ABSTRACT
In proposing alternative anthropological perspectives on education, Hervé Varenne stated that “Many suggest that schools—as organized almost anywhere around the world—are not particularly good at educating—especially about what is most important in a person’s life, whether it be religion, political ideology, artistic identity, and all that makes the particular character of a person’s outlook on life” (Varenne, 2007, p. 1539). The arts have long provided critical places through which those involved respond, explore, and express complex social issues. A number of community- and ethnically based performance ensembles use music, dance, theater, and visual forms to address such issues as identity, racial and ethnic marginality, and community empowerment. Perhaps because of their relationship to heightened and orchestrated somatic modes of attention, the arts and artistic venues are often studied and cited for offering alternative ways of knowing that highlight the role of the body and the senses (e.g., Bresler, 2004).
