Changes in attitudes of high school girls towards dance subsequent to public performance opportunities

The aesthetic awareness of dance can be experienced by most people. Dancing is both interesting and stimulating to those who can share its common interest. Dance provides them with a chance to tone muscles and acquire better body control while keeping physically fit. It allows those individuals to release tensions, frustrations, and anxieties and yet to experience creativity and enjoyment. Elizabeth Haynes and Margery Turner, among others, have discussed dance as a self-expressional art form. Now students’ attitudes are affected by the opportunity to perform is related in part to the manner in which teachers are able to motivate students during daily class activities. It is suggested that factors such as coordination, kinesthetic awareness, aesthetic response, teacher-student relationships and dance performances are elements which cause different students to react in different ways in the classroom. In the interviews cited in the Introduction, the following questions were posed relative to gaining the best results from teaching dane: (1) What are students’ attitudes toward dance?; (2) What areas of dance will the students enjoy most in class?; (3) Are students interested in performing publicly?; (4) Does a student’s classroom performances increase when given a chance to perform before an audience outside of class?; (5) Does a student’s dance background have any bearing on her classroom performance