Dance Education Progression

  • Women's Physical Education Programs incorporate Dance

    Though it was considered physical education rather than dance, dance was incorporated into women's programs in colleges.
  • Period: to

    Columbia University Teacher's College Study Dance

    Again, though it was not truly considered a Fine Art at this point, the Teacher's college began to use dance as a part of their curriculum.
  • Period: to

    New Ideas and Thinking Introduced to Dance

    As immigrants began to come to America, they brought with them a multitude of cultural and folk dance that began influencing dance in America. Isadora Duncan began creating her "free form, aesthetic and natural" style, and progressive "learn by doing" programs are introduced into school systems.
  • 1st Dance Major Program at University of Wisconsin

    Margaret H'Doubler founds the first dance major program at UoW.
  • Master's and Doctoral Programs and Dance

    Master's theses and doctoral dissertations begin to advocate for dance having a place in the public school system.
  • Period: to

    Reaction to WWII

    Because of the recovery time due to the Great Depression and WWII, dance education had less emphasis in the school programs and began to regress.
  • Civil Rights

    Because of the Civil Rights Movements, diversity became emphasized in the public school system. All minorities- women, African-Americans, gay men and women, etc, started to have their voices heard. This became a focus in much of the school systems, including dance ed.
  • Successful Sputnik

    Because of the Space Race and the Soviet Union's success with Sputnik, dance began to fall by the wayside as math and science were pushed to the front of educational importance.
  • A Time of Exploration and Challenges in Public School

  • War on Poverty

    In a time where underprivileged children and special needs children were in the spotlight, ESEA directed funding to these groups, and in turn some of that funding was used for dance education.
  • National Endowments for the Arts and Humanities is Established

    This meant more funding for dance in school systems. Woo!
  • Period: to

    DANCE BOOM

  • Dance: From P.E. to Arts

    It was during the 70's that dance was viewed as a Fine Arts credit rather than a P.E. credit.
  • Equal Educational Opportunity Act

    This act merged the physical education for men and women, a big step in education.
  • Funding for Dance begins to Diminish

  • Period: to

    Critical Thinking Ecouraged in the Arts

  • Goals-2000 Educate America Act

    This act reinforced dance education for K-12 by making physical education required for all students.
  • National Dance Association Publishes Dance Standards

    This important step gave dance credibility because there were now standards for dance to hold. Today, 48 states have these standards.
  • No Child Left Behind

    This act called for accountibility in teaching, and raised the standards for teachers in all areas, including dance.
  • Period: to

    Dance Education Today

    Today, dance is a part of many high schools and some middle schools. Though it is struggling to remain present in these schools because of budget cuts, it is very much a part of education.