Objectives of the Conference:
The 2nd International Conference on Dance Education (2nd ICONDE 2018) will be a follow-up series to the first “International Conference on Dance Education” that was held from 13th to 17th August 2014 at the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur. The first ICONDE 2014 has benchmarked standards of dance scholarship in Malaysia and the Asia Pacific region, consequently forging linkages with international institutions of higher learning; particularly with institutions focusing on dance education degrees and the training of dance educators in schools, private studios, universities and other venues, through the recently released post-conference book publication “Perspectives on Dance Education” published by Nusantara Performing Arts Research Center (NusParc) on 23rd September, 2017.
The 2nd ICONDE aims to leverage discourses on creativity in dance education focusing on The Spirit of Creativity in Dance Education, a theme for the 2nd ICONDE that resonates strongly with the UNESCO’s emphasis on “how children learn” rather than “what children learn,” developing their attitudes and aptitude for expressing themselves, taking interest in their surroundings, analyzing problems, proposing constructive solutions, and actively participating in societies through dance education (ref: Iwai, Kaon (2003) Regional Conference on Arts Education in Asia (UNESCO RCAE) May 2003, Thailand). Moreover, the teaching of dance education should be devoted to not only personal creativity to enrich people’s lives, but also cultural creativity to enlighten our civilization, and industrial creativity to stimulate market activities and innovation. Hence, the focus on The Spirit of Creativity in Dance Education.
Different cultures can easily cross geopolitical and cultural frontiers, as the advanced means of new technology is being developed. Children of the 21st century are expected to be open to the world, and to benefit from various information and cultural resources all over the world. The exposure to novel and attractive cultures, however, would jeopardize children losing the appreciation of their own culture, and becoming passive receivers of such continuous flow of information without sufficient knowledge to evaluate and appreciate it. In order to manage such information exposure from different cultures, children have to know and appreciate their own culture, which embodies its identity, values and beliefs, harnessing the spirit of creativity in dance education are key factors of national identity and social cohesion. Creativity in dance education would encourage children to convey properly their own cultures, while stimulating their love and interest in local and national traditions. Dance education, especially emphasizing their own artistic traditions, can play an important role to introduce local and national artistic traditions to the younger generation through artistic works and cultural heritage. Learning traditional and global artistic forms, which are products accumulating unique experiences and knowledge in their society, not only makes children familiar with their roots within the global society, but also arouses a sense of belonging, identifying themselves as a member who can share and appreciate their culture with ease.
Within these contexts, Spirit of Creativity in Dance Education embraces the ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns, relationships or the like to create meaningful new ideas, forms, methods, interpretations, in dance education through original, progressive, or imaginative need for creativity in the teaching, learning and/or performing of dance in educational settings.
