Adolescent Dance Curriculum: Exploring Collective Leadership Through a Student-Led Project

This study utilized qualitative research methods to address the following questions: What are the experiences of teen dance students who engage in a youth-directed, collaborative creative project? How can these experiences inform the adolescent curriculum of Tanner Dance? The purpose of this research was to discover how female adolescents with previous dance training approach a youth-directed, cooperative project. The findings highlight the ways in which the hierarchical structure of dance inadvertently works against the development of youth leadership, ownership and agency. The research illuminated the effects of gender normative behavior and female socialization on youth's collaborative processes and their motivation for participating in dance. The process uncovered curriculum potential within Tanner Dance, a nonprofit dance school and arts education organization in Salt Lake City, Utah. The analysis is critical to helping dance educators in the program help students develop into independent artists and collaborative community leaders.