Danslärarkroppen som resonanslåda : en hermeneutisk fenomenologisk studie om danslärares upplevelser av att observera (sin) dansundervisning

Abstract Title: The dance-teacher body as a sounding board - a hermeneutic phenomenological study about dance-teachers experiences observing (their own) dance education. Author: Anders Frisk, Stockholm University of the Arts - School of Dance and Circus Language: Swedish Key words: Dance, dance teacher, dance education, dance pedagogy, phenomenology, kinaesthetic empathy, interaffectivity, bodily resonance The aim of this study is to give insights into how dance teachers experience observing (their own) dance lessons. The interest lies in what they are reacting to and what gives an action in the form of feedback, guiding or ending an exercise, and how these reactions and actions are manifested in the body. Two teachers at the Swedish school of sport and health sciences (GIH) in Stockholm were observed and filmed during dance lessons with PE&H-student teachers. The subject of the lessons were experiencing and exploring dance as expressive form. From the videos of the lessons, different situations were chosen and discussed during a so-called re-experiencing interview. The interviews were transcribed and the text has been analysed using a hermeneutic phenomenological method. The analysis resulted in the following findings: To observe one’s own teaching seems to be a valuable tool for the teachers in order to reflect upon didactical considerations and possibilities for developing the teaching. The teachers seem to react on (lack of) movement, presence, focus and movement qualities. This creates a dissonance in their own bodily resonance that seems to create an embodied experience that they react upon. They act by guiding the students by adding more movement, verbal affirmation or instruction, metaphors or by ending the exercise. Sometimes they postponed reacting in order to give the students a chance to find their way back in focus. The teachers also have a focus on creating a learning environment where the aim is for the students to explore and to experience their own bodily resonance and how this can relate to other bodies. It seems that the teachers show a sensibility for the situation and the harmony in the dance studio that could be derived from a professional-personal competence or from an embodied practical pedagogical knowledge. The results of the study are discussed with the concepts of interaffectivity, mutual incorporation and kinaesthetic empathy. By raising awareness around how bodily (and embodied) interactions are intertwined within dance education these concepts might help and support the development of teaching in this specific context.