Student Particippaanttss 
250 
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TEXAS W O M A N 'S  U N IV E R S IT Y  
S TU D EN T SUBJECT C O N S E N T TO PA R TIC IPA TE IN  RESEARCH  
The Significance and Role of Touch in Dance Pedagogy: 
Tactile Communication for Aesthetic Development  
iInvesttiigaattoorr: Robin Collen (31 lt0l)4-t79-115523 
Advisor: Penelope Hanstein (9-4tO0) 8S98S--208S77' 
As a participant in the study, lI understand the following to bte..' true: 
Pur:ppoosse and Procedures: 
• [I w ill be involved in a data gathering process, the focus of which will be the ronle of touch 
in teaching dance. 
•  The data gathered during this study will be utilized for the investigator''s dloKctor.ail 
disserrtation, and possiiblly, subsequent publica.ittiioons and presentations. 
•  [I  w ill remain anonymous. 
•  M y conffidenttiiallity will be m.a1iinnttaaiinned throughout the dataJ g,a1tthhering process. 
•  PPaarrtitcicipipaatitoionn i nin t hthisis s sttuuddyy i sis  v\o·olulunntatarryy a anndd I  Im maayy w witihthddraraww a Jt ta .n1nyy  time withloHuJt pen.a1ltv 
• AAnn o offeferr h haass b bet.e'tn.'n  mmaaddee t oto a .n1snwsweer ra all lo off m myy q quuets.-tsitoionnss a Jnndd c coonncceernrnss a Jbboouut tt hthee s -t.utuddvv.  
• I  have been giv\·en a copy of the d.a11tle>d and signed consent form to keep. 
• The inmv·estigator m.a1y Jask me to be interviewed, my p,a1rrtticip.a1ttiion in which is ,c·,o1mpl.e.t,i Tl·.. 
volunta,urvy. M yv dance instructor w ill not be informed ofi .a1nyv discussions bdewtwl'te.'e1n1 thel' 
investigator and mysellf. . 
•  I [w wiill l bbee a .s1kskeedd  toto  ffilill  oouut ta Jnn a annoonnyymmoouuss q quuet.s>tsiotinonna.iiriere. . 
• M yy t timimee i nimvo·olvlveemmeenntt  wwitihth  ththee s sttuuddyy  wwiil ll  bbee c coummppleletetdlyy  uupp  toto  mmee.. 
Risks: 
• One of the possiible risks to my safety is public embarrassment.  
• The investigator \w,;ill maintain my anonymity and will word my, .a1nd other students' 
responses and reactions in such a way that parrttiicuull.a1r commnwents cannot be tr.a1cced bv tlo1 
particular students.  
• M y identity w ill remain anonymous. M y  real name will not be uSste.'dli, .a1nd I  m.a1y be 
referred to in the study by another name. 
• The investigator w ill treat me with respect. 
• M y, and other students' remarks and questtionnaire responses will be organniizzte.'dli 
themattiicallly, amongst all of the student responses from each of the research sites. 
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Thilet.r'reeffore., no faculty member \w,·ill be able to identify the comments as belonging to 
particular students. 
•  To insure th.ait the data from this inv\'estigation is not improperly released., and to 
maintain m\v· priv\'acy., the investigator w ill secure writtten and electronic files (audio and 
video) in her home, in a locked file cabinet, to which onlyv she will ha\v'e access. All 
writtten notes will be burned and audiotaped and videotaped recordings will be eraasst.e>d, 
on or before !M\laarrch I1, 2007. 
•  Upon my request, the inv\'estigator w ill provide me with the opportunity to read 
transcripts of my interviews as well as summaries of non-recorded discussions to ensure 
that I  have not been misquoted or misunderstood. For my own te.>dduuccaattiioonal purposte.'s, 
the investigator w ill provide me with the opportunity to v\'iew  the v\·idte.'Oot.aippt.e>s and re.aid a 
summary of the questtionnaire results., if I  request to do so. 
Potential Benefitts: 
•  II  wiillll  bbeenneffiitt  tthhrroouugghh  ddeev\·eellooppiinngg  aa  hheeiigghhtteenneedd  aawaarreenneessss  ot.1ff  myy  rroollee  a.iss  ,al sttudte•nt., ,amnd  
the rel.a1ttiioonnsship between student lea.irmning and teaching practice. 
•  I., like mamny· dance students., am currenttllvy,. or will in the future become a teacher oulf d,allnltc.:el'- 
lI can apppl~ly; this heightened awarenesss ltlo; my current and /o r future pedagogical 
expertise. 
•  I  may gain a comfort through discussiing, with a dance professional \w,·ho is not associi,alted 
with my learning emnv·ironment,. problems which I  am ha\v·ing in class. 
•  M vy sellff--cesstt.e-em may be enhanced through the invne!sttigator'·s speciial attenti,oin. 
•  Thhiiss  study  willl  allloow  mee  tto contriibbuuttee  tto  tthee  ex,pansion  ofi  tthte.' lliitteerraattuurree  in the tfield. 
•  I1 w iillll  bbee  aaffffoorrddeedd  tthhee  oopporrttuniittyy  ttoo  oobbsserrvvee  aanndd  sspeeaak  wiitthh  aa  ddaanncceerr//  rreessearrccheerr..  Il'h1i:s-- 
situation may provide me with oppto.lrrttuunittiieess for e,xpplloring and qmue>s:-ttiioonniing my artistliKc 
and theorrcettiiic:al studies in w\,·ays w hich would otheenr.w..-iisse nlo1t bte.' a\v·ailablec to nmwe. 
lIf I  have any questions about the research or about my rights as a subject, 1  should ass!,k_ tlhlLe' 
rese.a1rcher. Her phone number is at the top of this form. If I  ha\v'e questions later, or wish to 
report a problem, I  mayv call the re~s.e1arrccher or the Ofiifici:e ofi Rte.>sseeaarrch & Gra,mntts Admiiniisttrr..a1ttiion ,alt 
9-4W0--898-3377. 
The researcher will try to prevent any problem that could h.a1pppen because of this resee,1arr.c.:h. I 
should let the researcher know at once if there is a problem and she w ill hedlp me. lI undte.'rstt.a1nd,. 
however, that TVWVU does not pro\v'ide medical Ssecrv\'ices or financial assistance for injurite.'s that 
might happen because I  am taking part in this research. 
Signature of Participant Date
252 
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 
•  ~Mty informal discussions with the innve.•sstigator will be audiotape recorded., if I  pro,v·ide 
written consent below. Not signing the consent form does not disqualliify me from 
participating in this discussiion. 
•  The purpose for tape recording the interviewss is to provide the investigator with reliable 
data, through a ,v·erbatim transcrript. The crediibiility of the study would be wea.ikened if 
the data was gathered only through writttten nottte.-s and the memory of the investigator.  
• The investigator is the only person who w ill hear the t,alpt.e.'sS. 
• Thhee  aauddiioottaappeess  w iillll  bbee  eerraas~ed,.  oonn  orr  bbeeffoorree  Maarrcchh  1l,,  22000077.. 
• During the discussion I  may refuse to answer anyv qute.'sSttiioons and I(  may terminate the 
discussion at any time. 
• IIff o ouurr d disisccuussssiioonn  isis  aauuddiioottaappeedd,,  I (w wiilll  hhaavvee t thhee o oppppoorrttuunniittyy t too  rreev,·ieieww  aanndd  eeddiitt  tthhee  
transcript of our discussion prior to its us,a1ge as datt.a1 for this study.  
• M y image w ill be rte..c>ocorrddeed 0o,n1 videotape,. while parttiiciip.a1ttiing in technique class., if I  
provide writtten consent below. Not siigning the consent form does not distq,Jualify me 
from participating in this research. 
• The purpose for ,v·ideotaping the classes is to pro,v·ide the investigator with reliable data,. 
through obsenrv·able vidte..o'Otatappees. The crediibiilitvy ofi the study would be weakened ifi thilel' 
data was gathered only through writtten notes and the memory of the investigator. 
•  Thhee  iinnvveessttiiggaattorr  and  tthee  danccee  iinnssttrruuccttoorr  aarree  tthhee  otmnllyy  peeopllee  whhoo  wiillll  llooook  aatt  tthhee  
videotapes, except in the following circumst,aunKce. If the instructor fieelbs that the stu,dfeonttss 
in the videotaped class would find it educattiionallly benedfiiciial to ,v·ie\w,· the tapes., students 
will view them., as well. 
•  Thhee  vidte..o>tvatappeedd re. .- ccoorrddiinnggss  will be  erassed,.  on  orr  bedfore  Ma,mrc:hh  1I,  2007.. 
(I  do herebyv consent to the recording of my voice by Ro,)bin Collen. I  hereby release the Teex,a.bs 
Woman''s University and the undeerrssigigntn.'eCdi partvy acting under the .arunthority of Tex.a.1ss Woma.mn''ss 
Univ ersity from any and all claims arising out of su.c:h audio taping,. audio re.c:ol)rding, 
reproducing, publishing, transmiitting., or exhibiting as is authorized by the Texas Womaan''ss 
University. 
Signature of Participant Date
I do hereby consent to the recording of my image by Robin Collen. I hereby relle.a.1sse the Texas 
Woman''s University and the undersigned party acting under the authority of Texas Womaan''ss 
Univ ersiity from any and all claims arising out of su.c:h videotaping, video recording, reproducing,. 
publishing, transmiitting, or exhibiting as is authorized by the Texas Woman''s University. 
Signature of Participant Date  
253 
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 
I  do not consent to the recording of my ima.ige and I  understand that., if the class is 
videotaped., Robin Collen w ill distort my  image beyvond rte.'cCooggnniittionn through a process known .ais 
"“ifuzz out," as well as make every' effort to angle the camera away from where 1I  am dancing in 
the studio. 
Signature oif Participant Date  
The abo\v'e consent form was read., discussed., and signed in my presence. In myv opinion, the 
person siigning said consent form did so frte.'et'ly  and with ifull knowledge and understanding of its 
contents. 
Representtattii\v·e of Texas Woman''s Universitvy Date  
25-41 
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APPENDIIX D 
Texas \WVoman's Universiity Institu tiioona l Review Board A pp rova l Letter 
255 
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TEXAS W\VOMAN’'S 
U N I V E R S I T Y  
IN STTTmTUm1O10N AL REVIEW BOARD 
P.O.. Boax 4256*19 
DE,:t,aemT, TXX ~76ll2M04--556*19 
~ftc o r  (940) 19*14-3U77n  
Faux:: (940) 1t99f1-3-344116 
•e. -.a..nail: IDJlBD^@hMlwLOeLdt•t 
July 12, 2001 l 
Ms. Robin Collceun 
670 Stailte Highw:aiy 1I 1l-B 
Pcottssdd.-aumn, NY 13676 
Dear Ms. Colllken: 
&Re: The Sigigninficiafnic~e and Role o/fT Toouch in Dance Pedagogy: Tactile Comnmnumnicattiioonn ffor Aesthetic 
Development 
The request for an extension for the above nre:fcenre:oncced study has been nre:viiee-wMe:d by a commiitttieoe: of the 
lIonstituttiionmal Review Board (IRB) and appears lto meet our rcequircemceunts in regard to pro(tCecettiion of 
individuals' rights. 
If applicable, agency applr"Oov\-all kleuttae'rs obtuaiinced should be submitted to the IRB upon receipt prior to any 
cd:abtua collection at that agency. The sig~ned coonsecnut fornmms and an amnnuuaa.1l//final report are to be fiilcle:d with 
the lInstitutionmal Review board at the completion of the study. •· 
This ce.x"1teCnl!sSiiono is valid one year from July 28, 200 1I. Furthernmnore, accoord1ing to HHS nre:gulations, 
aonodthler review by the Committee is required if your project changes. If )y'OoUu khamve: any questions, please 
foeed!  friee to calll the lInsttiittuuttiiooon3a1l Rev\iicew Board at the phoonce nuwmnber liisstted above. 
Sincerely, 
~I
lIonstiitutiioonall Review Board - Denton 
cc Dr. Ridchward Rodean, Departtmceont o f Perfornmning Artts - Dance 
Dr. Pceonelopce H.a1nsttcd:in, D:e:p.aJrrtmcemnt o f Perfornmning Arts - Dance 
Graduate School 
256 
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APPENDIIX E 
Interview Guide: Teacher Participantts 
257 
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Interview Guide for Teacher Participantts 
ODte..s>cscrriibbe your background as a dance student and teacher. 
Did your teachers use touch? When, as a student, were you first a\w,:are of this? 
Tell me about your approach to teaching modem dance. 
How would you describe your current group of students in M~ lodem  Dance class? 
How do the following issues effect your use of touch in your current Modem Dance class? 
The students' experience level 
Your history, or lack of it, with them  
What they ha\v·e been exposed to, regarding touch., partnering, etc. in other classses 
The fact that class lasts 1  hour and 20 minutes, 5 times a w\,·eek (for example)  
The fact that you are (or are not) available for 1  on 1I  meetings outside of class 
What sorts of activities actualllvy Ooc('cCur in vyour class? How would you dte.-ssccribe the class conntent 
and progression? · · 
How would you describe the purpose which touch sernv.e'Ss for you in vyour teaching? 
How does touch effect the learning process of the studenttss?  
Have you discovered certain limittattiioons in the use of toucchh—- when it is appropriate or 
inappropriiaattee—·- and, if so, how would you dte.-sscribe these limiittaattiiolmnss? Consider li1m11iit,a1ttili1o1n1:>; and 
imna1pppnr1oprpi.r1Ltci·t1t'1nct•':s;:s; in two different ways: one being when touch is simply not an effeoctiv\·e choice as 
a tool for  teaching a particular mo\v·ement, quallity, or concept in cl,a1sss; the other being when touch 
is somehow not the right choice in a human-relations or person-to-person realm. 
In what ways do you kfe>el ~gender plays a role in the use of touch in yvour class? 
In your \v·arriilolUuSs .w. ,·ays of using touch in your class, do you, for example, tend to touch the 
students; do they touch you; do they touch each other; dou they uSsec sdelif--touch?  
How  would you descariibe, more specciiffiicallly, the types ofi touch you use? [Refer to number IV on 
the questtiionnaiire.)] 
How do you feell  each of these types of touch function to help or hinder the student? [Refer to 
numbeerr V\' on the questtiionnnaaiirree..}] 
How, if at all, has your participation in this study inflluueenced your use of touch in technique 
class? 
What is the sexual harassment policy at your school, and how, if at all, does that affect your 
behavior as a teacher? 
What is your history at this institution? How would you describe the dance program?  
Is there anything else you would like to say regarding the use of touch as a method for teaching 
and learning dance? 
258 
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APPENDIIX F 
Interviieew Guide: Student Partiicciipanttss 
259 
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lIntenr·viti>ew Guide for Student Participantts 
Please describe yvour background as a dance student.  
D id /d o  Vvolmur teachers use touch? When, as a student., were yvou first aware of this? 
Wh.ait experience, if anyv., have you had teaching dance? · 
How would you dte.>ssccrriibe lM\ta.irry''s approach to te.aiching modem dance-—-from your experience as a 
student in her dcl.aiss., wh.ait is her philosophy about modem dance-—-what''s import.aint to her? 
How \w•,ould you describe the purpose \w'l.hfoich touch serves for you in your learning of danccee--in  
other words., how does touch affect your learning processs? 
I''ve n0oticed that touch is used in \v·arious ways in your class., for example,. Mary sometimess 
touches the students; students also work as partners and touch each other. Il call these "“tloluch 
relationships." H ow  do \v·arious touch relationships affect your learning?  
Regarding other touch relationships., d0ot..e---ss lM\tary e\v·er ask the students to touch her, or does she 
have you use selfi touch to assist you in learning? How do you fieel these work? 
\W\'hen tM-.taary brings the skelletloln into class ,amnd touches it (or when you tlo1uch the skdetle.'ton) how 
does that affect yvour learning? 
How do you fte>el  your cultural., religious, ethnic., or family backgrounds (or anyv other inflluueences) 
contribute to or detract from the eififectiv\·eeneesss of tlo.1uucch as a way for yvou to learn dance? 
Ha,nv-e you discovered certain limittaattiioons in the use ol1fi touch-—-w\,:hhen it is appropriate or 
inapprroopprriaiatete--a.rnd, if so, hmow,; would you describe them? 
In what ways do you feell  gender plays a role in the use ofi touch in your class---meeaning, the fact 
th.ait in tM-.at.irryv''s cla.lss the teacher is ifemale .aind all ofi the students are fiema.ile? 
How would you dte.>ssc.:rriibe, more speecciiffiicallly, any ofi the typte.'Ss of touch which you h.a1v\·e 
experienced in Mary''s class? ![Refer to number IV  on the questtiionnaiire.I]  
How don you ifeel each oif these types oif touch function to help or hinder you as a student?  
[Refer to numbbeerr V\' on the questtiionnaiire.I) 
Has your participation in this study influenced your awarenesss of the use of touch and how it 
functions as a learning tool in your class? If yes, how? 
I would be interested in hearing any other thoughts, feeling, or beliefs you h.aive on the issue of 
touch as a method for learning dance. 
260 
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APPENDIX G 
Student Questionnaire  
261 
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J..m a nuu.aury 21. 19948 
Dance Student of Laurie Sanda 
Department of Health and Human Performance 
Iowa State Universityv 
Ames,,  Iowa  50011 · 
In my experience, many modem dance teachers touch their students to facilittate learning. You may have 
experienced a dance teacher molding her arms around yours, into a dte.'sSiirred shape., or resting his hands on 
your shoulders to ease tensiion. Many teachers are guided by an intuitive sensste.'., a tacit knowing that touch 
works. However, there is a need for expllicit research in this area. The purpose of this study is to uncovwer 
how and why touch works in the teaching of dance, and how it conttrriibuutte.'Ss to student learning. B&e'Ccause., in 
the past few years, the topic of human touch in settings such as sch(o)to)l[s and busiineessSst.e'Ss has become quite 
conttroversiial., this research is parrttiiLc-uullarly pertinent. While some da1t.,ce teachers have chosen to curb their 
use of touch, others refuse to give up what they believe to be an absollutely essenttiial aspect of teaching 
dance. This sttudy involves interviewing and observing dance instructors, as well as interviewing and 
collkle>cetting quLe'sSttiioonnnaire rte.s-sppoonnsses from their students regarding the use of touch in the dance technique 
class. This rte.>sSeeaarrch can ultimately beneffit both the teachers and students of dancte'. 
Laurie is one of only four teachers, at the most, whose entire class will be involved in this study. I  askte"d 
Laurie to participate bte.'cCaauuse, knowing her background as 1I  do., I  felt that her expertise as a te,aicher would 
provide invaluable data for  this sttudy. She has consented to participate bte.'cCaauussec she belliieevvt.e>s in the merit of 
this research. Your participation in completing this questtiionnnn.a1ire is completely vrnolluntary. However,. your 
opinions are extremely important to this sttudy. In order that the rte.'sSuulltts will truly represent the thinking of 
Larnurie''s students., it is important th..a1t  each questtiionnaire be completed ,amnd returned. 
You may be assured of complete conffidenttiiallity. The qute.-ssttiioonnnaire has an identification number for m a..1 iilliinng 
(or handiing--in) purrpooSste.'Ss only. This is so that I may chte.'Cck your name oHff of the list when your questionnaire 
is retturrnnt.e-d. Your name will never be placed on the questtionnaire. Laurie will see the .c:ompleted analysis uof 
the qute.'sStionnaaiirrte.'Ss, however., she will never be able to tra.Kce any information gained from the qute.>ssttiioonn a..1 iirres-. 
back to individual students. 
The results of this rte."sSeeaarrch will be documented in mvy Doctoral Disserrtt.a.ittion, from Tex.a.is Wonmaan''ss 
University. You may receive .a.1  summary of the rte.-ssulitts of the questio,mnna. 1. irre by writing "copy of rte.'sSuulltts 
rte.-qute.-s-stteed" on the back of the return envelope, and printing your name and addrrt.e>sss below it. Or, if yvou 
plan to personallly hand me your 4qute.-ssttiioonnaire while I  am at Iowa State University,. you may also hand mel' a 
paper with the s.aime inform .a.1 tion. Please do not put this information on the qute.-ssttiioonnaire itself. 
Please read the questtiionnaire as soon as possiible so that you may ponder the questions during your cd.l.aiss.."s'-e..s., 
in the next couple of weeks. I  would prefer that you do not fill out the qute.'sSttiioonnnaire now and immediately 
hand it in., but rather, notice what trannssppiritr.-e-s in the next few classes before filliing it out. Please return the 
questtiionnaire to me in the envelope provided, during your class on Monday, February 9th. If this is not 
possiible, please maiil it to me by the end of February,. in the emnv·eclope provided. 1I  will be in Amte.>ss through 
February 11th. 
I would be most happy to answer any questions you might have. Please write or call. While in Amte.>ss I  can 
be reached at: (515)) 2233-0939. My permanent addrrte.-sss is: 1707 Miiddvale Ave. Los Angellte.'Ss, CA 90024; (310) 
479-1523. 
Thank you for your assiisttance. 
Sincerely, 
Robin Collen 
Doctoral Camndidate 
262 
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Studte'nlt QuesttiionnJa1ire 
(\N=-4ln) 
(Note: Some respondents left qu~e,sstionns una.inswerne,dJ .) 
I. In generrall., do you feedl your abiillity to le.aim d.aince is inc.:rreea.isseedJ or d~e-c.r:reea.issed thnm>ugh th<e'  u..s-;e olt touch min 
lt~e-c.h:hnniiqquue dc.liass.<s;? 
(Cirrcdle the Number oif YVour Answer)  
I1. Sttronglly increaa..s-;ed (n=32) 
22.. M ild ly  incre.a.issed (n=121) 
3. Neither inc.:rreea.issed or decre.aised t(n=O0) 
-4I. M ild ly  deccrree.1a..s-e;edJ ((1n1== 1I)) 
5. Stronglyr decrea.issedJ (n=O0) 
II. H ,o)w fret'lq{uuently does your tle.aicher use the fiollowimng touch rell.aJtionsh1ips imn yrnour dcl.a1sss.s?' 
I1. M ultip lee ltimes during e.aich cla.is.s, 
2..  Appruoxiim,a1tely ,omne ltime durning eJach cla.is.s, 
3. IInn  moorree  tthhaJnn  hhaJllfi t thhee c clla.1s.s.sesess 
4~-. IInn  le!esss. ,t thhaJnn h ha.1l1ff  ththee c clal.siss.exs-s 
5. Ne\v"er 
(Circle the Numbers oif VYonur Answerr})  
A. Tohte> te.aicher touches the sttudce>nntsb I <n=:2:!V9) 2 (tn=7)l J3 t1 n=3J>) -4I 1(nu=n) 53  l(nu = I1) 
B. TIh1e te.aicher touches her/ himssedltf I1 1(nn==3J.lSl) 2< (n=-4I}) 3 <(n=i lI)J -4i <(nn=2)l 'si t(nn=iIl )I 
C. Stude,•nntbs touch the tet'a,tceher I1 t(n=O0) 2 <(n=31) J3 1(n=.-3~|, -4I tn=2-4t)l :s:;  (<n=l1l0l) 
D. Students touch e.aich ,o)tther  I1  (n=Il lI) 2<(n=1l<0l) J3 l(nn==lll i  4-t <(nn=3J)I 'si1in<-2!) 
E. Sttudte>nntbs touch thermnsell\v"ees I1  (nc=:2-4\) 2 4tn0= 1IJ3>) 3 l(!n!=5)l -4t <(nn=3JI) :3:; 1(n -|l)  
IIlIl. HH,o,ww  wwoouulldd  ~y·ouu  rr.Jalte' t e'Jacchh  ooif  tthht-e,,see  #"ttloluchh  rreel.lJatit,i1onsshh1ipss""  .iass  tthhee\"v  lufuncnllc<t1io11n  toto  te>nhluann.:cee  1v·,o, urr  llee.iamrnmin;:g  1inn  1l,e•dv1 h11 m1, o!" ti'e'  
dcl.a.1sss?' 
I1. Excedllent  
:2:!. Guood 
)3. F.aiir 
-4t. Poor 
5. Not appllicable: Not used 
(Cirdt' the Numbers oif YVonur Answer) 
A. Teacher touching Student 1  (n=3)3) ) 2 ((nn=S) 3 l(n=2) -4t (n = l)  5(n=l)  
B. Teacher touching Sellf  I1 (n=Ull>l) 2 (n=21I)  3( 1<1n=1l2) -4t t(n=J3>) 5 t(nn==O0) 
C. Stud,emnt to,,uchinig; T et'achte'r l1 (n=6n) 2( (nn==>94) 3 (<nn==1l2) -4t ((n=-4t}) 5 t(n£1==I1J3}) 
D. Sttudte'fnlt touchjing~ Student  I1 (n=1l7)  2(n=1l7)  3 (n=7) -4I (n=-41) 5 t(n=l)  
E. Sturident touching Sellfi I1 ((1n1==27) 2 (1n1=1 16) J3((n=l)  -4t (n=2) 5 (n=O0) 
263 
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IV . WWhhkihc hw worodrsd sbt .b>est sdt td'SeCsrcibrieb eth teh ety tpy,,p-se so fo tfo tuocuhc hlh tJhta Jt raer eu su.-sde di ni nn iyuoru dr .cilsass.s J, nadn dth tehier idr ieeftf:e!c ot no nv oyuoru lre l.eiamrinningg! ?
I1.. Ha.is a posittiivwe edff..e..c:t o,mn my lea.irmning  
:—!. Ha.s,; no effect o,,n my 1le.-a.irmniinng  
J3. IHfa.is .a1 ne~g.iattiive effect on mv leaJmrning  
-4I. Not .alpplica.ible bte.>cca.Juusse it is not us.e.-.d.f in cdlJass 
(Circle the Numbers of Y'four Answer)  
A. Surrounding or mollding .airound Ja  d.aimnc:er's body  l1( o<n=-22'V1) 2 (n=ll l1) 3J (n=O0) 4-l ((n0==-141) 
8B. T,o1uuching bonn~y· la.indm.airrlk-.s I (n=-410) 2 <(n=3J) J3 (Qn=Il)  4-1 ((0u=32)l 
C. Tr.aicing .al p.ai thw.aJy I1 (n=-410) 2 (on=l)  J3 (n= Il)  4-l<(n0=-141) 
D. Holding  I (no=3J5) 2 (<nu==5) J3 <(0n==1I)  4-I ((n=-41) 
E. Guiiding an area of the bto.ld~y· I1 (un=-4121) 2 (n0=3) 3 (n=0ll1) -4I  (no=O0)l 
F. Sttroking  II  ((n==2M'11) 2< <nn=7)l 3J ((n=3J)I 4-l (foi=0h)  
G. Massaging I (n=J3O0) 2 <(nn==1l0ll)l 3  (n= Il)  4-1 (<0n=5)\ 
H. Jiiggling I1 (no=23J) 2  (qn==l -141) 3J <(nn==ll)l 4-I (no=S) 
I1.. SimulttaJneouslly touching two ,a1rreeaJs o f the bodyv I <(Qn=3b6) 2  (<nn==5)i 3J (n= l1) 4-I (<0n=.311) 
JJ. Adjusting or re.ailil!ig-,n'lliing body parrtt-s; I (n=4-U3)I 2<( n=Il)  3J <(n=O0) 4-1  <(nn==2)l 
K. Prroviding resistance to a motion  I1 (no=-412) 2<(0n=t0J)I J3  <(n=O0)I 4-l ((n0==-141) 
L. Supporrtting a body are.aJ such as the he.aid or Ile~g I1 (Qn=-415) 2 <(n0=O0) 3 (n0=O0)I -4I (on=UII 
M. lP' ressming I1 (n=33) 2 ((n=S) J3 (Qn=0ll) 4-1  <(0n=51) 
N. Rocking or Rollling Ja  body JareaJ I1 <n=3J3J) 2((Qn=oflij J3  <(n=2>) -4I  <(Qn = s'i)l 
O. Sh.aiking I (n=23J) 2 <(nn = lW4)  3J  (<n=-41>) 4-1  (<nn=51) 
P. Tugging or Pullling  I1 (n=J3-41) 2  (<nn=51) 3J <(nn== 1l)l 4-I (Qn=thi) 
Q. Ma.inipula.ititng  I1 (1n1==J34'l)l 2 <(n=3J> 3  (n= l1) 4-l <(n=3J)I 
R. PTlea.is.~e list ,.Lis,; m,amny others as you -c.amn think orf. 
(You mavy wconnttiinue this list ,omn the b.aick paJge.) 
•  Yanking 3J (ln = l)  
•  lP' ushming for m,oimentum  2 1(n=l)  
•  Lifttiinng//w eeight tra.insfier I1  (<nn = ll1)  
• Lying on floor (a.iwaarreeneess o f parts oif body  1l ((n=l)  
touching floor) 
•  Tapping bony (la.Jnnddmarks I1 (n=l)  
•  Liftting enttire body off the floor; le.aining on  I1 (n = l)  
somte.'Oone for support 
•  Another student doing any o f the above to me 2 (n=l)  
•  Me duoing any oif the abovwe to another student  -2 (on=l)  
•  Unsskkilil.l.e'ld.i touch 3 ((0n==1I)  
• Poking, i.e. causiing the body to re.aJct in a reflex I ((Dn==1l)  
th.ait can lead to a d,amnce move 
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V. To wh.ait dte.-cgrreee d0ote.'Ss the imncdlusioun of touch in y~-oouur modermn du.ince tet'Cchhniiqut.e cdl.aJSsSs 
contribute to or dte'ltra,Kct from your le.airmning in the v\"a.Jrriio,mus a.1rre.a1s liisstteed bed,lo1w? 
l1.. Sttmronn)!g;ly contrnibutteess 
2. M ild lhy· contribbuutteess 
3. Neithe~r contributtees or dte'ltra.icts 
-4I. lMl.liilld lhv- d.e-tra.icttss 
5. Sttron~gly detra.ictss 
(Cirrcdle the Number of Your Ans.,wer)  
A. Understanding .ain.aitomical prriinciplees  l1 ((nn=31)/ 2(n=l3l 3 ((.nn== Ill) 4-l (n=t0l)l 5 /(nn==tlo) 
8B. Underrstt.aJnding mo\v"eement qu.ai littiiees or dvyn.aimicss 1I (n=2.5) 2 (n=I ISS) 3 1(n= Il)  4-I (<nn= 1I) 5 (n=O0) 
C. Abiility to tuL.s<;et>  ima.igery to .a:iss.ssist your 1I (n=2\0l) 2 (n=IlS)  3  (n=7) 4 1|nn=0ll)l 5 (Cnn==0ll)l 
performa.ince of movem.e-nt 
D. OD.e.veloping .a1  posiitive rapport w ith 1I (n=Ll6h)  2(n=l-O 3 /(n=1t:2!)I 4-t 1(n=3J)  5  (lna==O1)) 
your tea.c:her 
E. ODe..vwelloping .a1 possiittiiv.e- ra.ipport w ith  othte'r 1I  (Qn=UI S) 2 C(nn=lD3\I 3 (n=l3)  4-t <n=l)  5 (Un=""0tl) 
sttudeennLts in the class 
F. Rle'Ccepltiiviity to your ltel•a.iccher''s insstrtur.u::1c1t,i1o1n1.ss 1I (tn=22.S~)l 2C<n=^'i)l 3J l(nn==·4O) 4-1  (Cnn==22)l 35 (n=t0l) 
G. Perrce;p,ltivene.-ss to the .aiclti\i"viiltii<e'Ss min  dcl.ai.s,s 1I  (n = 2h) 2 1(qn=1I3J)l 3J  (ln=-41) 4-I (.n!J=.=22) 5 (ln==O0}) 
H. Awaarreeneess uoif .ailiiggnnmentl 1I  (.n!J=.=3]‘'4i) 2 1(n=35)l 3.l (.n!J.= lI)} 4-1 (ln=Olt) 5 (Un=0ll) 
I1.. Awaarreeneess of ten.sion in thet' body  1I (Qn=3.l6hJ) 2 (Qn=5) 3J (l.n!J=.=3J) -I (.!J.=11 53 (.n!J=.=00) 
,J.. Aw.airreenn<e.'SsSs of spp.1atti.i1aIl uonrieennt.t1att1ion 1I  (tn=2-4l)t 2 <an= lr3n) 3J (ln==-14}) 4-1 (/n = Il)J :3; (.n!J=.=O01l 
K. Abiilliitty  hto)  dclee.airrlly  ,o,bsernv;e  1I (.n!J=.=2221) 2 lfnn =l 1:"7l) 3J (l.n!J=.=fhi) 4-1 l(n=0tl) 35 (ln=t0l)  
L. Abiilityv tuo b.aila.mnce 1I  (.n!J=.=224-I)J 2 (ln= =l -I41) 3.1 (tn=-4l)l 4-I (l.n!J=.= 111) :3; (n=IdI) 
IMI.I. :A\\w,·aarreeneess oif bre.aithing  l( n(n==221I)  2  (<nn=2l1>l)l 3J 1l !n]=-4IJ| 4-l (fnl=0ll) :3; (ln=t1>1) 
N. Awa.irreenneess ,o, f the thret'te'-dimensii,o,n.ai l tI( Cn=n=223J)l 2<n = l153l| 13 <In==:7")| 4-l tin=til)  35 (n=tdl) 
n.a1tture of movement 
0O. Awa.irreenneess oif thet' site oif movemernlt min1ittiwat1io,mn 1I (n=31I) 2( .(!nJ. = l1-14) 3J (!n]=tlt}) 4-I (l.n!J=.=l)}) :3; (.n!J=.=t1>1) 
rP.. Awa.irreenneess oif inward .ain d /o r outward  1I  (.n!J=.=310.I}) 2 (.n!J.=1fi1)) 3J t(n=n6)l 4-I (tn= l)  3:; (!n]=0Il)l 
Q. PPlelea.sisee l ilsist ta ass m maannyy o oththeersrs a ass y >o·ouu  cca.nin t hthininkk o of.i. 
(You ma~y· continue this list on the b.a1c.:k page.) 
• D0e..vveelloopp a awwaarerenneesss o off o owwnn b booddyy  l(I n(n==l )I) 
• AAbbiillitiyty  ttoo c coommuunnicicaatete w wiitthh  moovveemmeenntt  1 I ((nn== 1l)  
through sellf-touch 
• AAwwaarertn'neesss o of( r reeaaliissttiicc  ggooaallss,, b bootthh s spatia.lllllyy  aanndd  1 I ((nn=lI)) 
physiicallly 
265 
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4 *
IS
II
rn
II II
Cl a
C l C l
VI. HHooww  wwoouuldld  ~y·ouu  pprtr>elfle'rr y yoouurr t teecchhnniiqquuee l t>eJacchht>er rt too J addddrreessss  tthhee  i.I,sssuuee o off u ussmingg o o(f t toouucchh  iinn d cJlasss?? 
(Ciirrdctl.>e One Number)  
I1. Diiss<c.--uUsSsS the ideeaJ o fi touch,. aJnd itls fun<c.tiioonns,. w ith the entire cdlJass aJIt tht.e> b~eigninniinng o,,tf th•e· qu,a1rrtteer  
(semestterr). (n=28)  
2. DDisisccuus.s,s  tthhee  Iissssuuee  pprriivvaatteel!y\ ·w wiithth  mmee..  ((nn==0l)l) 
3. DDeemmoonnssttrraatete t thhee  uus.-e;.. ,o ofl t toouucchh o onn s sttuuddecnntsls w wiithth  wwhho,>mm  tthhte.>  teteaJcchheerr  is aJllrte>aJdvy faJmiiliaJr., Jand wwhhoo a Jrret' 
crnomffortaJble w ith touch,. before touching nmwe. (n=:2!) · 
4. IInnccoorrppoorraattee  ttoouucchh  iinnttoo  tlhet>  tleeaJchingi;  oott  tthhee  cdlaJsSss  wiitthhoouutt  ddiissc. .."u ls.Jssiningg  iitt  aJsS  aJ  sSetp'fa'JrraJttel ' iLss,suet>..  ((nn='o-1)) 
5. (I don·'t haJve aJOn opinion. (n=3) 
6..  Othte>rr  ((eexpllaJinn)):: 
• A  ccombiinrautiioonn  of(  #1I  aand  ##3  aabo.wvte>..  (n=2)
• Spend  aJ daJy  sessio0n  disscussing  touch  witthh  thee  cdl.aLs,s,  a.mndp  prarJcctitciciningg d dififlellr'ret>nnt tk kinidnds so ot lt otouucdh1 w witihth  the 
grmoup so students leaJm how tou.c::h c-aan bt.e> most etflfectti\v·e. (n=l)
• # 44,,  ab.o.wvee,.  butt  dis.-c.cuussss  ttoucch  pri\v'Jalt>eIlVy  wiitthh  aJn  voonnee  i1ss  who  un.c::oomfortaJ bllte>  wiitthh  iitt..  (n = 1)
V II. InIn t hthet> s pspacJec cb betl.o>lwow, ,p plelea.s1eS ld' dets-csrcirbieb et hteh ew wavJy i nin w whhici.h.-h v voouur rte !<a•c.hKehre ra .d1dJdrrees..s,;et_d> Jt htehl 'i sissuuet> o ot iu ussinmgi ;t otouuc.h.-h i nm v Voullrur 
ctla1sss.- . .;?? 
• AAss i nin # #44. .a abboov\e'e. . (<nn==77)) 
• NNeevveerr a adddres.s-.e..d-d  it, but  aJ lways ...  aJs"k-.ss pemrm1iss1ioon beforee  to,,u.c.-hhiinngi;. (n.! !== ll)) 
• DDisi.c...u..s-us,-esded  totou1c1dh1  wwitihth e ennttiriere c dlaJssss a .ti i bbeeggininnniningg o ot lq quua.1rrttet>rr a .nmdd s ,auid i fi ia Jnnyvoonnee f eteltl l uunnc. .o.· 1m1mfotortrat.b1blel, · wwi1th1h 
touch to pleeaJse addnre.•sss it w ith the instructor. <(n = Ililtl)  
• AAss  inin  it# 1I..  aJbovet>. . ((nn== I II)) 
• TThhee  iinnssttrruuc. ..-t toorr  sstta.irrtke.d.!  tthhee  qquaJ rltte>rr b byy  ffrreeqquueentl Iyv  uussiinngg  s,e,dlfl -tho ,uuc..h-h, . a.inndd  aJddret•s,s,sinmgg  tthhee  im1ppoorrtta.1n1cKee  .liltl  
touch; this was folllomwne,dJ by (aJ) studentt- tt,o1 -ssttuudent htotuch .aKctt1iv\·1ittiie.-ss,. (b) the instructour'·s dte•nmworbnlsr.t1rat1t1io1n 
o,,tf 1to,1uuc,·h with onet' sttuddte>ntl in front ot the dcl.a1ss., Jand k(c) thlwe inrbstruc ...· to.,r"'s mov\'ement thronuig;ho,,ut thte> 
studio,. instructing sttudenntt-s; in hto>uuch. fn = I )
• Thhee  iinnssttrruuccttoorr  iinnccoorrppoorraatte.-ss  iitt  iinnttoo  cdla.bss;  tthheen  tthlwe  iinnssttrruc,·ttoorr  diisscus.s.xe'sS  i1t1  w'hillee  ssttuuddeennLlss  aJret•  ex~pplloorninngg 
it. (.n!!=l()) 
• A  ccoombiinnaattiioonn  ooff  #1l aJnndd  ##33, , aabboovvee. . (n= I) 
V III. InIn y yoouurr o oppininioionn i sis y yoouurr t eteaJcchheerr s seennssiittivivee t oto y yoouurr n neeeeddss a Jnndd  fef eelilninggss a JsS a J  ssttuuddeennt tw whheenn s shhee o orr h hee t otouucchhets-s y no,uu i nin 
the context of teaJ ching daJncoe! techniiqquuee?' 
(Circle Number of VYour Answer), 
l1. AAlwlwa}a·sy sy eyse s(n (=n3=13)1 ) 2. 2.U UsusJulalyll yy eyse s(n (=n=l3 1)3 ) 3. Someettiimte"Ss (n=2) 4. Allmnwost nevvte>r (.n!!==0ll) 5. Never (.n!!-=00)) 
266 
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Questions IX, X,  ,a1nd XI pcerrltJjin lto your experiences with aJny aJnd a,11l1l daJnce cloals5sses you haJve toa1kkeen, from any teacher, 
not only lto the particular modem d,a1nnce class we have been discussiing, so far. 
IX. WhaJ t st.aitement best inmdlicca.ittees pyo>ur personruall feelling towa.irds being touchte'\.dI during a.iny dJ.aince cdl.aiss-—tht.h1a1t Iis. 
when touch is used .ais .ain .aiidJ to le.airmning? (TInhis dote.'Ss not .aipply to the pa.irttnenng th.ait re~guul.lairrlly .oxc·curs in 
b.ai llmroom d.aince, follk..  d.aince, orc coonntt.aict imprmov·iis.a1tiolmn.)  
(Circle Number of Your Answer)  
l1. I ll ilkile,.e i ti t vwerny· m muucchh. . ((n!=l=2277)) 
2..  I Il ilkikee i tt it oto a J  mmooddeerra.tiete d detg'vr;eree. . (!!=( 1n6=) lh )
3. I Ia amm n neeuuttrra.il.l .( (nn== I I)) T Thhisis r ret'sSpf"o->nns.-e;e w wa.sis g giviveenn w witihth t hthee q <ujUalJiflicfiac.titoionn t htha.ti ti ti td deeppeennddss o onn t hthee t etea.cichheer r 
whether or not the student sece,s; the te.aicher's touch a.1s,- intimida.itiinng.  
-4t. I Im miildldlyly d Jiissllikihe• i ti.t . ((n!l==0O)) 
5. I Ih ha.view a Jnn e exxtrteremmee d diis.-l;ilkile,.e  o,,ft itt. . (n=(On=) 0)
X.  In your opinion, h.a1ve \y'lolUu te.•vver bte'te-n touched in.a1ppproupria.itec lyv byv aJ teaJcher during aJnvy da.mnce cdlJass,s->? 
(Ciirdctl.e• Number olt Your :A\ n,s, wte.•r) 
I1.. Yes (t!j!=l122)) 
2. No (n=34)
XI. Iif you .a1n11s.w-.weerne-d "Ye..,s, .". to number XI, whaJ t words bte.'SsIt dte.-sscnribte.· the n.aiture ofi the 
inruapprroprrii.ailtte'nte.'sSsS?' 
(Ciirdctl.e• Number ((-s;)) o"f' Yollur :A\n,s,w\ne•r)  
I1.. Thte.• 1te.-a.Kcher tInrite...d.! tIoll onve•rr- strectch me. (£1=7)
2. The teacher manipulated me in a physically painful way. <n=7)
3. [MPleeaJSset. •d det.s'Sccrriibbet. •a .sis m maJnny\ ·o oththeersrs a .sis y yoouu c ca.nm t hthininkk o ltl.l. 
• OOnne,•  tetea.ci,hheerr  I Ih ha.1dd  ulLs'e-itd't. l tIon h hiitt o ouurr  lel,g~ss w witihth a J  sstti.c.-kk  it, t wwe, ·w wet.r'er<n'n't' t pprrouppe<r'rlyly  tuturmnet..d..!  oouutt. . AAnnooththeerr t e1a.-c.ihcheerr 
lI ltrwadJ., wh,o1 wa.is m.aile., put hii.-s;  haJnd bethwne,e·n the topp o"t' mvy thiglhiss t,o1 get me to Ss<qjuUet.e't'zLec m\y· 1le.-ggss 
together, without .aisking first. (n=I1) 
• TThhee  tleea.Kchheerr  thomucchet'\d.I  myy  bboodJy}  bbet>foforere  leletttiningg  mmee k 1n,.on,w,w  hhe.- wWaJsS  ggooiningg t oto. . ItI t feidltt  lilkikee m myy b bot.u,unndJa.iriie..s-s  
were crrooSsSst.e...d! w ithout ~asI-kming. (!n!= Il)  
• TThhee  tteea.icchheerr  mrraunipu!laJ tte'\d.I  myy  bbo.!dt.yly  wiiththoouutt  tteellliningg  mee  hhoow  tloo  hheellpp  hhiimm,, o orr w whhaJtt  hhee  waass d dooiinngg..  TThhiLs'i  uLs'i 
frtuLs-t;trra.itting  .aind haJ rd to lea.irmn from. (!n!=Il) 
• AA  tetea.cichheerr h ha.sis  ppuusshet'\d.I  mmet.•  totooo h ha.irrdd, ,s sttrreettcchhiningg m mee. ,a .nindd  ppreressssiningg s soo h ha.ridrJ o onn m myy b booddyy t htha..1t1 m my yh ihpip 
popppte'\.dI. (!n!=It) 
• AA t eteaacchheerr h hiit,t .s sla!Jppppeedd, •a .nindd k kicickkeedd  mmee. . ((n! !== l )I) 
•  Myy t teea.cichheer rddidid  nno,1t1  ttoouucchh  mme< ' lolonngg e ennoouugghh, .o orr f firimrmllyy e .n-noouugghh. . ((nn== 1l)) 
• Ml\.yly  tteea.icchheerr  ppuusshet.-dd  mee b ba.cikd . a .cicrorusss  tthhee  rroooomm w whheenn  I Iw wa.sis d dooiningg a .1  ccoombbiinna.ittioiunn  ininccoorrreeccttllyy. . (n!!== I1) 
• Ml\.yly  tteeaJcchheerr t trrieitd'd  ttoo b bet>aatt  myy  bbooddyy  iinnttoo  tthhee r rigighhtt  ppoossiittioionn b byy  hhiitttiningg m myy  aarrmmss a .inndd  leleggss..  (n!!== 1I) 
267 
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XII. rPileeaJ.s.'iet' dJe~srcirbibe yoursellf. 
A. WVVhh.1.it i.s-;  your gender? 
I. FemaJle (.n!!=-J12) 
22.. MI\.IaJle l(.0n=-41)) 
B. Whluat li.-s; your present Jage? 
1I. Under 20 yeaJrs old (.n!!=1 Il0l)  
22.. 20-25 (0!!=3J0u) 
3. 26-30 (.0!!=2)) 
-4I. 31-35 (<.n=2>) 
5. over 35 (.!!=2) 
C. How wouldJ you d,e-scribe vyour etthniiciity or race?! 
Cat ucJasiaJn or Whitte  (.n!!==33) 
AsiaJn//Chiinesste> ((.0!!== 1I))  
Ml\.elex,ic.:an (n!!= Il) 
AsiaJn Amermic:a.mn (n.!=!= I ) 
Ca.uuuc:a.issiiaJnn /  AlIaJsskaJn Na.ittiivwe (n!!= I ) 
AsiaJn ((.0!!=2))  
Sp,amnish /B 8aJs.q.1ue (<.n! != lI)) 
1I 1his~pa.1nmic ((.0!!= I1)) 
D. 1H-foow lkomn~g haJve vou s~tudied JdJancne,’' PTut Jan "X " on thlwe ,a1pprnoi pnr.i1a1tet' linne to shto1w le,·n~gth ot time in each styl
less tha. . mn  I1 nyr. 1I -■ 3 ynrs. J3 - 5 yrs. m,o1re tha. .1 n 5 vrs. 
modern  ((0.!!=6)) l<n = IIS) ((0!! =1'I)) ((o!!==HII)) 
ballet Il n=d·O)  l(n=-41) <(0n=5) ((0.!!=2^'1)) 
jIaJZzZz (.0!!=7)) (0!! =1'I )  (0.!!=8) (0.!!= 13) 
taJp (.0!!=2-41) (n=7) (.0!!=0) (.0n=7) 
intermnJattiional folk (.0!!=218l) (0n=7)l (.0!!=0) ((0.!!==1I)) 
bJalllroom  (.0!!=31) <(0n=3) (.0!!=0 ) ((0.!!=0)) 
Afrriiccaan  (.0!!=28) ((.0!!==«8)) ((0!!= I1)) (.0!!=O0) 
contaJct improv\·iissaJtion (.0!!=25) (.f!l!==bo)l ((!n!=-4I)) (0.!!=2) 
other (pleaJSse naJme) 
•  CheerleaJding ((0.!!==1I)) 
•Clogging ((0.!!==1I)) 
•H ip  Hop ((0!!=DI) 
•Gymnnaasstticks  ((0!!= 1I)) 
•  Improvissation  ((0!!= 1I)) ((0!!= 1I)) 
•  Renaissance (0!!= I1) 
•Chiin.nest.e- Follk DaJnce ((0.!!==1I)) 
•  Bellly Dancing ((0!!= 1I)) 
•  Acrobatics (0.!!=1I ) 
X III. Ibs  there anything else you would like to writte which might Jassiist in the understanding o f howiv touch may be 
luLs-e;edJ in daJnce technique class to promote student leaJmrning? Plea.ise w ritte as much or JaSs little as you wissh. 
268 
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cITI
3
APPENDIIX H 
Sample of Field Notes w ith  M ottiif Descrription  
269 
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Phenomenollogical Revisitation: M ay 31,, 11999 (reviewing videotape) 
Mary Seereiter's class: November 12, 1997 
Mary speaks rhythmicallly, fully demonsttrating, using a cailrmn voice. She uses such words as 
"wide awake" "wrap" "mellt"” "pussh""—-oobbvviiouslly she is looking for quallity. She is rhythmically 
clear. She says, "Fill the back space" and watching her move I see that she gives texture to the 
space. Mary touches Lee on the shoullder, and the touch, as well as the words, asks her to sit on 
the floor so she can be assiistted. M ary  uses sellf-touch to explain to the class what she 
demonstrated with Lee; she taps her own shoulder saying, "It'’s upper body strength." The 
students seem like cubs and M ary is the mother bear. The cubs are experimenting and M ary is 
watching and teaching them how to walk. There is much laughter throughout class, from Mary  
and primariily 2 of the 4 students present. M ary picks a smalll element out of the whole of a 
combination and clarifies what it is and then the class dances the combination in its entirety. 
Mary stays in front and guides them through 2 times, and then she walks around and verbally 
encourages: She is teaching babies to walk. 
M otif with written descrriiption: (Mooveement is a prone, upper body push, cobfrra-action.) 
mvYoV..a,-.r0-^ \'s  ~ h"h..o.,occ.hes i~V~'-axf.a.,vdA--·')i 'o•c.~ li1^hj~i'y ;/;i(''l(d!,i°rree..cil'- ·• 1 
[ )  sS ~U   ~S o -5^ 5   ,f   .• Y ~ $  *'r~S  »~ mr W,JJOc K'\  mr y ot el"rle!...   ,·t\ '°"'""ol nt\oO- *.1. .■,." 
I rAarvj sV*-ot«S \  shew U«<5, $  re«_ I S oddejrt j
 V  \ ijtvt-
TY\W4.r:h:, p\i,aQcuts one. MIryxNrd. on s~haded>'3 ~ ~'-•rYlt.t"l <Wvre4t.  ocne..  OoWn\ 
~ 11.1""~ spine.. ~rlh .Stl1W\-' //dieir.ce..c1t- ~IJ<Y). . 5sh~«~-  s~ ~, 
I ''G,o a.V\\ -"\V\.cWa.. ~ ~-h(\ofou^'lhr\ -\-. e.f\.,,.,.__ ~ o.W~uW\1~ls.. 
- ---( "'4' 1 , 1,, obJ "ac'-ro"s's'  s \--,,I"'1 ' I 'jop .a..c.tf:c. --- ~« >1 ,,n-, /j (;-...... 
-f . _________ rNV \Wotnj a S.sSsi~S - V¼*   ca ,y.*~. i! "*   ... ~ _s.~M\ e.\~...r ao.d 1i '.wW\\ ,;• r I|  S5 h~i  S~a}i,)  /.'. Pp.«.,y')h~ do,-.r."v' w~'Jtr\u,\Wt.. .'1~'t",IL (!..omij ' f -· '  -—S1n(cI .it'l8 // aaddotJaQttfclCin,ljf/lls/sfrtroonrif,//  ddi ,rreecc-..tt rt'\o.,j ""'HS. ~ rls;i G.t"411. r-t.tf"~~-~ ,v,..ae
i Wau\a-rt <t ryH'ftS S~~~•n5s« r» al<rA.;~ ree)f.nVt'«
.~ 
Cl~ t1-L*ix, r^. She
y   MfYWo>̂,j  Qaa.6J~woa.ln'loai-S5  ~ ~t\\..S v,MVt"hO°  ssW~tie!nr'rVt  'sS ~:~'rtc,z... r ~~ \JS,C..S 0... ~¥"•,/ti~ p~}n Ot' e\'t,-~~-I Slro- sV"o^j^d'y»od-  pojh e n  e\lpv**S.Nl£j erico11t"o.o/~ s~d,..« +. s~-CCl<.ir'.) /,id,re.~/Crc.t.. 
emco'irays S{\—caruir^
270 
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1
Vita, 2002 
Robin Collen, M ..S., C .M..A .  
27 Ham ilton Street 
Potsdam, N Y  13676 
(315) 265-0758 
(315) 267-2233 (W) 
colllIenrl@potssdam.edu  
Education:  
Ph..D. 19994--lp-preresseenntt  Teexxaass  W\Voomma,nm's's  Unniiv\e'errssiittyy  ((TW\VU))  ((Da,nmccee))..  Expectted date  of  
completion., December., 2002 (Deffeense sdc1heduled for I1O0/1 11 /02 ).  
C..1M\1..A . 1199S888  Ceerrttiiffiieedd  Laabba,mn  Momve·emmeenntt  Annaallyysstt;;  Seattttlle., \WVA 
lM\t.S. 1199S84-l  UUnnivi\e-errssiittyy  ooff O rreeggoonn  ((DDaanncie:e)) 
B.A. 1976  UUnniviveerrssiittyy  ooff O rreeggoonn  ((DDa,nmcie:e)) 
Academic and Professional Appointtmentts:  
1998-present St,a1te Univne!rsity of New York., Potsdd,amm1., Dep,a1rrttment of Dance and Dra, mia.i; 
Viissiting Assist.amnt ProffeessLso1r (three years)., currently Assist.amnt Proffte:>ssssor of 
lM\todern Dance., Ballet., Jazz., IM\IoLvweemet:nt Theory and NoLtlatattiio0n, Da,mnce ,ais an Art 
Form (Hiisstory/A pppprreecdiation)., Composiition,. Pilates--B,a1ssed Da,mnce 
Conditioning., Anatomy, New Repertory. 
199S8 IoILwl\av, 1S Stattaet eU Unnivievresristiyty - - -GGuuesets tt etaecahcheer ra anndd p peerfroformrmere.r. 
(19999-4t--1(997  TTexexasas W Woommanan's's U Unnivi\e·ersrsitiytv 
Graduu,1a1te Tea.c.:hing Assist:amnt 
Teacher of Re.c.:ord for nLomn--major courses in B,a1llllet, lM\lodern Da,mn.c.:e, Ballroom 
Da,mnce., and Da,mn.c.:e Appredc,ia1tion. 
Teacher of Re.c.:ord for majjLo)r courses in lM\lodern Da,rn.c.:e, Pila,1tetess--bbaassed Dance 
Conditioning., and gr,a1du,a1tte le\v·el Lab,amn lM\lovement Analysis. 
Assist.amnt to F,aKctuilty Dirrector of Program of Pila.itteess-based Da,mnce Conditioning ·-· 
de\v'eloped and implemented program., scheduled stt,1aff and students., organized 
stt,a1ff development workshops, m,a1iinnttaaiinned student ,amnd sttafff records, fa.lcdilitated 
development of assessment program.  
199-4l Center for Shakespeare Studies, Southern Oregon University, Ashland  
Part-timee  Instructor of Renaissaann..c:e Daannccee ·-· middle sccl1h0oLo)Il and high school 
students. 
1993 Ml\foovveement Analyssis Consultant to doctor.aiil music student  
(Therrt:e>ees Tkach Hibb,a1rrd., D .lM\t.A .) -- Tlh1ei:  LIkfjec loit"f ,M\flo1Pvle'IImICe:1n1t/ ,a1s~ a1n1 I/1n1sjtfrnuictti,io11nwa l 
Tedc1h1n1iq1u1el' i1n1 Chlwomral Redhtte' ar;s;al(sj. · 
1993 Oaakk S Sttrreeeett  Daannccee  SSttuuddiioo,,  Asshhllaanndd,,  Orreeggoonn 
Part-time lM\toodern Dance Instructor. 
1992 Wililal,m1metettete  UUnnivi\e'errssiittyy, .S Saalelemm, .O ORR 
Guest Instructor, Worksshop in Laban lM\tovement Analysis. 
1992 Weessteterrnn O Orereggoonn S Sttaatete C Cocl.lleieggee 
Guest Instructor., M odem  Dance Partnering. 
1990-1992 Orreeggoonn S Shhaakkeessppeeaarree  FFeessttiivvaall,.  Asshhlla,1nndd,,  ORR 
Company classes in lM\tooddeermn Da,mnce for Green Show Dancers. 
1990 SSoouutthheerrnn O rreeggoonn S Sttaattee C Coolleleggee,.  Asshhllaanndd,,  ORR 
P,aurt-time Modern Dance Instructor. 
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 
2 
1990 University of \WVa,1sshhiinnggtton, Seattle  
Assistant Instructor to Peggy Hackneyr. Expfloorri1in1gs Y1o11u1rr A rticu la tet' Bodyy .. 
19S88S-19S89 Thhee  Ceenntteerr  Forr  Exxeerrcciissee  and  Daannccee,,  IIssssaaquaah,,  W A  
Part-time Instructor of Modern Dance and J,a1zz. 
198S-4i-19S7 Unniivveerrssiittyy o off O rreeggoonn,,  Euuggeennee 
Full-time Viissiting Instructor of M~tol)ddern Dance, Ballet, J,a1zz, Tap, Pedagogy, 
B,a1lllrrooom Da,rnce, Choreography, Folk Da,rnce, M~lovement for the Actor, 
Careers in Da,rnce. 
Academic Adv\'issor to Da,rnce M~tiinnors. 
Produceerr //Director of Concert Da,rnce Theatre. 
Residency Coordinator for guest artists. 
Advissor for Student Dance Boa,urd.  
~M!eember of Da,rnce Dep,a1rrttmeent Undergrr,ahd.iua,ltte Curriculum Committee.  
Summer Session Coordinatlo)r.  
Dirrector of Student Performing Tour. 
1981-1984 Unniivne~rrssiittyy  ooff O rreeggoonn,,  EEuuggeennee 
Gr,a1dduuate Teaching Fellow 
Tea.Kcher of Record for non--m.a1jo,)r cCol)LulrrsSte.'sS in BUalllledt, M~to'-d,deern Da.rnce, Ballroom 
Da,rnce, and Tap Da.rnce. 
Performance Companiies: 
l1 '9N9l0l-19092 Orreeggoonn  Sh,a1kkespee,1arte.•  Feesstiv\·aall,,  Asshhlla,rnndd 
Green Show Da.rnncer (three seasons) -- performed Eng~liissh Country Da,rnnce, 
lIt,a1li.a1n Court D,a1n11cce of the R1e.•nna,1iiss,1a1n1cCet.', a,1n11dd Mt\ho1rrrriiss D.a1n1Kcte.•;; included ch.a1rra,cKtekr 
speaking roles. 
F,1a1l1l, 1991 M~Ia.riryy  M~tiillelerr  Da,1nnccee  Coomppa.nmyy 
Pittsburgh, PA 
Dancer 
Pittsburgh B,a1l1lleet Th1e.a•attrre. 
19S85 Coouuntterpol)iinntt  Daannccee  Ennsseemmblbek,  SSuussa,rnn  M~clcFFaaddddeenn,,  Dirireeccttoorr 
Eugene, Oregon 
Dancer and Chorree<o.g)grraapphher 
Artists-in-the-Schlo)lo)ls Programs in Lane County, Oregon.  
197S8-19S81 Maarryy  M ililelerr  Daannccee C oommppaannyy 
Eugene, OR 
Dancer, Choreogrr,a1pher, ,arnd Company M~laanagement Dutiieess 
Five member company which performed concerts and lecture demonsttrr,a1ttiioonss in 
schools, uni\v·ersities, art g,a1llleerriiees, churches, and outdoor settings. 
1973-1975 DDolb)brree  FFoollkk  EEnnsseembbllee, , UUnnivi\e'errssiittyy o off O Orreeg<o.n)n, , EEuuggeennee 
Toured Oregon and Washington -- performed suites from Rumania, M~lexico, 
Hungary, The Ukraine, lIsraedl, Croatia, and North America.  
Choreography and Performance: 
Currently ch<o.rme.o•oggrarapphhiing 12-minute modem dance work (Viv\·,a1lldi) for 6 student dancers. 
Perform,arnce: NoOv\·eember, 2002, Faculty Da,rnce Concert, College Theatre.  
"C.a1bbaaret" Co-Choreogra,tphed with Don Borsh. Coll,a1bor,a1ttiiv\'e musiicc,1aIl theatre production witth 
Dance and Drama, and Cra.mne Opera and Orchestra; Ml\la.ly 2l0ll012, College The,a1ttrre. 
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permiissiion. 
3 
"Ta.mnggone" Co-Chorreographed and Performed with Bruce Brownlee. Score includes Tom 
Lehrer''s M/l.fa,1s:;odc1hiji1s1m1 T,1a1n1g1o1.  "Shooting Gallery" Performance. Choreography by and 
performed with Don Borsh. Department of Dance and Dram.aJ, S..U.N.Y. Potsdam, 
!M\laarrch, 2001. 
"Birds" Co-Choreographed ~w,-iitth N'ola Rocco. Play by Ariissttophanes, directed by Kimberly 
Bouchard. Department of Dance and Drama, S..U..N.Y. Potsdam, A pril,. 2000. 
"L.a1 Ronde" Choreography. Pl.aiy by Arthur Schniitzler, directed by Miicchael Willsson.  
Department of Da.mnce and Dra, m,a, S.U.N'..Y. Potsdam., Nomv ember., 1999. 
"Duet" Choreography. Performa,mnce with Don Borsh. "S,a1yiing Goodbye . . .  Remembering" 
Chto1rreeoogrraphy. Perrffoornrm1t.e'\d.i by students. Depa.urtment of Dance and Drama F,aKctuilty 
Concert, S..U.N.Y. Potsdd.a1m, lM\la,1rrcch,. 1999. 
"The Unicom, the Gorgon and the lM\la.1nnttiiccoorre" Perforrm,amnccee--role of The Counttess.  
Choreography by Don Borsh. Operr,a1 by Gia,mn Ca1rlkol tM\lenotti., Crane 5S'c: hto1ol of :M\lusic, 
S..U.N.Y. Potsdam, Nov\· ember, 199S8. 
"Twedlfith Night" Choretolgraphy ,amnd movement coach. S..U.N.Y. Potsdd.amm1, Octlolber, 199S. 
"Shedldon Hears the tM\laatting C allll"” Performance. Choretolgraphy by lM\l.a1rrtta Lichlyter.  
Re-chlol rte.'oOggrraapphed two earlier works: "In for Obsenrv·,altion" & "Testing the W\\'ater" 
\WVhitearl'e·,'*- tiht<e· St1tu1diiLo1? D1o1cft1oirna1/l St1tu1dte'1n1t C1o11n1c(1e°rrtt, Tex,a1s \W\'oman''s Univ\·ersit\y·,  
Denton, 1997i; lIow,a1 St,a1tte Univ\'ersiitt}y', 199S. · 
Ex, cerpt from"Suite #2 X  3" Performa.mnce. Choreography by lM\larta Lichlyter. Studio Concert, 
Tex,a1s Woman''s Univ\'ersity, Denton, 1995. 
"Da,mncing Through Dre,a1mttiime" Performance. Choreogrr,a1phy by tM\la,1rrgge lM\l,a11d.d.iduux. Da,mnce ,amnd 
Storytelling inspired by Na,1ttiive North\w,·eesst lM\lytths. Slo1uutthern Oregon State College. 
Ashland, 1992 and 1993. 
"Te:s-ting the Water" Performa,mnce ,amnd Chorreeto1gr,a1phy. ,A\ 3 minute Ssolllo -—- original musical 
SscCollre by Edward Giv\'ens. C1arpte.>nntteer H,a1IlIl CornKcLe'rrtls ,arnd The Da.1eeda,1lluuss Prmoject AIDS 
HBel.n'nefiit, Oregon Sh,a1kkeesspea.ure Festit\i'v,1a1l, 1992. 
"In For Obsenr·v,a1tion" Choreoggrr.a1phy. A 12 minute sollo1 for  a d,arncerr / aactto1r, using mo,v·ement, 
sound, and tex, t. Cai rpenter H,1a1l1l Concerts, Oregolmn Sh,a1kespe,a1re Fesstit\i'v,1a1l, 1991. 
"A Ta,rnngled Web We \W\'e,awve" Performance. Choreographvy by Bruce Brownlee.  .A-\ 12 minute 
duet on and around a 12 foot di,a1meetter spiiddLe'r web. Caurppeenttte'r H.1a1l1l Concerts, Oregon 
Shakespeare Festtii\v'al, 1991. 
"The B.a1ttttle of Tancredi and Clorind,a1" Choreography ,arnd Perform,arnce w ith Bruce Brownlee. 
lM\lontenv~erdi opera -—- invLo)lhv·eed d.a1nce a.mnd swoNrd fighting. C.a1rrppeentter H.1a1l1l Concerts, 
Oregon Shakkte.>ssppeeaare Fesstitviv,1a1l,. 1991. 
"The Permanence of Change" Choreography and Perform,arnce. A 6 miinuuttt.>e qu.aurtet to V\'to1Lc"at1li/is;;e1· 
by Rachmaniinofff. Carpenter H,a1IlIl Concerts, Oregon Sh.a1kkeesspeare Fe6stiti,v· all., 1990. 
"The Wind,. Patience, and Contentment" Performance. Choreography by Donna (Bra,mndstrom) 
Hunt. Carpenter Hall Concerts, Oregon Shakespea.ure Festtii,v·al,. 1990. 
"Can't A--Lleave Her" Performa,mnce. Choreography by Bruce Brownnlkee. Carpenter Hall 
Concerts., Oregon Sh,a1kkeesspecare Festtii,v·al,. 1990 
"Keepers of the Void" Performance. Choreography by John Leistner. App,a1llaacchiiaan clogging. 
Carpenter Hall Concerts, Oregon Shakespeare Festtiival., 1990. 
"Tomfoolery" Choreography. A musical revnu1e of the songs of Tom Lehnre~r. Ev\·erett (W A) 
Community College, 1990. 
"Negro Spirituals" Performance. (Cr1r1ut"c~i;fiixili1o1n1 Ssotllo). Choreography by Helen Tamiris,  
Reconstruction by Peggy Hackney. Faculty Dance Concert. Unii\v"eLr'rssity of \WVaasshington, 
Se,a1tttle, 1990. 
"Dre,a1m Recurring" Perfforrm,amnccle.'. Chorrte.>ooggrraapphy by lM\liicchael S. Geiger. Fa,Kculty Da,rnnce Concert. 
Univ\'ersityv of Washington, Se,a1ttllle.', 1990. 
"The Am,a1zzon Alll-:SSttaarrs" Choreoggrr,a1phvy. An original musiicc,1aIl rcnomle.'dy by Calrrlol lyn Ga.,ge ,a,nd 
Sue Carney. Ashland, Oregon, 1990. 
"Incantation and Dance" Performance. Choreto)graphy by Gail Gustt,a1ffsson. Women in the Arttss 
Festival Da.rnnce Concert. Seattle, \WVA, 19S89. 
"The Sh,a1kkeerrss" Performance. Choreography by Doris Humphrey,. Reconstruction by Peggy 
Ha,1cekknnevy. Faculty Da,mnce Concert. Univ\'ersity of Washington., Seattle, 19S9. 
"The Tragedy of Tragedies - or the Life and De.a1tth of Tom Thumb the Great" Choreogrr,a1phy.  
A play by Henry Fielding. Drama students,. Univrersity of Washington., Seattle, 19S89. 
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 
4
"Fanshen" Choreography. A pll,a1y by Da.nv·id Hare. Students from the Professional Actor 
Training Program, University of Washington, Seattle, 19S89. 
"Animal Farm" (Muussical Adaptation). Choreography. Dram.a1 students,. University of 
Washington, Se,atttle, 19S8S8. 
"Line" Choreography. A plavy by Israel Horowitz. Dram.a1 students. University of 
Washington, Seattle, 19S8S8. 
"Songs Witthout Words" and "Ff rom The Inner W orld" Performa,mnce. Choreography by Eric 
Johnson. Wa,1sshhiinngtton H.1a1l1l Performance Gallery, Seattle, 19S8S8. 
"~Mlir,a1gge" and "Letting Go" Choreography. "S,a1rriinnaaggara" and "Contrapuntal Journey." 
Performance. Choreography by J,amncet Det.s'Sccuuttner. Western Oregon fInstitute For Artts In 
Educatilomn. Hult Center, Eugene, OR., Jully., 19S7i. "1M\.ilriaraggee" abls<o) performed and 
adjudic,alted at Nortthwest Region.aiil Americ,arn College Dance Festival, Univ\·ersity of 
M~lontana, Febru.atry,. 19S86. 
Production Work: 
St,a1ge M~la.tn.a1gger, Faculty Da.mnce Concert,. University ouf Oregon,. 19S83. 
Publicatiioonss/Preessentatiions:  
Public.:a,lttiioonss: 
Collen, KR. ( 199S8). Rceppnr1odd11ucctit,i1o1n1., R,e·Lc'mre1aflt,i,o1n1., amnd( Cnro•ia1t it,o1n1-1C--hCo/tr,,er,o·,g,:,r:ar,p1phletar ,a11n1d.f  R,euc1o1n1sjftrrucctt,o1r,. J/1u1d iittlh1 
Kmcn1n1cdiy/: Tlhrre,·ec  Dte'Lc°Laldce;,s; ,o f H ijsf,t1orri,i·c,1a!l 0D,1a1n1ct"et' at tihre Orrt'e:,:g,1o1n1 Shlr,a,kte':s;p,e·,arr,e· fFr:e;stit,i·v,1a!l. Proceedings of 
the Da,mnce Hisstoryv Schola.urs Conference, l1 99S. 
Collen,. R. (1 997). Ul/llnLc'Lolv,'te'rrii1n1gs Pae:;r,s11o1nLa1!l Pcedd.1a:g,:,o1gs!ict: The Cto11n1g:,r:ruue,·1n1cce,· !BJte'f.tcw•ce,·e1n1 Sce{{l,f1 a1n1d Ac,·tio,mn. 
Procele.'diinngs of the 30th Annuu,1a1l Mt\leeeting onf thel' Congnr.e>sss on Rel'sSea,mrc:h in Da,rnnce. 
CnollllLe·n,. R. (1 l 9lJS9). The Applic,a1ttiion of L1abb,1a1n1 1M\!olv)veemmeent :A\n,a1llyyssiiss tLol Clh1ol1rreeoLg)grraapph the 
DOr.a1ma.1ttiic Tex, t ollfi the Pll.a1y F,a11n1s,;h/r,e·1n1. Unpubliisshed Certiitfiic,a1ttiolmn Project,. 
L1ab,1a1n1//B Ba.ritretennieidff Institute of ~MIoLv1\e·emmeent Studies. 
Coll lken., R. lt ll9 9S84). P.a1ss.a1ge .... Byv Our O w n Efforts: A Choreoggrr,a1phic Plo1rtr,a1it Based On Oral 
History. Unpubliisshed 1M\la.1sstteerrss Thesis., University or Oregon. 
Prte.'sSet.n'ntta,1titoinnnss: 
(In preparation) "Da.1nncciing Sh.a1kespe.a1re: A  Few Basics of Renaiss.amnce Da,rnce" and "~Mfomv·eement 
Possiibiilitiees for Character Dev\·edlopment: Practical ,a1ppplic,a1ttiioon of Rudolf Laban''ss 
Theories" Two Workshopp//prreesseennt,t1attiito.mnss at CODE (Council of Dram.a1 and Da,mnce in 
Educ,a1tion) (Can.a1ddiian organiization); Nov\'ember 1-3, Bronckville,,  Ontariio.. 
"1M\lot.v1\e·emmeennt in the Chlo1rral Rehearsal" W\Voorrkksshop/preseenntt,a1tion with Professsor Rebecca Reames, 
Viirrginia Mr..utussic Educators Assuoccii.a1tion, Novne~mber., ~2001. 
"Ta,Kctile Pedagogyv-The Use of Touch in Teaching Pilates--B.a1ssed Conditioning" Worksshop. 
Da,incing in ~Mtilllleennnium, Washington DC, Jully., 20l0K0l (presented with H,a1lley Hoss). 
"Reproductiolmn, Recre,altion, and Cre,a1ttiioon-C-Chholr)ereooggrraapphher ,amnd Recotmnstructor, Judith Kennedy: 
Three Dec.a1ddees of Historical Dance ,a1t the Oregon Shakesppee,a1re Festi\v'al" 
Lecture, with Judith Kennedy. Society of Da,rnnce Hisstory Scholars, Eugene, Oregon,. 
June, 199S8. 
"Uncov\'ering Personal Pedagogy: The Congruence Between Self and Action" Lecturre//rM..otovveemeent 
Worksshop. The 30th Annual lM\teeeting of the Congrreesss on Rese.atrch in Da.mnce: Daimncet·., 
C ultu re  &l;. A rt-iM\f.lakki1in1g  BIJLe'/hu1a;v:.•iiol1rr. Tucson, Arizona,. Octoberr//lN'\ov\·eember, 1997i. 
"The The<o1rreettiiccal ,arnd Pracctitcic.1a1l Application of Ilm.a1ggeery and Touch .ais Ped,a1gogical Toolss for 
Da.rnncce" (Co--pprreessented with Ml\ta,1rrtta Lichlyter). Lecture/Momv·eement Worksshop. Tihte,· 
fFoouurrttlht Di1a1n1ccet· Sdceie1n1ccel' maned Sl1o1iuma1tiiLc°s Co1n1fefaremnce. Clevne~land, Ohio, Februarvy, 1997. 
"Efaxpplloring Dyn.amm1iiccs and Mov\'ement Qu.a1l1ititiiees Through Style An,a1llyyssiis To Enh-a,mnce Pedagogical 
Range" National Da,rnce Association Conference: 1WVeai:v1ii1n1g D,allnlLc°et' i1n1tfto1 Lte•ia1mrni1in1g: 
Ret·alitite·,s;,. iM\lyi/ttlht:s-,. a1n1d Dragoun:s-. lM\liinnnneeapolis, tM-.lN , October, 1996. 
"The Diveerrsse Applic,a1ttiioonnss of L1abb.1a1n1 ~Mlov\'ement Analysis: A Ped,a1gogical Tomoll for Da,rnnce ,amnd 
Sport" P,arnel Presentation. N.a1t1iioon.a1l Da,tnce Associiation, Atla.rnta, April,. 1996. 
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 
5 
"Enha,mncing Ped,a1gogical Range Through Style Analysis" Poster Presentation, Rte'ste'aarrcc/1h Day:*;. 
Texas Woman''s Universitvy., lM\faarrch, 1996. 
"Da,mnce Conditioning B,a1st.e>d on th~e Theories of Joseph Pil,a1ttees" A master class for students 
from lM\lukogaaw,a1 Women''s University. Texas Woman''s University., lM\la,1rrcch, 1996. 
"Le,a1rrnniing Culture Through Da,mnce Reconstruction: An Inttroduction to Doris Humphrey''s Thftet' 
Shhaakkeer:r,*;." Panel preseenntt,a1tion on Doris Hum phrey. The Southwest/Texas Popuull,a1r 
Culture Associatiovn and The Southwest/Texas Ameriic,a1n Culture Assoccii,a1tion. Tulsa, 
OK,. February., 1996. 
"lM\lol1ddeerrn Da,mnce Technique Based on the Principles of Labb,1a1n1 lM\loveement Analysis" lM\la,1sstter Cla,1sss. 
S'o-)uutthhweesst Regional American College Da,mnce Fesstit\i·v,1a1l. Southwest Texas St,a1tte 
Univ\-eersity, San lM\tarrcos, 1995. 
Service (Depa,urtmental, College, and Professional Organizations):  
Ch,a1ir, SUNY Plo1tsd,a1m Facultvy Senate''s Student Affaaiirrss Committee, F,1a1l1l  2L0l002. 
lM\lemmbb1.e.•r of SUNY Potsdd,1am Fa:,culty ~Senn.latte's Student Afffaaiirrs Clo1mmiittttee,. F,1a1l1l 2t0l01-prr'-e>sseent. 
Fellonw, Residence Life, SUNY Potsdam, Fall 2002. . 
.A-\d1.vhi·sisonr for Dance Ensemble, the Da,mnce Program''s student org,amniizz.a1tio,mn. 
lM\lemmbb1.e.•r lo)f SUNY Potsdam Academic Sta.mndards Committee, F,1a1l1l 20tk0l1l-present. 
Dance a'd-hv·iissor to Paul Siskind (Cra.mne Fa,,culty) on Bulgarian flollk d,arnce and rhythms,. Fall, :2w00o1t. 
Libr,a1ry Acquisitions Dep,a1rrttment Liaison, S..U .N. Y. Potsdam, 199S8-20l0l2. 
Ch.a1ir, Se,amrc:h Committee, Adjunct Da,mnce Instructor, S..U.N.Y. Potsdd,1am., 20tl0ll1l. 
lM\ tember of Byr l.anwvs Revision Committee ,a1t L,a1ba,1nn/B 8a,1rtretennieidff Institute for lM\ IoLvn e·ement Studies, 
2001-'.pprreessent. 
lM\leember, Dep,a1rrttment Se.a1rch Committee: Design and Technical The.alter .A-\rrtts Educ,altor. 
S..U.N.Y. Potsdd,1am, :2!0O0l1li. 
lM\leember of Student Affairrs Committee, S..U.N.Y. Potsdam, 2t0l01. 
Org,amniizz,lattinionn,1a1l Assist.amnt for Guest Artist; lP'<e.r.'froiorrmer,. Amerii.c.:an lIdenttitiitLie'Ss F1e.s.•tsitvivaal,. 
S..U.N.Y. Potsdd,1am, 20L0I1I. 
Rehee,1ars,1al Dir1e..c•cttoor for guest choreographer, Ridc1h,a1rd Haism,a1. S..U..N.Y £P\o1tsd.a1m, 2001. 
Guest Tea.Kcher, Cra.ine School of lM\lusic Ccollnlldduucting students, S..U.N.Y. Pobtsdd.1am, 2000-2001. 
Currrii.c.:uullum de\v·elopment/re,v·ising Dr.a1m,a1 lM\l.a1jjor, S..U.N.Y. Plo1ttssdam, 1999-2t0l01. 
lM\teember, Se,amrc:h Committee, E. J. Noble Outreach Intternship, S..U.N.Y. [P\olttssdd,1am, :2w0o0o0. 
Dep,a1rrttmeent of Da,mnce and Dr,a1m,a1 Reprrte.>sseennttaattiv\'e, Fa,Kculty Assemblly, S..CU..!N\:.Y Plo1ttssdam, 1999- 
2000 
Dte.>ppa.irrtmte.>nnt Colo1rdin,a1ttor, Amte.>rricica.in College Dance Festi\v'al, S..U.N.Y. Potsdd.1am, 1999, 2000, 20ll0ll1l. 
Rehh1.e.•a,1rrs,a1l Dirrector for guest choreoggrr,a1pher, lM\taatthew  J.arncze\w\'ski, S..U..N.Y Potsdam, 1999. 
1M\1a.nrnuussccrriipt Re\v·iewer, Na,1ttiioonal Da,mnce Assoccii.a1tion, Nov\'ember, 199b. 
Teacher, Annuu.1a1l High School Da,rnce Symposium, Teex,as Woomnuan's Uniiv,· ersity, 1995-1996. 
Adjudic,altonr for d.aince technique class pl,a1ceeement, Teex,as W\\'oma.mn''s Uniiv\· ersity, 199-4l-1997. 
Writtiing Tutorials for lM\ta,1sstteerr''s Degree students, Teex,as Woma,rn''s Univ\·ersity, 199-4l-1997. 
Choreography Consultant for University and community chorr1eco>gorgarapphheerrs., 199-41--1997. 
Da.mnce Conditioning Committee, Texas Woman''s University, 199-41--1997. 
Certiiffiiccattiioonss:  
lL.ab.arnot.aition Te a.icher''s Certif fiicca,1tte 
lIntermedi.aite Laba,mnotation Certifiiccate 
Elementaryv Laba,rnotation Certifiiccate 
L,a1b.a1n lM\ho1v~e·emmeent An.a1llyyssis Certifiiccate 
Physii.c.:a.ilmind Institute, The iM\ferftfhttoid inspired byv the fittness techniques and le'quipment 
dev\· eklo1ped by Joseph H. Pil,a1ttes. 
Profeessional Traiiniing:  
lM\ todern Da.rnce: Laurie Sandd,a1 
Mary Willlliiffoorrdd--SShhaade 
Gayle Zia,1kkss 
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6 
Juanita Suarez 
Ed Groff 
B,a1[l,a1  Saras\v'at;  
lM\tary Milllleer  
Teachers at the Nikol,a1iiss/L Loouuiiss Dance Studio  
Ballet: Adriieenne Fisk 
Ha,mnnah Wileyv 
Susan Zadofff(  
Joan Lazaruss 
Andre Tremaine 
Natalie Claire  
J,a1zz and Tap: lM\la.ltt lM\taattttox 
J,arnet Del.s~cCuuttnner 
lntt''1l fFoollk Da,rnnce: Linda He,a1rrn 
Ren.a1iissssa,mnce Da,rnnce: Judith Kennedy  
Choreography: J,arnet Descutner 
Penelope Ha,rnnsstein  
Laban lM\lolnv·eement An,a1llyvssiis., Labanoott,a1tion, Bartteeniiedfft Fund,a1mentt,a1llss: 
· Peggyv Ha,Kckney., Ed Groff, C1arrool-l-LLyynnenle\lMllOoro1r..e•. Pam Schick, Janet 
Descutner,. Penelope Ha,mnstein, Va,1l1a,ruiiet' \W\'iilllii,arnm1:s-,. Odette Blum 
Aesthetics, History: J,amnice LaPointe-Crump 
Caroline (Shelll) Caine  
Pedagogy: Janet Descutner 
G,a1yle Ziak ss 
Fittneesss: Eliza,1bbeetth Jlolnle.~s lBfoswell 
(Pila,1tetess--bbaassed) Adrienne Fisk 
Joyce Yagerline  
W\ \'o rksshops: 
\W\'/hi,1at Camn )Y't1o1u1r LTEC nDo, fFor )Y\1o1u1? fFoorrum, SUNY Pots .d.i .alm, lM\la,mrc:h,. :2!0ll0tl2. 
E.fffJet·ccttiv,·ec Tte-1a1cd1hi1in1g,.. :fFo1r  iM\1u11lt/itpipllec lL.te',mar1ni1in1g Styty!<le':s;, St. Lawrence University, 1999. 
Gte.'fttti1in1gs 5S1ta,irt.e·d ,o11n1 A::s=s::=e.•s,;,s;1m11e.•1n1t/:: Co1n1cne·pt,s; and Sttrr,a11te.-gie.•,s; Ffoir [I1m11pprno1v,•i1n1gs  Tceaa.-clihi1in1g a1n1d Lte·,mar1ni1in1g 
lte.>dd by Dr. Stephen Sharkey oft Alvemrno College,. 1999, S..U.N.Y. Ploltsd,a1m. 
\WV,1o1m11<e·1n1,. ,M\lt-e1n1 a1n1d Coll,e·sg•e· Tte",aidc1hi1in1g: D~ifif]eLr·ermnt R1idi/ec:s;J fLo1r thli,e· 5S,allmllet' CG,1a1m11ec? Dr. Sheilba Tobi,alSs, 
Plen.a1ry Session Speaker, 199S8, S..U..N.Y. Potsdam. 
Cnr:e,1atit1i1n:g,: .M\fte'tlt1h,o1do,1l!otigy,. Re,·s,;ecarcdh, a,s; F1u11n1dd,a11m11ec1n1tta,1l A rtt--AM"1akki1in1g,. Karen Bond and Andrew  
lM\loooriissh. The 30th Annual Meeting of the Congreesss on Research in Da,mnce: Da,rnnce,. 
Culture & Art-lM\la,1kkiinng 8Beelh1avior. Tucson, Arizon,a1,. Octoberr//NOov\·eember,. 1997. 
M/l.la/.k:ii1n1gs  Ctol/nltt.a,ct: The L1a11n1g:,:u11a,1ggee to f Tuo1u1cdh1.,  Ed Groff and Donna Sttiirttoonn--GGl.llasshhLolWw at 
The 30th Annual lM\leeecting of the Congrreesss on Research in Da,rnnce: Da,HnKce, Culture & Art- 
1M\laakkiinng 1B3eehha,lv\'ioMr. Tucson, Arizona, October/November, 1997. 
S,1o1m11a.1titcics::=-b-l1as;;ecd dc,l1a;s;::s=e.·~s presented by Glleennna Batson., Susan M . Bauer, Bill Ev\·a,mns., 
Sus,arn Haigler-Robles, Donn.a, Krasnow & Vera Orlock at The Fourth Da,mnc(e Scdieen.c:e ,amnd 
Somatic.:ss Conference. Cleveland, Ohio, Februarvy,. 1997. 
CaetrUtifiicattiiLolnll IW Vo,1rrk/.:s:;h/iot1p i1n1 Thet' "AMlethlwod" i1n1s~ppirine·d hbyt t/het'  Jfiit1n1ets•;s:; tcedchmniiqqute·~s ,a11n1dd te'<qpu1iipp1m11te•1n1t/ 
d,r·vPet'liotipecd hbyt flo,1s::=ecpph H. Pila,1tet6s. Elizaabeth Jones Boswedll (Summer, 1996)., Houston, TX .. 
L1a1l'tw11i1ot1t/aati,i1o1n1 Tce,a1cdh1ear Caetriftiicfi,c1atitt1io1n1. Odette Bluum ,, Summer, 1996, Tex,as W\Voomaan''s Univ\·ersity\'. 
AMlotiddecrmn 0D.1a1n1ccet· Tte·cchh1n1iq1u1e,· ,ai1n1d Parrt1tn1eari1in1g. Art Bridgma,mn ,amnd ~Mlym a Pa.c:ker, Summer, 1996,: 
Texas Woma,rn''ss University. 
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 
7 
Clh1to1nre.·Lo1g:,r:nazp/h1y ta11n1d  .M\fu:s;ic  -— A  CLo1llllai1bh1orr,1attfioo1n1. Ma.urk Taylor with Carl Finch,. dirne.'. \ c'.ttor of Br,anv•ec 
Cto11m11b[o,t1 .,  Summer, 1995, Tex,a1s Woman'’s Univ\·ersityv. 
Stt,a1gle· Co1m11bha1t. Chris Vill,a1,. 199:2!, Oregon Shakespeare Festi\v'al,. Ashland.  
:A-kctiot1n11 Tlhzecatlret'.  Ruth Zaporah., 1991, Berkeley,. CA. 
lM\laaster Classses Taken During Last Ten Yeearrs: 
,M\fto1dea1rn1 0D,aIInILc°et' Tte-de1l1n1tihqj1u1e,·: Sara Pea,urson and Patrik Widrig,. :2!00:2! S..U..lN\:.Y. Plo1ts .d.i am. . 
.M\ f,o,,dfte-rmn D,1a1n1c ••e •  Tte-dc1h1n1iqu11et'':. Richa,urd Ha,1iissma, W20O01! S.U.N.Y. Plo1ttssdam. 
,M\f,o, dae1r1n 0D.1a1n1cce.· Tte·dc1h1n1iq1u1e,·: Limon Dance Compp,1a1n1y; Janis Brenner,. 1999 S.U.N\: .Y. Pr,o,ttssdd,1am. 
,M\ fot,,v'Le'lmll1e'1n1t  ,amnd \V ·o,1c,a1/l /I1m11pprto1,v•ii:s,;,a1tii,o11n1, Christian S\w,·eenson,. 199S8 S.U.N. Y. Ploltstsd,d1a11m1 .. 
.M\ l,1odae1r1n ODia11n1cce,· Tte·dc1h1n1iiq1u1e.·.,  lM\latthew J,a,nczewski., 199S8 S.U.N.Y. Potsdd,a1m. 
Pila,1tet,s·:--b-hashe·d C.>o1n1diitti,i1o1n1ii1n1g,: 1a1n11dd  SccLo1lfiito,:s;i:i:s=. Jililil,i1a1n1 Hessel., 1997 D,a1lllla,1ss, Te x,,a,s.  
,M\II1ulltti-iC-G,·1e1ni·er,1rati,t1io11n.a1!l  D,a11n1c.~e·-. Amy  Dlo1wlliinng,,  1996  Tex,,a1s  W\\'lo1m,a,n':'s.;  Univ\"eerrssity.. 
R,e0Lc"ol'lnl:s-ltrruudci1tin1,g: 8B1i/l!1lu1 tlhze fK.:id.  Patrikce \WVhiittte:>sSidide, 1995 Teex,as W\\'oma,,n''s Uninv~ersiitt\y". 
B.a1l/llet't. Ronn Guiidd.i, Artistic Dirte.'c\'.ttor of Oakla,,nd B,a,llllte..'tt, 1995 Tex,,a1s W\\'oma.mn''s LU1niv\ersiit\y·. 
6B1u1tt.o1/h1..  J,o1,amn  L,a1,a1gt.e.'  (199-4t  ,a,nd 1996)..  Tex,as Woma,mn''s Uni\v·te..r'rssiitty.. · 
Coursses Qualified to Teach: 
tM\hoidern Da,mnce •- Beginning through Adlfvranced  
B,a1l1lleet - Beginning and lIntermeddii,a1tte  
Jauzz -• Beginning and lIntteerrmm'-e<di,a1tte 
T,a1p - B'e-•ggiinnnniing 
LBi,1a IlIl rlo1,o1m Da,mnCcel' 
Rie:-n,a1isss,1a1nKct.e.' Da,mnce 
lImpr,owvis,aitio,mn  
Da,mnce Composition  
Dirrecting Sttudd'-e•nt Chlworeography Projet'cts 
L1ab,aHn1ollta,1ttiio,mn 
Lab.ain lM\llo1v\·emte..'nt Analy\·ssiss 
Ba rteni ti.e.' iff Fu nd,a1 ment t,a1 iIs 
Pil l,alt t.e.'s- Baasst.e.'d Cond i tiolmn i ng 
Da,mncet' Apprrte..'cia,1ttiiolmn 
Da,,nce Pedagogy 
Dance History 
DaJnCcte.' Criticissm 
Da,mnce Aesthetics 
Dance Ped,a1gogy 
An,a1tkomm1y /K Kinineessiiolllloogy for Da,rnnce 
lM\lovie:-mmeent for the Actor  
Meembersshipss in Professiional Organizatiioons:  
La1b,a1n1/1B/8a.r1tretennieidff Institute of tM\lov\·eement Studiess 
Congresss lolln1 Rese.a1rch in Da,mnce 
Plhwvsiic.aill~Mlind Institute 
lM\ko;dus Humanus  
Awards and Honors: 
Tex,,a,s Woman''s Uni\v·'e-•rrssity Programs in Da,,nce: E:x>c..ectl:l'ellenncce in Teaching .A,.w\\,a·.irrd,. 1997' 
Kitty \W\'iinntt.e.'r lM\la.1ggee Honor Student., Texa.is \W\\o,man's Univ\·ersity,. 199-41--11995 and 1995-11999%6  
Phi Ka.ipp,1a Phi Nattiioonn,1a1l Honor Sociiety, 1996 
Whlo1’'s \W\'hlol Among Studie:-nntts in American Un ivne!rsitiees and Collleeges,. 1995--11999%6  
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.