You learn something every day if
you pay attention. ~Ray LeBlond
Dance
is a physical activity, and, like most physical activities, is taught through a
teacher modeling the steps while the students imitate the movements. Kinesthetic learning is extremely effective,
and research has documented that motor skills are acquired faster and more
accurately via this method than any other. (2)
In
last week’s post about using mental rehearsal, I wrote about a new motor
pathway being created in the nervous system each time a new physical activity
is learned. Each time the learned
activity is repeated, a specific region of the brain is activated. A study
conducted at the University of California at Santa Barbara found that this same
region, appropriately called the action observation network, is activated when dancers watch someone else performing the learned
activity. (1)
It
is for this reason that observation can and should be used as a tool in dance
education. When the action observation
network is activated, blood flow to the brain increases, motor pathways that
were created when learning the activity are reinforced, and muscle reaction
time improves.
There
are many times in dance classes and rehearsals when dancers are not active, but
scientific research indicates that those times can be used to improve
through observation. This evidence is
exciting for the educator who may teach a young child that often refuses to
participate in class. That student is
benefitting and learning simply by observing from the perimeter of the
room. The activation of the brain and
nervous system also means that the student who arrives late to class, misses a
substantial portion of the warm-up, and is not allowed to participate is also
learning by actively watching his or her peers plié, jump and turn across the
space.
There
are times during a dance class when the students are placed into groups and
spend time waiting to take their turns.
Teachers need to find ways to ensure that those students are actively
watching their peers perform. By doing
so, the group that is waiting will be working on skills without even
realizing it. Moreover, dancers are
often double cast in roles. The research
suggests that being present and watching his or her alternate rehearse and perform the role will aid in improving the dancer’s performance.
Dance
educators have always believed that dancers could benefit from watching others,
and now there is scientific research that not only supports this belief but
also makes observing others a requirement if a dancer wants to improve.
(1) Grafton, S. & Cross, E. (2008) Dance and the brain. Learning, Arts, and the Brain. The Dana Foundation, 71-9.
(2) Mattar, A.A., & Gribble, P.L. (2005) Motor learning by observing. Neuron 46:153-60.
