This book takes students through the learning process to become an expert dancer. It provides the skills required to identify movement potential, warm up and cool down effectively, express ideas through dance, develop choreography and construct a professional portfolio. This book contains both movement experiences and written assignments that develop critical thinking and student involvement in the learning programme and enhance the understanding of dance as an art form. By the end of the book, students gain a better understanding of dance as art and compile a portfolio documenting their work and achievements throughout the class.

Helene Scheff has been a dance educator and administrator for 45 years in both the public and private sectors. A graduate of the famed NYC High School of Performing Arts, Scheff has trained in New York, Chicago and California. She is a former Joffrey Ballet dancer and has taught and choreographed for the University of Kansas, University of Massachusetts at Amherst and Rhode Island College. She has served as vice president of dance and conference coordinator for RIAHPERD, vice president of dance for EDA and treasurer for the Rhode Island Alliance for Arts in Education. Marty Sprague is a professional choreographer and performer with 29 years of experience in public dance education. She is also a dance educator at Roger Williams Middle School in Providence and is a trainer for the National Centre for Education and the Economy Course I, Standard Based Curriculum, a professional development course for standards-based teaching and learning. Susan McGreevy-Nichols has been teaching at Roger Williams Middle School in Providence, USA since 1974. She is the founder and director of the inner-city school's dance programme in which more than 300 of the school's 900 students elect to participate. She also lectures across the USA on setting up dance programmes in public schools, assessing dance and writing grants for dance programmes.