Let’s Get Creative about Creativity in Dance Literacy: Why, Why Not, and How?

This article is written in the interests of opening up dialogue and generating debate about the relationship between dance literacy and the role of creativity in dance education. It aims to provoke discussion amongst dance educators who may, or may not, currently value or be aware of, the benefits that graphic movement notation can play in learning and teaching in, through and about dance. This article, however, is not an exhaustive examination of the educational value of graphic movement notation, as that information is readily available from many different sources including dance educators, anthropologists of dance, dance historians and so forth. Questions that are of concern here include: Why should graphic notation play a more prevalent role in dance education? Why not graphic notation? What may be grounding current resistance towards its inclusion? What benefits could accrue from creative making of graphic movement notation for teachers, learners and the status of dance education itself? How can we make graphic notation more creative? Such lines of inquiry can give rise to some interesting educational, historical and pedagogical matters