Dance as a Tool for Sustainability: Possibilities and Limits

Abstract: This study argues that the art of dance can be used as a tool for sustainability, including matters of human rights, political oppression, awareness in environmental and ecological destruction.This thesis explores possible ways for dance to contribute to sustainable development and whether these ways are effective. It also seeks to locate the possibilities and limits of dance in comparison with other forms of art that can also be used to promote sustainability. The research was conducted by gathering data from a variety of sources including interviews, videos, a literature review and personal observation.Dance was found in many instances to be a successful way of addressing sustainability issues. The advantages of dance over other forms of art include its familiarity for most people; its capacity to uplift people’s feelings; the ease of combination with other forms of art; and the variety of choices in moves, styles and ways of addressing pressing issues. The drawbacks of dance, include the fact that dance is nonverbal and not easy to preserve or describe; as well as practical limitations facing the people involved with dance and not the art form as such.The findings from this research offer insight into the current and potential future impact of dance on sustainability issues. Dance can contribute to diverse dimensions of sustainable development, though this impact is somewhat constrained by the low status of dance in many educational [email protected]