Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Toronto, 2004. / Adviser: David Booth.

<p> Ballet is a world of exquisite artistry and strong tradition that has evolved beyond its origins as an elite court dance of 17^th century France into a global art form reaching audiences throughout the world. Yet, to this day, ballet remains mostly white. This inequity is found not only on the stage, but in the ballet school, executive suite, and boardroom.</p><p> Racial inequity in ballet is born of a complex system of historical, social, and organizational issues, including: artistic tradition, racism, socioeconomics, cultural policy, education, funding, management, and governance. Because these issues are not independent but intersectional, they must be examined and addressed holistically.</p><p> By conducting surveys, interviews, and a thorough literature review, the author dissects the challenges ballet companies face in promoting racial equity and identifies strategies being implemented to address those challenges. The author posits that racial equity must come from the top of an organization, with leaders setting policy that leads actionable change. Simultaneously, there must be a bottom-up approach where access, education, and opportunity are given to rising dancers and leaders of color.</p><p> This paper is meant to be a working resource for all dance professionals seeking to promote racial equity in ballet.</p><p>

Intelligence and creativity are concepts used to describe the efforts of human beings to achieve the highest aspirations of the human brain-mind-spirit system.Howard Gardner, intelligence and creativity researcher, applied his Multiple Intelligence theory to case studies of creative masters from seven intelligence domains developing a template for research: Life Course Perspective: A Framework for Creativity Analysis. The framework consists of four sections: Child and Master, Creation of a Work, an Analysis of Creativity, The Creator and the Field, and Fruitful Asynchronicity. This case study uses Gardner's framework in examining cognition and creativity in a Navajo/Dineh university student creating in fine arts and nominated in bodily-kinesthetic and intra-personal intelligence. This explorative case study reveals that he also excels in other intelligence domains: linguistic and spatial. Meta-cognitive interviews with the case study subject, and his notebooks provide the data sources concerning his cognition and his creativity.Indigenous educators and researchers assert that there is a discernible difference in perspectives concerning western science conceptions and Indigenous experience. This research discovered points of resonance as well as tangential trajectories of cultural difference from Gardner's research conclusions. Discoveries in this exploration confirm the importance of culture and zeitgeist in knowledge development, pedagogy, schoolingand the creativity process. Emerging themes emanating from these discoveries areChild of the Holy People, Sacred Geography, and Fruitful Asynchronicity from an Indigenous Perspective.Conclusions from this inductive research support Gardner's framework in the cultural study of cognition and creativity, underscores the value of Multiple Intelligence theory, and provide examples of praxis consonant with Indigenous learning processes for Gifted & Talented Education. The American Indigenous symbiotic and synergetic perspectives are novel in the examination of intelligence and creativity in the American education system. The American Indian perspectives are possibly prophetic as they proceed beyond culture and Gifted education intersecting and informing other fields: psychology, educational anthropology, philosophy, and Indigenous studies both in American populations as well as Indigenous gifted students worldwide.

Thesis (Ph.D.) (Communication & Media) -- University of Western Sydney, 2003. / A thesis submitted in requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy - Communication & Media, University of Western Sydney, 2003. Bibliography : leaves 350-372.