ABSTRACT
In this Part introduction, Overby relates the findings of a paper she published in 1992 related to the state of public-school dance education in the United States. Specifically, she describes the need to expand content beyond Western and European dance forms, and the need for additional research about the impact of dance education. She narrates the growth of national and state-based dance education organizations and the related development of standards for dance as efforts to expand quality dance education in the United States. She goes on to summarize the five chapters in this Part of the book. She concludes the introduction with a list of hopes for dance education that look toward a more equitable future in which dance education researchers contribute meaningfully to questions of global consequence.
