Table of Contents: Le Danse
Les Danseurs……………..........................…………………………....................……..… Focus Group/ Interviewees
Act I: TOOLS OF PRACTICE: ……………………………………….…….……………. Core de Ballet
How do Tools of Practice affect student participation; what methods do educators practice if these items are inaccessible? What are some economical substitutions?
Leos
Slippers
Barres
Act II: TOOLS OF PERFORMANCE …….....................…………………………….…. The Encore
What are some practices educators can enlist as a means to keep cost manageable for Tools of Performance for students to feel engaged and eager to participate?
Practice Garment as a Performance Garment
Pooling Recital Fees to Cover the Cost
Act III: PRACTICE/CREATION …………………………………………...............…… The Solos
What are the examples of applicative methods one may engage in broadening the accessibility of dance activities without costly items; beyond the rental, additional class, or private class?
Choreography
Prop-work
Dance Games
Act IV: PLATFORM: PRACTICE OR FOR CREATION …………….................……… The Stage
How can educators re-imagining the Studio, and can it be a cost-effective secondary alternative?
Disadvantage
Advantages
Act V: A CONTINUATION:…………….…………………………......................….……Curtain Call
Connections How Teaching Materials influence Practice Garments & How is this Intertwined to Cost?
Part I & Part II
Conclusion…………………………………………………….................….………….….Le Reverence
Les Danseurs: The Focus Group
My focus group consists of three educators with diverse educational and teaching years of experience. For instance, the interviewee (Participant: K) has a collegiate background. Receiving a BA in Dance from a state college; obtaining certification from Colombia and Illinois Center Collage. Similar to all three participants, (K) is a professional dancer. Of the three participants, (K) holds the position of Artistic Director for a Los Angeles-based dance company. Having the most teaching experience with twenty years, (K) teaches two Ballet techniques—the Royal Academy of Dance (like participant L) and International Dance Acclaim curriculums.
My second interviewee is (Participant: L), who has a Ballet conservatory background. As a professional dancer, (L) has performed with renewed Ballet companies that include, The Paris Opera and over nine companies throughout the greater Los Angeles area. Receiving their BFA from Boston Conservatory (L) has taught for the past eleven years. As all participants in the focus group, (L) ’s studio enforces strict dress codes, and their teaching environment offers no scholarships.
Teaching in the most affluent areas of the greater Westside of Los Angeles’ Beach-front lastly, Interviewee (Participant: J) is a professional dancer, using her professional stage experience teaching for the past five years. As (K) and (L), (J) ’s studio offers no scholarships and enforces a traditional Ballet dress code that includes leotards, pink slippers, and matching tights. In order for students to engage in studio practice.
Through an array of email-written questionnaires and follow-up interviews, the narratives of my participants reveal commonalities. Such as, the various ways they acknowledge how limiting traditional methods or practice Ballet pedagogy supports, may be. One example is, all students must adhere to the traditional Balletic uniform standard of pink tights, leotards (that changes each year depending on grade), alignment belts, dance skirts for females, and matching pink slippers or pointe shoes, to participate. Similarly too, all three participants’ teaching environments have no scholarships or tuition assistance in place for students. What our verbal conversations expose more significantly is how “enacting critical multiculturalism [can illuminate and initiate the conversation of] the power structures [found within Ballet] that influence and maintain educational inequity” (Acuff, 2015, p.33). Though teaching a Classical Art form, adaptability to re-conceptualize particular activities has been integral in continuing engagement with students. Thus, I explore how cost has and can play a mitigating factor and what adapted methods permit all students to engage in their passions; throughout the various elements of Balletic Practice. To address how dance educators can mitigate financial factors found amongst Tools of Practice, Tools of Performance, Elements of Practice/Creation, Platform, and finally explain a brief overview of how our Teaching Tools play a role. That can limit engagement or alienate specific demographics from participating altogether.
Act I: What methods can educators practice if Balletic Tools of Practice are inaccessible? What are the economical substitutions?
Uniform Garments (Leos )
When studios enforce a strict dress code to participate, “labeling practices [within the Balletic Arts can function as identifying the mandatory garment expectations of students. For when an educator acknowledges the] social climate of their [dance] school, [recognizing] staff expectations [can lead to] student achievement” (Banks & Banks, 2004, p.6). Descriptively, one can address how students can attain specific garments if a dance institution requires them by researching reasonably priced alternatives. To supplement vehicles for students to acquire the tools necessary to participate. For, “creating an empowering [dance] school culture for students of [not only color but] of low-income students involves reconstruction of the culture and organization of the school” (Banks & Banks, 2004, p.6). As Les Danseurs illuminate Step one, dance teachers should acknowledge their direct teaching community. Secondly, research all the local venues that provide the tools of practice enforced by their learning facility. Third, as (K) notes in their experience, an additional method is listing online alternatives to provide guardians information where one can attain items at a reasonable cost compared to the total retail price as our conversation divulged:
Me: Does your studio offer tuition assistance for uniforms? (1:00)
K: I do … know that our studio has some (1:02)
K: The parents have to be pretty upfront if they don’t have something. (1: 42)
Me:(conversation picks up)
K: I do think it’s really important that we discuss the basis of the dress code. Why is the dress code in place? Is it important? What is the function of the dress code? Is it necessary? Then if we’re taking these steps of why is it necessary? Why do we enforce certain colors? Because also every year, it differs. Even though the student may have reached their full growth, they have to continue to buy new things” (2:44)
K: (leading with sarcastic remarks of coworker pointing why dress code is a form to identify students) I also can’t recognize the dress code because I don’t teach you…( laughter noting said teacher should know their students) I also didn’t come from a studio that had enforced the dress code, like we were told to wear our hair back and wear tight-fitting clothing so you can see the body. But you could wear any color, and you could wear shorts, or you could wear tights or pants. For me, my background doesn’t come from that, so it’s hard for me to understand its importance. I’ve talked to them about that, and I’ve had pushback on the dress code before. I tell parents we have a couple of stores that we partner with. (4:07)
K: “The dance store on Robertson carries our collection, but the dance store on Robertson is full retail pricing. I also let parents know that you can find things on Amazon, that you can find things like not the exact colors, but you can find things at Target. Target used to carry ballet slippers and tap shoes for kids. There’s also a couple of discount stores that I let them know about, Discount Dance Warehouse, and then there’s Dannys Warehouse. But it is in Inglewood. There are different places that people can go if they have a car and they can get there. It is an added burden on the parents because they have to be the ones to provide it for their kids, and they have to be the ones to find the outfits. (5:03).
Analyzing the tendency for studios to enforce strict dress codes, a significant pattern began to emerge in Les Danseurs experiences. That for educators, teaching dance students movement is paramount. To develop a solid technical foundation to express themselves most transparently through their bodies. Then a fixation of upholding the Balletic tradition of specific colored leotards or brands assigned by age/level. Suggestively, as long as students can maneuver, in garments of choice, they can practice Ballet as long as the garment does not interfere with a child's ability to move. If and when they chose something fitting to the body to allow for a full range of motion. As conversation illuminates:
K: …during Covid because there were more financial restraints for people, we have gone a bit lax on the dress code.
K: Especially for the young children. I do know that the older students are still in dress code.
L: [referring to Zoom] it's definitely more lenient. I think the kids, if they have a uniform, they will wear it. I think their parents make them wear it, and they will wear it. If they're not wearing it, it doesn't bother me. And it's just me and the kids. The director's not there. The owner's not there. So I'm much more lenient on Zoom. (22:25)
Me: Oh I really love that, so more than just the physicality of dancing, what you can do through dancing and say with your body.
J: Yeah, and how it makes you feel. What does it feel like to développé? So that the brains can be working slightly differently.
Me: … I really love it. You really focus on what the body is saying not so much what you’re going to wear, like the tutu, but just really the story of what is being said through their bodies and not just the perfect pirouette or the technicality of it. Although it is beautiful.
J: Right, their bodies leading a story. Yeah, exactly.
Me: Yeah, with meaning. Oh I love that.
One encounter, in particular, that was most insightful is how educators have addressed teaching via Zoom. For instance, the pandemic has impacted many families economically, and with or without a particular item, students in Les Danseurs’ experiences have continued to physically practice dance online. Highlighting how student physical engagement can continue without specific garments. Such as leos, tights, dance skirts, alignment belts, etc. Instead, with any accessible fitting articles of clothing that permits movement. Noted by Les Danseurs, the central prerogative is on a students’ acquisition of the technical foundation. Then focally concerned with what they wear. This demonstration of agency to work with what students can attain when any outside factors may impair a student from wearing a specific garment, reflects Banks & Banks (2004), guidance that “there [should be] a process of reconstructing the [dance] culture and [ones] organization of the school[.] So that students from diverse [including] social-class groups experience educational equality and cultural empowerment” (p.6). A sentiment felt, in the answers, I chose to conclude with (J) ’s specific final reflection:
Me: If it's okay with you to ask more questions, for instance, about uniform. Was it implemented on Zoom, or was it not? (14:18)
J: I tried. I tried to implement it in Zoom. It did not work. It did not work. People started wearing all these things. You know what, at some point, you can't kick the kids off class. (14:36)
Me: …[agreeing silently]
J: I didn't want to do that. Everyone's already stressed. My main goal was to keep kids in class. (14:46)
Me: So your main goal was just the engagement of the dancing, not so much what they were wearing. (14:50)
J: Right. Right. Yeah. (14:52)
Les Danseurs’ anecdotes bring to light that a student may wear anything as long as it fits the body to permit a physical range of motion to practice Ballet. For the emphasis on learning, the art form is not the wardrobe. It is the acquisition of technical steps to enable the body to express using said technical balletic foundation as a language. To create stories, state messages, or recreate dance works of a bygone era in the 21 century in the most transparent fashion.
Reflecting on my experience working together with administration during, for instance, summer intensives, I lead with Acuff’s (2015) guidance on how “contemporary critical multicultural is a way of seeing and thinking about the relationships amongst culture, power, and knowledge” (p.33). I emphasize my prerogative that aligns with Les Danseurs’ comments. How our studios’ and I’s primary goal is to teach. Our institution had the power to change, develop, facilitating student enrollment by addressing how a garment did not have to be an inhibiting factor to participate in a series of classes. Acknowledge that our program is tuition-based; the institution had the power to, for instance, readdress how to aid students’ desire to take multiple courses. That resulted in The Ballet program using the universal logo shirt (a fraction of the cost of leotards, tights, dance skirts, etc.) and permit students to use appropriate dance bottoms across all classes. “Curriculum is a systematic tool that has the power to either support the status quo or question it” (Acuff, 2015, p.33). Thus, dancing without a leotard and tights, in my experience, did not mean students took a less quality Ballet class. Merely it became a way to facilitate students ability to handle multiple courses by lowering the cost of the uniform; facilitating the time students did not have to continuously change between classes permitting for a more seamless transition to engage in other techniques from Ballet to, Jazz, Modern, to Acrobatics, Tap, or Hip-Hop.
Slippers
Though an educator may work in affluent neighborhoods as (L) specifically shares of their experience, coining how “most seem [referring to their students and families,] to come from upper-middle-class families[,]” a determining factor for students not to participate at times, has revolved on the attainability of practice tools. To address practices as to when a studio, for instance, enforces the traditional Balletic standard, one must wear slippers to enter studio class. A vehicle to attain the tools to practice can be a Shoe Sharing Bin System. When one acknowledges there is no scholarship program within a studio emulating a conservatory atmosphere, the need for attaining tools like slippers is a more critical conversation I was most importantly made aware of; which, can play a role for students not to participate in class altogether. As Les Danseurs reveal, children can feel ostracized when their parents can not buy a slipper in a timely fashion compared to other classmates. Or feel the need to apologize to mask they have outgrown a slipper at no fault to a child. “Educators must be cognizant of the type of society in which they are educating students. This consciousness enables educators to utilize relevant pedagogical strategies that attend to the specific need of society” Acuff, 2015, p.31). Profoundly, a Slipper Bin is one method learning dance environments across all dance techniques can adapt. To lessen costly items if it plays a mitigating factor for class participation as the expert of conversation I have chosen presents:
L: So it's very unconventional. Before COVID, we had a shoe-sharing system where we had these huge buckets of ballet [crosstalk 00:19:36] shoes.
L: So when you grow out of your shoes, you could just put them in the bucket, and another kid could borrow them for the day…I do see firsthand when kids are growing, they need new shoes; some of them can't afford it. You see them coming in and saying, "I'm sorry, I forgot my ballet shoes," or, "My shoes don't fit me anymore. We're going to get some new ones soon." But it obviously, sometimes [it] does take a while. (20:09)
Me: Oh, I love the shoe-sharing idea. And I think I will bring that up to my studio because we don't have that. (21:02)
L: That's a good idea. Because once [students] grow out of their shoes, what are they going to do with them?
Me: Exactly.
L: Why not [let] another kid borrow them?
Barres
Lastly, Les Danseurs’ experiences teaching in simultaneous studios located in affluent and much more quaint communities or neighborhoods have revealed an acknowledgment of the difficulty for all students to attain specific items at times. Concluding my examining of practice tools, I present reflections on how though specific items may be costly as discourse unravels, with a bit of ingenuity, balletic practice may continue—suggesting replacing tools like barres by using objects in a students’ home.
J: The demographic that comes to the studio [are from] Santa Monica and [live] in Manhattan Beach, so they all mostly [are] able to pay for everything that they want to get into. (1:42)
Leading to more specification if a Balletic Tool ever affected engagement and how what methods did (J) specifically, rely on to continue full participatory and safe engagement:
Me: I think now transitioning from studio to COVID, our barres and dance spaces have become our homes, so I don't know about your experience but what I've encountered is a lot of children don't have barres, so I've adapted to the chairs or the kitchen sink or pretty much anything that's accessible to them. (3:57)
J: Yeah. That has been my experience too. But my studio did something really interesting where ... well, at the very start of COVID, everyone, of course, shut down. Nobody was learning in the studio, and so, I had kids on kitchen tables, on chairs, and of course, I encouraged them to find chairs that are not spinny or rolly chairs. (4:23)
J: I had kids on their kitchen countertops and on their dining table and things like that. I have a kid now who is taking barre on her fireplace mantelpiece. (4:38)
Me: Oh, I love that. How creative. I actually love that. (4:41)
J: … I have one student who has her own barre, but it's not a great barre. (5:10)
Me: Yeah, in my experience, I've only had a little handful of students that have professional ballet barres either installed in a home gym or the portable ones, very similar to something that I have. But even engaging with kids online, seeing that a lot of them didn't have it, I started using as my visual the chairs that I use for my dining room set as my barre just so we could become a community of supporting each other. Like well, if Miss Tatiana can use a chair, then I can use a chair. (6:22)
Transitioning to teach without the physical tools employment facilitates such as studios equip students, as was my and my participants’ experience, served the practice of teaching the Balletic Arts in the most beneficial ways. Acknowledging our aims has been integral to make the necessary adaptations to our activities. For instance, as Les Danseurs and I have covertly bestowed, we aim and continue to provide “intellectual property. [Professional company level instruction that does not rely on or] ...limit[s our students] opportunity to learn” (Ladson-Billings & Tate, 1995, p.54). Thus, I encourage all educators to consider and continue to incorporate, making the appropriate and necessary modifications to the tools of practice that supplement emerging dance students learning outside of our dance studio class.
Act II: Encore: What are some practices educators can enlist as a means to keep cost manageable for Tools of Performance for students to feel engaged and eager to participate?
Acknowledging one’s faults as an educator is an indispensable step in revealing hidden impediments within one’s practice. My experience choosing catalog items leading to Recital A instead of having had students participate in choosing performance garments; weaving costume design as a method in my class as part of students’ choreographic experience. As I did during Recital B, it is an exemplary reflection that permitted me to acknowledge, address, and reconstruct appropriated adaptations to the way I teach. My reflection serves more significantly as a point to which I continue examining what practices and methods educators can engage in to keep the cost of performance wear reasonable. So that it never becomes a mitigating factor for students not to participate. As it may be an experience during the structure of Recitals. As Les Danseurs brought to light is the hidden reality of the exorbitant cost of professional tutus, which some studios may be most fortunate to employ sewists as part of one’s Balletic learning institutions. This insight is a grandeur conversation on the topic of reusability. A practice I explore through various adaptations, so students do not have to have additional costumery fees. Such as the adaptations of standard fees that includes to cover, both costumery and recital participation as I have chosen as a point of conversation to explore:
L: One of my studios that [is] a more professional ballet studio, it's strictly ballet; I think they want to keep up the appearance of a high-quality ballet school. I think they want the recital to reflect the high quality of the establishment. So those costumes are more expensive because it's a more professional school. Whereas in the other studio I teach at, I think they just want a uniformity. So as long as the costumes match... This studio is more casual. It's more about having fun, so the costumes don't necessarily have to have all the bells and whistles...they want something uniform for the performances. (2:40)
Me: You said that your one studio encourages the more embellished costumes because that's the professional way of doing things if I heard correctly. (2:56)
L: I know that they have customers to hand sew embellishments on tutus and things like that, so they'll hire outside to add more things. Maybe they would purchase something a little bit less embellished and then pay their seamstress to add things onto it. I've seen many tutus being worked on upstairs, adding little beads, adding frills, and things like that. Or maybe they're just mending the costumes or making them smaller, bigger, letting them out, whatever they need for the next year. So they do reuse their costumes. (3:51)
L: For the more professional performances, the school keeps the costumes, and they're able to [inaudible 00:04:03] them. I think the younger kids do get to keep their recital costumes. (4:06)
L: [crosstalk 00:04:13] [There is] a fee, I'm just not quite sure what it is. There's a high fee for that school to be in recital because they have to pay out the fancy auditorium. All of this, of course, is pre-COVID. (4:25)
Practice Garment as a Performance Garment as a means to keep cost manageable
In the case of studios that enforce policy to attain performance uniformity in garment selection, a method to permit more expansive access to all students is the duality of the items. Descriptively, for instance, if garments of practice convert to partial garments of performance, having half of the article supplemented by the studio, this method would alleviate a student from paying for a complete outfit. That may hinder registration or participation altogether in performances as the expert of conversation I include continues:
K: One of the reasons that we have the dress code in place and it's pretty strict is because the dancers also wear their leotards for the shows. (5:16)
K: There is a recital fee to cover the cost of renting whatever facility we're in. Yes. There is a recital fee, but it's not as much as if a student needed to get a costume for each class, how these costumes are $70 plus. … and it's a flat fee. It's like if they already have the shoes and their leotards. (6:00)
K: We provide a costume to go over it, and then they give that back at the end. It's both [gesturing with hands two]. I enjoy the fact that our studio does not have the parents pay for costumes. (6:44)
Pooling Recital Fees to Cover the cost of Balletic Attire
As Les Danseurs acknowledge and reveal, Balletic wardrobe is often much more expensive than other dance techniques. This essential piece of information prompted a deeper exploration of methods studio practice can adapt to cover the cost of performance garments. If, for instance, students are in multiple performances. As the expert of conversation, I have chosen to spotlight showcases, pooling money evenly across students’ recital registration permits a fund, similarly to how the founders of the arts would function in a professional dance company. The creation of a fund can be of most use then, singling out the class to cover more cost to perform. A practice that may alienate students from registering for their performance. A fund may also prompt students excitement with the attainability of garments as our follow up conversation also concludes:
Me: I wanted to ask you about the performance cost. Are there fees in your studio; what range do costumes start at, and if the kids don't have the costume or, if that has ever been an issue, how did you address that?
J: The studio has a flat fee for performance.
J: They call it a performance fee and parents pay into it, and it funds; it's like a pool of funds for any costumes. Like the ballet especially tends to be more expensive than the lyrical or the contemporary or the hip hop costumes, unfortunately. (18:57)
J: I have persuaded because I teach the older girls, and I want them to be excited, and I don't want them to always wear the wavy tutus. (19:12)
To conclude, reusability has taken many facets in Les Danseurs' teaching experiences. Acknowledgment can be paramount in creating the necessary adaptation to one's practice, which can prompt an educator to take the agency to reuse costumery acknowledging the cost of their specific performance tools. Choosing to close with (J) reflections of reusability specifically, step one, a studio can purchase more expensive parts. Such as the six-layer plate, having the bodice interchange each year with new re-appliqué. So students can feel excited to perform in "new garments." Rather than having to repurchase a complete costumery item each year. The overlay feels new; most impactful, students are not burdened with additional costs when ordering new garments.
J: I did persuade the studio to buy these platter tutus for the kids. The parents ultimately, yes, of course, it moves up the chain, and the parents ultimately pay for, but these are tutus that they can be reused year after year after year, and I've made sure that they can be reused. (19:40)
Me: Oh, I love that. If I can just go back, you guys have a pool to put in all of the money to have a costume budget instead of individually the classes picking (19:55)
J: Correct, so each family isn't responsible for going out and get their costume individually. They just pay a performance fee, and it funds their costumes.
Me: Oh, I love that
Yeah. You know this, it's just underlayment, and then you just get a new bodice over the top. (20:33)
Me: Right. Right.
J: Yeah. Every year they feel like they're wearing something different, but the expensive parts are the same. (20:40)
Act III: The Solos: What are the different types and methods to engage in dance activities without costly items; what is a students’ experience ?
Practice
Les Danseurs revealed, seldom do students engage in continuous private instruction for additional practice opportunities, for they are much too expensive. Or some may not be able to take multiple classes. Thus, whether or not students wish to pursue the Balletic Arts as a profession, it is essential to offer paths of the highest quality continuously. One suggestion is offering alternatives that encourage whatever level of passion a student may have for the art form. Questioning dance tools substitution, like TheraBands, becomes an exemplary and continuation of methods that do not rely on purchasing Balletic items. For when adaptations to the practice are had so that a child may find substitutions with accessible items in their homes, they may practice at any time they desire as our conversation is as follows:
K: We have the students that are going to want to go and dance at home anyway. You have students who come in, and they're more here for the social aspect of staying active. [T]hey [may] not think about dance outside of dance class. But I think it's important that we give our students tools to succeed in what they want. For instance, if you're working with students who will go on pointe, making sure that they understand the strength of their ankles and their feet is very important, and teaching them how to use the tools around them to strengthen their feet. When I was growing up, I lived in an area that wasn't super-rich or wealthy, and I did not have a barre at home. That was completely out of the question, as well as like room to dance, I moved my bed so that I could [inaudible 00:21:38] in my room. (21:39).
K: My teacher gave us the exercise to put a blanket on the floor and to bring your feet in, and scrunch the blanket up so that you're working on the underside of the feet. That's something that every student should have in their house, are a blanket and a seat. You don't need special equipment. You don't need TheraBands to strengthen your feet all the time. If you don't have the money to buy TheraBands, that's fine; there are ways to work within your own body and the things in your house to prepare you for whatever it is that you need. I think it's important, especially when we're working more seriously with students, on how to do some exercises at home to prep. (22:42).
K: We're educators, so we've got to let that information out. There are ways they don't need all the equipment. If they don't have it, that's fine. We can figure it out. (24:55)
Suppose private lessons are a mitigating factor due to their cost for students who wish to correct or practice outside of class. In that case, methods can entail individual take-home routines as our conversation continued:
L: Okay. Yes. I think for a struggling student, I think private lessons can be beneficial, but they are more expensive for the parent [and] for the students. I don't tell kids they need private lessons. If they come to me, that's a separate story. I always love to give individual corrections in class. (32:09)
L: I also pull students away after class and talk to them individually if I feel like they could benefit from some personal corrections or feel like they're going through something mentally. I do like to check in with them one-on-one after class when everyone else has left. I think that's a great way to get the kid to know what page they're on in class if they need more work if they're doing well. (35:54)
Choreography
A crossroads in Les Danseurs' experiences that was most revealing is the effects of adaptation to 21-century issues if Ballet Pedagogy has not kept with the times. Interestingly though participants (K) and (L) both teach the Royal Academy of Dance technique as their written questionnaire specifically entailed, their experiences expose how adhering to solely traditional Balletic practices can be limiting. When studios and teachers are much more open to addressing specific needs of the teaching environment, for example, students can attain much more exposure to creative outlets of experiential choreographic activities beyond strict historical Pedagogy. When educators accommodate the needs of their students, that flexibility may permit alternative methods of exhibiting work, such as considering new platforms like the technological advancement of what Vimeo can allow. Contrast to traditional theatrical rentals. That may beneficially, if need be, eliminate performance fees. While maintaining the utmost professionalism of a Ballet performance that includes musicality, costumery, and choreography as the following story exposes factors brought on by the Covid Pandemic:
L: At one of my studios, which I've only been teaching for about two years now, we use the RAD method, the Royal Academy of Dance. So that is very different for me because I have to teach exactly what they want me to teach, and every class is almost identical. (11:52)
L: So, with one of my studios (referring to the studio that is much more open), we always do a teacher dance during a recital.
L: During quarantine, we made a teacher dance. The owners picked a song, and then each teacher would do a little bit of choreography, maybe 16 counts. Then they would send that to the next person, and they would continue until every teacher had gone through the song. (16:51)
L: That was a nice way to connect, and I think the students loved it too, just to see their teachers dance as well. (16:52)
Me: And this is at the other studio, not that RAD? (17:01)
L: Not the RAD. Yeah. It's the more fun studio, and we did the Nutty Cracker for Zoom this year. So, although, as I said, we were still going into the studio. Each class had a recital dance, and the owner came in and filmed the dance for each class and strung it together to make an online recital, which was special.
L: Then it was on Vimeo, and you can download it and watch it anytime. You didn't have to watch it all together at the same moment. That was a really fun idea. (17:43)
Me: And that also is half the cost of renting a theater and [crosstalk 00:17:50].
L: Yeah, exactly. We still had costumes, but there was no theater to rent. Exactly. (17:54)
Prop Work
Methods to incorporate feasibly accessible items in the students’ home; incorporating home space or being open to it can be a consideration to permit students to continuously engage in activities. Addressing prop work, for instance, (an integral portion of Balletic practice) expands of how an educator’s flexibility to adaptability can facilitate a student’s ability to dance at any time, anywhere, with anything. What may seem like a nonsense strategy like play, as “Walker (n.d.) states, “nonsense [serves] as a highly productive way to dislodge students from habitual and customary ways of thinking” (p.3). Thus, incorporating toys as props more than a playful and joyous activity creates an opportunity to teach stage work without diminishing the teacher -to-students quality as the portion of the conversation I showcase infers:
K: Well, so I like to bring in space. If we're working in space, let's accept that we are working here, and let's recognize that this is not our studio. There are some things that we can do in our homes that we can do in the studio. One of the things that I liked to do as a fun game would be to have them play treasure hunt. I'm going to put a song on, and we're going to find something that's blue, go find something that's blue. Then everybody would come back with something blue, and we would share it. Then maybe we would dance with this, or I would say, "Okay, I want you to go find a teddy bear. Find your favorite teddy bear let's go." We would create a dance with an item from their house.
K: Because prop work is important in dancing. We're always using almost every dance that uses some kind of prop or giant costumes, part of the make-believe, right? (40:07)
K: I had us create dances like a teddy bear dance or a picnic dance, then back on the blanket and then cover ourselves up… Imagination is a huge part of Ballet. If we're in our homes, how can we imagine that we're still dancing and still performing, but recognizing that we're in a new space and allowing us to be in a new space? That we're in a new space and allowing us to be in a new space? I had to let go of some of the stricter elements if you will… (41:27)
Choreographic activities that one can engage at home that translate from studio practice may feel limiting. Thus, I propose the following conversations offering my experience in the Master’s program, thankfully playing with as Walker (n.d.) cites Deleuze in Artmaking as Nonsense, “line[s] of flight [were, students] …re[conceptualized] familiar concepts … to animate [,] energize [and awaken their] art-making” (p.9). “Born from an investment in thinking on [one’s] feet, from optimism about the artistic potential that lurks within the mundane, and from curiosity about the productive tension between freedom and constraint[,]” (Walker, p.9) through “deterritoraliztion” (Walker, p.9) assigning an exercise project outside of the studio, I broke students’ routinized manner of dancing—simultaneously, underlining the notion of how dance can be performed anywhere at any time by anyone; encouraging practice opportunities that were playful and engaging.
L: Like what?
Me: Take-home exercises (Referring to Raise the Barre Exercise) of finding a space and using five steps that we have gone through class and see how you can modify them, or if you have difficulty or any ease, for instance, like a port de bras exercise or an adagio. And then tell me about how was your first experience? And a lot of the kids were like, "Oh, my bedroom doesn't allow me to dance." well, then what did you have to do for you to be able to, and what do you feel? A lot of the kids were like, "Oh, I'm a little bit frustrated," or, "It was easy." (8:51)
Me: So some of them were a little bit, for instance, more down than others. That was part of their emotional response of how they're going to move. Then slowly, we started choreographing together from that little activity into the bigger in-group activity from last year.
L: Love that. (9:11)
Me: But the question I wanted to ask you is like, because Zoom has been such an interesting struggle with teachers and students, do you think in-studio at-home activities to take to their house should be more implemented in-class activities?
L: I think that's such a great idea. I've never even considered it.
L: …but I love your idea of take-home exercises where they're incorporating their own space into the choreography or whatever they're doing. I think that is a great idea. (10:33)
To view RAISE THE BARRE exercise please click here: https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/preview/7958729651820909019/1343253027612645833
Dance Challenges
Take-home exercises can be an adequate consideration to permit students engagingly to continue practice without paying for an additional class. Still, if new to the idea, I conclude that by acknowledging ones' students' particular behavioral characteristics as the story below explores may provide insight into how at-home assignments that support additional practice beyond the studio would function. Such as a competitive challenge dance game exercise:
Me: Do you feel that even if studio practice implemented perhaps more take-home exercises, I know it's not our norm to do that. Perhaps that transition from not having physical interaction to Zoom would have been easier? Like just to give an example. I gave a little exercise of relevés while you can brush your teeth just to strengthen calf and alignment of the ankles, and when we transitioned to Zoom, that's one of the things that the kids were already a little bit more aware of, and before us ever going into Zoom, so they were a little bit more encouraged and supported entering our class and doing things from home. Do you feel like perhaps giving more lessons inside the classroom to take home would benefit practice? (11:40)
J: I think it would for the students who are driven. (11:45)
J: They like being competitive. You use that a little bit, but some of them are not driven in that way. In that case, yeah, I don't think core hold work would necessarily drive them unless it became a competition. Unless you frame it in that way. See who can do the most fouettés? Who can do the most ... Things like that, which competition can be a good and a bad thing. Some kids are not as confident and shy away from that. It's a balance. (13:36)
J: Homework, I think, would help the kids that are driven.
M: Like a form of engagement, like more engagement?
J: Yeah. Yeah, and something to guide them so that they continue to be engaged, right. (12:01)
Act IV: The Stage: How can educators re-imagining the Studio, and can it be a cost-effective secondary alternative?
As the 21 century leads with more technological advancement, it has permitted the Balletic Arts to continue through online classes when health and global shut downs canceled and limited large face-to-face gatherings. For instance, during the Covid Pandemic of 2020. Les Danseurs' experiences revealed that attaining a technological background to teach the classical arts can allow for a seamless transition online. Thus, I addressed the implications and benefits of how to teach remotely. By no means do I suggest relinquishing the historical practice of teaching Ballet in a studio altogether. Merely explore how an adequate foundation and training to teach remotely can function much more effetely as I have chosen to examine.
To support my suggestions and inquiry, I analyzed Los Angeles' shutdown experience specifically. Which initiated, March 2020- 2021 to date, limiting continued large face-to-face gathering safely. The experience of exploring online teaching has provided insight into how an online class is much more cost-effective than a live in-person class. For this paper, I explore how this form of education can be an alternative and live class for students who can not afford a full-price type or wish to take multiple types at their leisure from home. While perhaps too, suggesting that remote teaching may become a routinized extension in Ballet Pedagogy preparation to equip future dance educators to teach a classical art form through contemporary technological formats.
Disadvantage
L: …One of my studios, we've been pretty much online the whole time. We [did] open a little bit, but our back to everything online, whereas my other studio has continued to be open. The students are coming in at a smaller class capacity, and we're also offering Zoom classes on the side. For those students who don't feel comfortable coming into the studio, we're giving that option to either come in or take classes online. (5:20)
L: Zoom, has been incredibly difficult because you have to give your focus to the kids in the room and the community online, which takes a lot more time and effort. (5:15)
Me: Would this even be a feasible step to broadening our demographic so we can offer ballet to more students?
L: Yeah. I know one of my studio's plans is to continue offering Zoom classes even when we're able to come back in. I think that way; more people can participate. There's no limit for how many kids can be on the Zoom class, so you could have students that have moved away that don't have access to a dance studio take a class. You could have students in another country, potentially, take. You could offer more classes, which is great, especially for people that don't feel comfortable coming back in. So, I think it's a great idea to continue the Zoom. (7:09)
L: I think it is cheaper for the students to take online versus coming into the studio, so that's a great way to supplement the cost of taking a class. (7:18)
Advantages
As (K) shared specifically in their experience both before Covid and during, “many students have stopped taking classes especially because of the cost or the difficulty in making it [in]to the studio.” Thus, I reveal the benefits of Zoom classes that permit a wide range of demographics to participate from the comfort of one’s home as an option can alleviate supposing students can not pay for the total price of in-class courses studio rate. To address technical issues of teacher focus if new to teaching through technology, live stream in-studio class can be one effective method that sustains participation without withholding or diminishing quality or focus.
K: [With] Zoom it's possible that we could open up the amount of children that are there. That way we could still make a profit or be able to pay the teacher and cover our expenses while offering dance. [For instance,] setting up a Zoom where the teacher is with a live class. So [through] Zooming the class[,] … if a parent wants to have classes and wants to have a lower class rate, it's possible to live stream the class. Even though I'm not calling out specific dancers here, if they're following along they're still getting something. (45:58)
K: Being able to live stream a class and have the students who are paying the full price be there. I'm giving them the direct attention, but we're also allowing other students to have [the opportunity] to be there. It wouldn't be the same as like just a Zoom class, but if we're thinking about cost, then I think if we're charging less and they're online, I think that's a possibility of opening up the classes. That way students who don't have the economic means, or maybe don't have dress code, [Zoom permits one to] be more flexible and open … how students take class. (46:52)
Uncovering alternative functionality: Opens engagement with students who may have impediments/ Disabilities
A powerful and illuminating topic of the benefits of reimagining the studio by adapting to new teaching methods through technological platforms is the subject of Ableism. Placing the spotlight on (K)'s narration of their experience teaching online, I address the facility to log into a Zoom class. That can not only be more accessible for a student who can not pay a full face-to-face class rate; it can broaden demographics. For instance, Zoom can permit students who have disabilities or learning impairments, access to the Balletic Arts from the comfort of their residences if need be as our follow-up conversation reveals:
K: If we have a student with ADHD in class, that can be challenging for a teacher because that student needs to move, they need to touch things, and they need to move, and they're not going to stand in line. But if that child is on Zoom in their own house and they're dancing, but then they're also going to other places, that child can be who they need to be to learn, and it's not distracting to the other students, and it allows them- [agreeing with crossover talk] still part of the group (49:43). [Pause] It just gives another option in case that's a better way for them to learn (49:58)
But How ?
Exploring, how one may make online courses available as part of the standard curriculum to maintain cost-effective alternatives if an educator has a little background in technology is placing cameras; angling the class to facilitate recording. To then easily upload as a sharing system.
J: … I have currently I think maximum one or two [students] in studio and the rest are still on Zoom and the studio rigged, … a camera and TV up in the studio so I'm currently teaching kids in studio and online concurrently. (7:05)
Me: Oh wow. Is the online class cheaper than the in-studio class, if I can ask? (7:10)
J: Yes. It is like 10% cheaper or something like that. (7:16)
To conclude, steps to recreate a Ballet class online successfully, can entail taking advantage of the space. That may fashion activities such as at-home prop work exercises from studio practice that translate to the home. “Deterritorializing”—breaking from the habitual ways of practicing and dancing Ballet as Les Danseurs exhibited in various fashions ultimately promote engagement. Interconnected is how educators take into consideration the three A’s. When one, for instance, acknowledges practice methods may be outdated or do not reflect the students’ possibility to engage in said activity, it may be paramount to adapt. In turn, to create appealing and exciting exercises for students, any student who finds themselves limited by the traditional way of doing things may continue in their passions in choreography or during practice. I end with a reflection of (J) ’s adaptability, optimizing all aspects of a traditional Ballet class. Such as barre-warm up, center, adagio, and across the floor practice to the accommodations of students experience. As noted, was the key is to acknowledge a students’ spatial constraints, making the appropriate changes to engage in the practice.
J: I do a full class. I tell the kids, for grand allegro, I tell them to go to the corridor, and if I can just see them a little bit, that's fine.
Me: Oh, I love that.
Me: Go to different parts of your house if you need to. This is your grand allegro area. Don't kick your dog. [tone of humor] If I can't always see them, that's fine. As long as they move in or at some point are in frame. ( 22:31)
J:… I have one girl who has been on pointe now. She's not super strong, we're working on things, but she's on pointe at home on Zoom, and she was lucky enough to get a little bit of Marley, [inaudible 00:23:00] roll Marley, so she's been using that, but she doesn't have a barre. She's using her fireplace mantelpiece.
Me: Okay. I love the creativity. No, I love that. (23:12)
Act V: Curtain Call: How Teaching Materials Influence Practice & Performance; How is this Intertwined to Cost?
Part I: More than a photograph…
I close with an open dialogue on how Les Danseurs' use of Semiotics allows for a deeper analysis on how the Balletic Arts can be limiting socioeconomically. Profoundly, Semiotics' benefit cultivating dialogue concerning history, changes to the art form students seem fitting, promote conversation how the students identify, or if anything may not be represented, I examine how educators teaching material is intertwined to cost.
As the expert I have chosen to highlight reveals, visually, the Balletic arts can be racially limiting if educators, for instance, solely promote the eras of Ballet's inception. Which predominantly has an extensive history in Europe. These images, specifically if used to set standards of garments of practice or performance, encourage the historical tradition of permitting solely pink tights, cream shades of slippers, or pointe shoes. As (K) analysis reveals, "pink tights pink shoes ...were a reflection of the skin tone," and today, artists come to an array of diverse backgrounds and have different skin tones.
Assembling the importance to review the visual material one may incorporate in-class stems from (K) specific reflection addressing their experience "recognizing African Americans [as] underrepresented in the Visual Arts [because minorities are not commonly represented in the classical balletic realm]" (Charland, 2010, p. 115) when examining their student's pictorial records of performances. As noted, "when [one] look[s] at photographs of people who have varying different skin shades, and [one] see[s] what it does to the line of the body if your legs don't match your upper body, it's very distracting. (K)"
Thus I shine a light on the fallacy educators can mistakenly promote in setting standards of Balletic garments to parallel the images of dancers solely from bygone eras of Ballet's inception in Europe. I bring forth center stage attention to the additional additive cost of dying come performance time if students need to match their tights or shoes to the color of their uniform. Or consider the added burden of repurchasing nude tights and slippers if year-round the balletic standard of pink and cream tights is enforced year-round. As Steinberg, S. & Kincheloe (n.d) note, all educators can adapt practices by analyzing "the power of white supremacy [as] an important target of critical multiculturalism with its phenomenal ability to camouflage itself to the point of denying its existence" (p.5).
I suggest that if more shoe companies are manufacturing slippers and pointe shoes in an array of different "nudes," I expose the idea for an educator to adapt to incorporate how current dancer (s) engage in performance using these garment options. Validating the reality that dancers come in an array of beautiful shades. Consider updating the traditional Balletic garment standards to reflect their teaching environment that may aid in relinquishing additive dying costs students of darker tones may face down the line. Or the alienation altogether they may feel if we continue to enforce an outdated standard of solely pink shoes, shades of cream ballet tights, and pointe shoes.
In closing, I call for teachers to examine the imagery presented in class and adapt to the necessary changes teaching a Eurocentric art form as Ballet is in 21 -century America. "An important feature of critical multiculturalism[, as Les Dansuers promoted throughout different elements of their practice] involve[ed their] ability to examine the domains of race and white supremacy, gender and patriarchy and socio-economic class and middle and upper-class privileges in relation to and [as they] function [with] one another" (Steinberg, S. & Kincheloe, n.d, p.5).
K: I have voiced that it is important to have dancers of color in the photographs around the studio and that our dress code needs to be changed to be inclusive of all of the students who attend. I feel comfortable speaking directly about these issues, but I have worked to secure a position in both studios and am not new to teaching there. (Written Questionnaire Response)
Me: [Bringing up additional inquiry how specifically teaching materials are intertwined to cost]
K: Our repertoire... is a European art form, so we are based out of France...where this [referring to Ballet] came from. (Infliction of tone changes) [BUT] It has been CENTURIES, and people worldwide are studying and performing Ballet. I don't necessarily think that we need to continue to do the Nutcracker. First of all, I hate the Nutcracker. I think it's extremely problematic in so many ways. Yet, it is one of the things that parents ask for. People ask for it. But that doesn't mean that we have to dance the way it was historically done. We can change choreography, and as a studio, you are welcome to change choreography (11:27).
K: It doesn't have to be the Chinese dance, the Russian dance, the Arabian dance. Those dances could be different from how they were presented in the past, and you don't have to put dancers in blackface. Just because historically, that's how the Ballet was done. There's a lot of things that I think people don't need to take from the art form that we can leave. I think that it's important that our students understand the history of the platform. If the parents are asking for Nutcracker, we should address why we don't teach it or why we teach it this way. (12:33).
K: The performing arts, it's a living, breathing thing. Dance is a language. Like all languages, it needs to evolve and change to continue to be relevant in today's society. I don't think that we need to do everything that we've done in the past (13:53)
K: I honestly think that if we continue to teach Ballet how it has been taught forever, it will die. I do think that. There is a reckoning around dance and that for it to stay relevant and important [a], full conversation needs to continue to evolve. However, …that doesn't mean that technique goes out the window"… you can work within the technical abilities like the movement like the moment is the same, but is dent have to be in a strict off of casting or costuming" (18:13).
K: [Inclusivity is paramount and for instance,] books that we use when we're showing Ballet to the kids—making sure that those books have other people that aren't just white girls with blue eyes and blonde hair. I am a white woman with green or brown hazel eyes and brownish hair. Again, not seeing me in a book [pause of reflection] we just make sure that people look different and that [it is represented.] (29:33)
Trying to make the connection of garments seen in photographs, I inquire further only to reveal how additional costs are interwoven when one enforces a specific image of Ballet as (K) detailed specifically towards the final reflection:
K: “Of course there's people that are always going to be like, well, it's classical and historical. Again, because of the way I didn't come from a ballet studio, so a lot of the requirements of ballet, some of these things I didn't understand. For instance, pink tights pink shoes, I didn't understand that they were a reflection of the skin tone. In my aging grace[,] I have become more aware of how making people and requiring everyone to wear pink tights is a form of racism. It keeps the students who have darker skin,…always having to do something extra. If you're supposed to match your tights and there aren't tights for you in that color, people have the added burden of dying their own shoes or dying their own tights. (9:51).
K: … I brought it up and I was like, "We really shouldn't be requiring everyone to wear pink tights, they should be matching their skin." My studio owner still feels that the pink tights are just pink tights, they're not skin color it's fine. But when you're looking at photographs of people who have varying different skin shades, and you see what it does to the line of the body if your legs don't match your upper body, it's very distracting. Then there's a reason that people think like, oh that doesn't look as good, and it's like because it isn't part of the same body anymore. You've cut off the line. That was something that I had to recognize. (11:13).
Part II: How Teaching Materials influence Participation:
I end with an open-ended review an educator can adapt if wishing to “talk and address contemporary issues in Ballet and reflecting on them in context of older classical ballets” (J) but may have limited funds to do so. Thus, I insert a last and final reflection by Les Danseurs. A review, for instance, of the imagery in one’s class, inclusive of posters or the mentions of renditions as part of ones’ teaching material, especially of historical Balletic original works, can be an engaging and un-costly method. Students, for example, can dialogue addressing Ballet’s Historical misuse of characterization within its imagery. To become much more knowledgeable of contemporary issues to recognize racism. Incorporating dialogue can be a proposed and effective tool that requires no cost to engage with students by examining the photographs that may be used as teaching material, referenced repertoire, by whom, or posters surrounding one’s facility.
Me: …for instance[,]… addressing the Ballet Russes in a class once[,] we kind of stemmed off of the curriculum in a bit because I had to address Orientalism and the misuse of the characterizations [inaudible 00:26:03] by Fokine and so I started mentioning Alonzo King's rendition and we started just having a conversation about if we're going to recreate this ballet you have to know its history and why we shouldn't really do it exactly how it was originally [done] because we might misrepresent a culture [.] That's also something that kind of we also discussed about the Nutcracker and [inaudible 00:26:40] so we just have those conversations at part of our curriculum even though they're not structured as part of the studio's curriculum but they still are something that we bring up and through visuals I just use that as a tool and a vehicle to guide and navigate conversations… (27:03)
J: [picking up] I think having those conversations that you had is great. (27:36)
Me: Thank you. I started really just thinking about what I was showing the kids. There's this Ballet book that I use, it's the big text, and a lot of the imagery was not very inclusive and so I teach a lot of racially diverse kids. ...not predominantly Caucasian, and so we were just having conversations too about the tights and the pink pointe shoes and showing renditions now of companies using nude colored tights and nude colored pointe shoes that complement darker skin tones and like if they wanted to do that, it was okay. Just addressing how dance has kind of evolved over the years and it's not limited to just one image but the image is historical and you should know the foundation, but then just play around with the way that you want to choreograph or what you want to wear, what makes you feel comfortable. That's why I just ask about the repertoire and just showing contemporary in the sense of now artists that are doing renditions. (28:51)
M: That's just the perspective that I started to think about and I didn't have that before, to be quite honest. My concept of choreography was very limiting and I had to do everything by the book and then I started really experimenting. Well I'm sure your experience in LA being a professional dancer too, just dancing through different platforms even outside or through different dance companies, you always try something different and people are okay with that when they see it. Our technique is not any less, it's just that the message that we're using is showcased in a different avenue. (37:28)
J: I think this conversation was actually really helpful. It showed me the whole, like I have not been talking about the contemporary issues about Ballet. I've really been focused on the classics and showing the kids where things have come from because a lot of them don't, they do know but not really. I want them to experience what things feel like in their bodies. Unfortunately yes, the demographic that I teach is very white for the most part. I have like one Jewish girl and I have one white and Asian mixed girl but everyone else is white and able to pay the performance fees and able to do all these things. (34:17)
J: I think yeah, even if I don't have that demographic of a wide demographic of students I think having that conversation with them is important and that's great. That's great that you do that. I'd like to plug the hole eventually. (34:38)
Suppose educators have limited experience using visuals as teaching material. In that case, a method to redirect attention if and when having difficulties during Online practice (expanding on ACT IV) may be adapting to incorporating them as I finalize with the suggested benefits of its usages. As an un-costly and straightforward method to engage students in dialogue; redirecting participation:
L: I think the attention span is not there. (Speaking of Zoom difficulties) I think it's more of a struggle to teach new students. I think with continuing students who you already know, it doesn't affect it too much, but I have noticed a lot of students dropping out because they just can't focus online. (13:33)
Me: Do you think material would help like visualization, videos, or texts or any type of visuals to help them engage? (13:56)
L: I really haven't used visuals in my classes too much, especially on Zoom. I think if I was able to play, that takes the tech to another level. I have to have something prepared that I can share the screen and all of that. So that would definitely be more work on my end, but I think that the kids could be more engaged if I were to play a video. Yeah. I think that's a great suggestion actually.(14:05)
Conclusion: Le Reverence
My three participants’ experiences touched on many informative methods and practices that traversed the various elements of Balletic practice. Their responses provide a greater understanding of how interconnected the three A’s (Adaptation, Activities, and Acknowledgment) are, enhancing their practice to make the Balletic Arts much more socio-economically equitable. Without diminishing teacher-to-student quality. For this paper, I have interwoven the narratives of three educators. With various years of teaching experiences, all of which have an extensive professional dance background. Reflecting on my research findings, they are not solely of value for my understanding of methods and practices as I am a Ballet dance educator but also for how they may offer “recommendations for both practice and additional research” (Ely et al. 1997, p.161). Illuminating gaps within Ballet Pedagogy teacher preparation may not have prepared us to teach this art form in the 21 century. Contrast to hands-on experience in practice, which can provide future Ballet educators with insight on specific methods to address mitigating financial factors. Found amongst, Tools of Practice, Tools of Performance, Elements of Practice/Creation, Platform, and finally a brief overview of our Teaching Tools. That can limit engagement or alienate specific demographics from participating altogether.
References:
Acuff, J. (2015). Failure to Operationalize Investigating in Critical Multicultural Art Education. Journal of Social Theory in Art Education. 30-43
Walker, S.R. (n.d). Artmaking and Nonesense, 1-27
Banks, J., Banks, C. (2004). Handbook on research on Multicultural Education. Chapter 1. Multicultural Education: Historical Development, Dimensions, and Practice. pp. 3-25.
Buffington, M. L., & Wilson McKay. S. (2013). Chapter 29: A Research Journey: Narrative Inquiry with Three Artists-Teachers. Practice Theory: Seeing the power of art teacher researchers. Reston, VA. National Art Education Association. Pp. 227-230
Dipesh, K. (n.d). Visual Ethnography, Thick Description and Cultural Representation. Journal of Sociology & Anthropology. 147-160
Ely, M. Vinz, R., Dowing, M, Anzul, M. (1997). Chapter 4: Working in Analytic Modes. On Writing Qualitative Research: Living by Words. New York,NY. Routledge Falmer. pp. 160-222.
Ladson-Billings, G Tate, W. (1995). Toward a Critical Race Theory of Education. Teachers College Record. 97 (1), 47-68.
Steinberg, S. & Kincheloe, J. Smoke and Mirrors: More than One way to be Diverse and Multicultural. In G. Anderson (Ed.) Diversity and Multiculturalism: A Reader. pp. 3-22
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