Curricular Change as a Battle Strategy: Teaching Dance Historiographies Instead of Dance History

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.58786/rbed.2025.v4.n8.71716

Keywords:

Ensino de história da dança, decolonial, pedagogia, HISTÓRIA DA DANÇA, historiografia

Abstract

This text proposes recommendations for revising the “History of Art,” “History of Dance,” and “History of Dance in Brazil” courses in the undergraduate dance curriculum at the Federal University of Goiás, implemented in 2022. To this end, the revision process considers 20th-century historiographical advancements, the Latin American de-colonial perspective, and contemporary dialogue with dance historians. This study employed a multifaceted methodology, incorporating bibliographic review, contextualized analysis, and a mixed-method approach for conducting historical content classes that foster historiographical knowledge. The text proposes arguments for rethinking dance history pedagogy, as well as the theoretical-practical proposal to shift of the course names from “history” to “historiographies.”

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Author Biography

Rafael Guarato, Universidade Federal de Goiás, Goiânia, Brasil.

Dance historian and professor of the undergraduate course in Dance and the Graduate Programs in Performing Arts and Cultural Performances at the Federal University of Goiás (UFG). PhD in Cultural History from the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC). Leader of the Research Group on Memory and History of Dance (CNPq). Coordinator of the Thematic Committee “Memories and Becomings in Dance Languages” (2015-2016) and the Thematic Committee “Dance, Memory, and History” (2018-present) of the National Association of Dance Researchers (ANDA). Member of Red Descentradxs (Descentrar la Investigación en Danza), which brings together research groups from 13 universities in eight countries (Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, France, Cuba, Costa Rica, and Mexico). Author of the books “Street Dance: Bodies Beyond Movement” (2008) and “Ballet Stagium and the Making of a Myth” (2019). In 2010, he was awarded by the São Paulo Biennial Foundation for his study on the Economics of Art. He was Advisor to the Dance Chair at the Municipal Council of Culture of Uberlândia (2008-2009) and national representative elected by the State of Minas Gerais to compose the Sectoral Collegiate of Dance of the National Council of Cultural Policies (CNPC/MINC - 2012-2014/2015-2017). He served as a member of the Deliberative and Fiscal Council (2014/2016) and as Director (2016/2018) of the National Association of Dance Researchers (ANDA). He is editor of the Dance Section of the academic journal Artes da Cena (Art in Stage) and was guest editor of the magazine Investigaciones en Danza y Movimiento (2021). In addition to his written works on the history and historiography of dance, he also publishes on the economics of dance, means of aesthetic legitimation, and social networks in the field of dance in Brazil. Artistic Director of Grupo Três em Cena (GO).

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Published

2026-02-02

How to Cite

GUARATO, Rafael. Curricular Change as a Battle Strategy: Teaching Dance Historiographies Instead of Dance History. Brazilian Journal of Dance Research, [S. l.], v. 4, n. 8, p. 129–148, 2026. DOI: 10.58786/rbed.2025.v4.n8.71716. Disponível em: https://www.revistas.ufrj.br/index.php/rbed/article/view/71716. Acesso em: 1 aug. 2026.

Issue

Vol. 4 No. 8 (2025): Teaching dance history: pedagogies, methods, and curriculum

Section

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