Embodied values and ethical principles in somatic dance classes: Considering implicit motor learning

Abstract

Articulating the embodied ways of knowing integral to living in the world, as a dancer, has been a long-term commitment in my own research and practice as both an artist and an educator. Consideration of how somatic practices might be integrated into the institutional structures and knowledge in higher education has led me to investigate underlying values in somatic dance and related movement pedagogies. I have been interested to extend discussion about what is valued in somatic dance education, what movement we choose to teach and for what purposes in higher education, and how we might teach movement ethically and inclusively. An initial discussion about embodied somatic values and ethical principles frames description of somatic dance classes. I then ‘massage’ particular ‘tensions’ between different pedagogical approaches including facilitated experiential, discovery-based somatic processes and motor skill learning, to offer some reflections on embodied values and ethical principles for somatic dance.