Social History and Dance as Education

Abstract

In this chapter, I develop a short summary of dance education in American public schools and colleges and universities, derived entirely from existing literature. I also dis- cuss the current state of historical writing in dance education and project some ideas for future research. (One obvious deficit in the literature will be clear in my summary: that histories of dance education have been limited to the experiences of European immi- grants to the United States.) As a conclusion, I return to the perspectives that historians bring to understanding dance as education. The writings I cite and discuss include Nancy Lee Chalfa Ruyter’s Reformers and Visionaries: The Americanization of the Art of Dance (1979), Ruyter’s entry in the International Encyclopedia of Dance (1998), Hagood’s A History of Dance in Higher Education (2000), Janice Ross’s Moving Lessons: Margaret H’Doubler and the Beginning of Dance in American Education (2000), and Linda J. Tomko’s Dancing Class: Gender, Ethnicity, and Social Divides in American Dance, 1890–1920 (1999). I also include information found on Websites of dance organ- izations, universities, and databases.