Sexuality, Gender and Identity: Critical Issues in Dance Education

Sexuality is a difficult topic for all educators. Dance teachers and educators are not immune to these educational challenges, especially given the large number of children, adolescents, and young adults who pursue dance study and performance. Most troubling is the lack of serious discourse in dance education and the development of educative strategies to promote healthy sexuality and empowered gender identities in proactive ways.

This volume, focused on sexuality, gender, and identity in dance education, expands this developing area of study and investigates diverse perspectives from public schools, private sector dance studios and schools, as well as college and university dance programs. By openly bringing issues of sexuality and gender to the forefront of dance education and training, this book straightforwardly addresses critical challenges for engaged educators interested in age appropriate content, theme and costume; the hyper-sexualization of children and adolescents; sexual orientation and homophobia; the hidden curriculum of sexuality and gender; sexual identity; the impact of contemporary culture; and mass media, and sexual exploitation. The original research provides a frank discussion, highlighting practical applications and offering insights and recommendations for today’s educational environment in dance. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Dance Education.

Doug Risner is Professor of Dance at Wayne State University, Detroit, USA and is the author of Stigma and Perseverance in the Lives of Boys Who Dance (2009) and Hybrid Lives of Teaching Artists in Dance and Theatre Arts (2014) with Mary Anderson. He is associate editor of Research in Dance Education.

Julie A. Kerr-Berry is Professor and Director of Dance at Minnesota State University-Mankato, USA. She is a Fulbright Scholar (Indonesia), the recipient of the Outstanding Leadership Award from the National Dance Education Organization, and editor in chief emeritus of the Journal of Dance Education.