<p>The overall purpose of this study was to deepen our knowledge about dance in general and about</p><p>dance activities for children in particular, in Morocco. Consequently, we attempted to gain insight and</p><p>understanding of the social and political premises to dance in this context. We further intended to</p><p>study how children were involved in dance activities. A qualitative study was carried out during a stay</p><p>of eight weeks in Marrakech. Data was mainly collected through participant observations in the field</p><p>of dance and children and adults were interviewed. In addition, a quantitative based opinion survey</p><p>was carried out among seven dance teachers.</p><p>The results showed that in spite of the fact that traditional folk dancing is frequently practiced in the</p><p>Moroccan culture, there was a difficulty for the art of dance to gain ground. The access to dance</p><p>activities was limited due to insufficient political and economical support and also because of the</p><p>social conceptions prevailing in the Moroccan society. However, dance was highly valued by children</p><p>that took part in dance education. Both children and dance teachers expressed that dancing enhanced</p><p>the children's self esteem, emotional communication and aesthetic experiences. In the light of the</p><p>theory of multiple intelligences the respondents foremost referred to the personal intelligence as being</p><p>promoted by dancing. The perspective of the child did not receive much attention in governmental</p><p>policies. The access to dance activities for children was much relying on the cultural and economic</p><p>capital of the family. Among people involved in the general field of dance, the knowledge on dance</p><p>showed broad and despite the obvious challenges they were eager to continue their work for the art of</p><p>dance.</p><p> </p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA/oai:DiVA.org:su-28333 |
| Date | January 2009 |
| Creators | Karlsson, Linda |
| Publisher | Stockholm University, Stockholm University, Stockholm University |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, text |
| Relation | Studies in educational sciences, 1400-478X |
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