Preadolescents¹ Reflect on their Dance Drawings:
The Impact of Hip-Hop

Culture

Dance recently gained popularity in the USA with the broadcast of the
reality television show, So you Think you Can Dance. Preadolescents were
questioned about their dance preferences. An analysis/interpretation of a
class of Arizona seventh and eighth graders¹ drawings and questionnaires
revealed their preference for hip-hop dance style, based upon personal and
social reasons. This research project boosted students¹ self-confidence in
general and drawing and communication abilities specifically. Students
revealed intrapersonal, social, rational, and existential concerns. Gender
differences and skin color emerged as major representation concerns, but
spatial concerns were ambivalent. Preadolescents revealed their social
identities, which transcended their ordinary experiences in the complex
world of hip-hop. Drawings and reflections by this group of students have
been posted on a website. This pilot study will enlarge into a
cross-cultural comparison with groups of students in Granada, Spain, and
Antakya, Turkey, which could reveal cultural differences and similarities.

LINKS:
Stokrocki, M., & Eldridge, L. (2006). [Arizona] Children Draw:  I Love to
Dance. Retrieved http://www.reikitantei.net/stokrocki/lovedancing.htm

Stokrocki, M. (2006). [Turkish] Children draw I love to dance. Retrieved
November 6, 3006 from http://www.blogger.com/home  [User - ifmls, Password
--marylou; Hit View Blog.

Marin, R. (2006, 7/1-7/31). Draw dance. [GRANADA drawings] Available at
http://draw-yourself-dancing.blogspot.com. [User and password:
Stokrocki/stokrocki; Power Blogger; posted by Joaquín Roldán].