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Jan 1, 1300
The Waltz
The waltz originated in the thirteenth century in Germany. It was known as a "rolling folk dance" and created by peasants. By the fifteenth century this folk dance which involved "rolls, glides, and turns" had been combined with various local dance styles in the area of Volta. http://www.dancefacts.net/dance-history/waltz-history/ -
François Delsarte (precursor of modern dance)
In 1811 a french man proposed a " theory about the relationship between human movement and feelings." He told people that the upper body was the "main vehicle of expression of the soul." He also studied the logic behind how different parts of the body, feelings, and movement related to each other. http://www.contemporary-dance.org/modern-dance-history.html -
Martha Graham (1894 - 1991)
Martha Graham was a famous modern dancer in the United States. In 1916, she attended Denishawn company and school. She then moved to new york where she created her own training technique that has since spread all over the world and continues to be taught today. http://www.contemporary-dance.org/modern-dance-history.html -
Dance in schools (1900-1960)
Dance curriculums in schools started to show up around the U.S. in the early twentieth century. Dance was categorized as a Physical Education course, most often involving the womens P.E. department. This was a huge step because it meant that the art of dance can flourish and be taught for years to come. *from reading -
Merce Cunningham (1919-2009)
Cunningham was a famous modern dancer that was apart of the martha graham dance company as a soloist for six years. Him and John cage spread the idea that music and dance should be created seperately from each other; however, they can be in the same time and space. http://www.mercecunningham.org/merce-cunningham/ -
First Dance major in a University
In 1926 at the University of Wisconsin/Madison established the first dance major program. This program was under their Women's Physical Education Department. Dance was seen more as a female program up until around the nineteen seventies. http://www.ndeo.org/content.aspx?page_id=22&club_id=893257&module_id=51380 -
"Back to the Basics"
The nineteen sixties entroduced an alternative way of learning which including more artisitic aspects of education such as dance history. In 1957 the soviet unions successful launch of the satellite sputnik lead the US to go "back to the basics" and put more of an emphasis on math and science rather than the arts. -
Federal Government gets involved
In 1965-1980 the federal government began to get involved with funding public schools. The Elementary secondary education act (ESEA) provided money to schools for innovative teaching projects, economically deprived students, and gifted students. Congress also established the "National Endowments for the arts and for the humanities" in 1965, this legislation inspired more people to practice and teach dance by providing the funding to do so in schools.- from reading
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EEOA
In 1974 the Equal Educational Opportunity Act took place. This merged both men and womens physical education programs. Unfortunately, because of this, PE programs usually opted to the athletic side of PE rather than artistic which involved dance! -
Dance in schools (1999-2000)
In 1999-2000 the United States dapartment of education reported that most comprehensive dance programs were found in secondary and sometimes middle schools. This report showed that dance was becoming a part of the public education program in the United States. In tern this would allow dance to be continued on into the minds of our future. -
Arts in Elementary Schools (2009-2010)
From 2009-2010 majority of the Elementary schools in the Us offered education of music and visual arts. This is a huge progression that dance has taken since the nineteen seventies when it was being introduced into schools as PE programs for women. Now it is available to both genders. http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2011/2011078.pdf
