A Case Study Of American Dance Education In The 17^th Century

The soaring development and great achievements of dance education in the United States have drawn great attentions from the rest of the world since the 20^th century. As a country with a history of less than 400 years, the United States not only sees a short span but a very close relationship between its past and present. To understand its present and the value of dance education in the life of Americans, it is necessary for us to make acquainted with its past in the first place.From the angle of sociology and history, the paper A Case Study of American Dance Education in the 17^th Century is trying to outline the track of American dance education in the 17^th Century. By exploring the development, law and feature of it, the significance and value of dance education in this period could be finally clarified, from which the research on American dance education in China and the development of China's dance education could both benefit.The paper comprises six parts as the introduction, four chapters and the conclusion. The introduction part starts from the definition of the conception, followed by the thought, situation, method and significance of this research. Chapter one focuses on analyzing the social circumstances of American dance education in the 17^th Century; and the forming and transition of the cultural traditions and viewpoints which were representative and influencing at that time are also narrated simultaneously. Based on the features of dance education in the 17^th century, the comprehensive situation is discussed from the aspects of "dance education for the common people" and "dance education for the noble" in detail in Chapter Two. Chapter Three summarizes the situation of dance education for the Native Americans and Africans; for the purpose of showing the diversity of the development of American dance education, the fusion and communication among dance cultures of the Native Americans, the Africans, and the white are also discussed in this chapter. Chapter Four and the conclusion part is the induction and summary of the previous chapters, in which the characteristics of American dance education, as well as its significance, value, law, and effect on contemporary world are explained respectively.I hope that this paper could provide valuable reference to the people who work in dance education in our country.