Comprehensively strengthening and improving aesthetic education in a new era: An examination of the dance education major at the Beijing dance academy

Abstract

China has a proud history of dance excellence. Historically, dance education has focused on performance skills, therefore it is difficult for most people, to grasp that a dance education pedagogy can lead students in a creative and inclusive manner, where technically well performed ‘steps’ are not as important as the process. China is currently developing a modern system of dance education in schools, with a focus on the creative process while maintaining its highly valued Chinese characteristics. Western countries where dance education has long been included in their curricula, can still struggle with understanding that educational dance is much more than technically well performed steps. Change is complex, especially when dance is viewed by many as a performance only. This article outlines the difficulties in implementing a radically different dance curriculum to what has gone before. The Beijing Dance Academy provides the dance education major that other Universities look to when preparing dance education teachers in China. Our focus is therefore upon the dance education major offered there. We begin by outlining the history of dance education in China and continue by discussing the context and the complexity of change, before outlining the change and difficulties themselves.