Blog 3: Technology in the Classroom: Dance Education

              Incorperating technology in the classroom is an essential part of the education system. However, dance still after thousands of years remains a physically driven content area that has very little dependency on education in the classroom. It still remains a very untouched art form and that is one of the reasons of why it is so special and sought upon for entertainment. Just look at the fact that when classical dance was being developed in King Louis the 14ths court, most of those positions and shapes are still used every day in the dance classroom. No amount of technology will ever help explain the concept of technique, other than the kinesthetic lessons that occur when a dancer physicalizes the movement and the teacher physically corrects them. 

                 The easiest way for me to help portray this idea to non-dancers would be for me to take you through the daily routine of a standard dance class.  The supplies needed for a dance class are, a teacher, a student, and a musician for an accompaniment throughout the class. These supplies have not changed for thousands of years and I honestly do not see them being changed any time soon because this formula seems to be somewhat of a success. The teacher explains and demonstrates the movements, the students perform them, and the teacher corrects them on their alignment and other technical issues. That being said, dance classes could one hundred percent thrive in a technology free world. 

           However I do not want this blog post to come across as me hating technology in the dance world. I believe that there are uses for technology in some aspects of dance, such as choreography and stage design. But when it comes to an every day lesson, technology is not the vital key instrument in the physically dominant subject matter. I feel that using some aspects of technology for research that the students can do on their own is useful however students will simply be wasting their time and will be cheated out of essential technical growth in development if they spend their days playing on the computer as opposed to working on their technique.