Dance and Education

Injury Patterns Among Hungarian Professional Folk Dancers

Csilla Almásy — 2025-11-19

The prevalence of musculoskeletal pain and injuries among dancers is high due to the constant high physical strain and short recovery times. The aim of our study is to identify the most common pain and injuries among Hungarian professional folk dancers and to investigate their relationship with lumbopelvic function. Ninety-six professional dancers completed a standardized questionnaire about pain and injury experienced over the past year, and twenty-four dancers were physically examined. During the physical assessment, we used the Knee Lift Abdominal Test (KLAT) and the Active Straight Leg Raise (ASLR) test to assess lumbopelvic motor control. In the study population, the most common injuries and pains in the past year occurred in the ankle (18.8% and 32.3%), knee (16.7% and 37.5%), and lower back (12.5% and 38.5%). The ASLR test showed a significant positive correlation with ankle and/or knee injuries (r = .50, p = .007). In conclusion, the prevalence of lower limb injuries and lower back pain is extremely high among Hungarian folk dancers. Ankle and knee injuries are associated with reduced lumbopelvic motor control.

The Place and Role of Dance in the History of Physical Education in Hungarian Public Schools (1868–2024)

Éva Láng — 2025-11-19

This study explores the changing role of dance in Hungarian physical education from the 1868 Public Education Act to the present. Dance has never held a stable place in school curricula: at times, it served as a key medium of aesthetic education, national identity, and community building, while in other periods it was marginalized in favor of military drills, gymnastics, or fitness trends. Using qualitative and quantitative methods (i.e., historical document analysis, content analysis of pedagogical journals, and systematic examination of curricula and the National Core Curricula), the research reveals how political shifts, cultural priorities, and professional debates have shaped the educational perception of dance. Although dance was repeatedly excluded from official curricula, particularly after 1952, it persisted through extracurricular clubs, teacher initiatives, and alternative programs such as Waldorf education and the Value Mediation Program. Reintroduced into public education by the 1995 National Core Curriculum, its implementation remained limited due to insufficient teacher training. Overall, the findings demonstrate that dance functions both as cultural heritage and as a contemporary pedagogical tool, reflecting enduring tensions between tradition, health, identity, and creativity.

Virtual Communities on Instagram

Marisa Joana Berg — 2025-11-19

Virtual platforms such as Instagram have significantly transformed the way dance is perceived, transmitted, and discursively shaped by introducing new forms of interaction and participation. These changes call for a deeper discussion on how knowledge about dance is produced within and through ‘virtual’ communities. This paper examines how shared learning experiences and interactions contribute to the formation of collective knowledge about dance. It further investigates how dancer identities are constructed on social media by both professional dancers and their followers, particularly in relation to social and bodily norms. By focusing on Instagram posts by ballet-dancing mothers using hashtags such as #momdancer or #ballerinamom, this article illustrates how comments and replies foster community building, offer encouragement, expand traditional notions of the ‘qualities’ of dance, and challenge prevailing body ideals linked to artistic dance on social media. Using an ethnographic approach, this research demonstrates how knowledge production occurs as collective practice and provides new insights into the formation of virtual ‘communities of practice’ and how these online spaces shape contemporary understandings of dance and its dissemination.

Construction Site

Lili Mihajlović Rampre — 2025-11-19

This study examines TakeMoreCare, an artist-led feedback platform in Germany’s freelance performing arts scene. Using constructivist grounded theory, it analyses TMC’s role in addressing gaps in post-educational support, economic barriers, and fragmented feedback structures. Situating TMC within broader discussions on artistic discourse, institutional critique, and digital labour, the study explores how artists navigate self-education, peer exchange, and knowledge production. It also examines the impact of digital tools, engaging with contemporary critiques of digital privatisation and reflections on institutional entrapment. The research was presented as a lecture performance, exploring how knowledge is communicated and embodied. This format reinforced the study’s themes of discursivity and digital entanglement while serving as a performative inquiry into how institutional and digital frameworks influence artistic thought and practice. Findings are primarily descriptive, outlining the structure and function of TMC, while also exploratory in investigating how digitality, self-organisation, and collective discourse creation intersect. The study ultimately positions TMC as a rehearsal ground for agency, offering insights into how artists can intervene in and reshape the discursive conditions of their practice beyond institutional confines.

What is There to Know About Circle Dances?

Nóra Oláh — 2025-11-19

György Martin's book, The Hungarian Circle Dance and its European Relations, is one of the most significant dance-scientific summaries and typological monographs from the 1970s. The importance of this work is demonstrated by the fact that the book was also published in English in 2024, edited by János Fügedi and Dóra Pál-Kovács. The review is about how the original Hungarian volume was created, presents the structure and contents of the monograph, and points out the different editorial approaches of the two volumes.