The Folk Dance as Theatrical Performance and the Training of Dance Teachers

The aim of this study is to examine whether the education of dance teachers at the Departments of Physical Education and Sport Sciences (DPESS), and their background of knowledge, meets the requirements of traditional Greek dance performance by dancing groups. The study was based mainly on bibliographical research about the stage performance of folk dancing and the training of dance teachers in Greece and abroad (in former-Yugoslavia and Finland). Also taken into consideration are the curricula of the DPESS of Athens, Thessalonica, Komotini, Serres and Trikala for the academic year 2001-2002. In conclusion, we can say that: (a) the training of the dance teacher, with regard to methodology, the techniques of research and an anthropological approach to dance, is satisfactory; and (b) there are no courses on directing, choreography and costume design, all of them necessary for the theatrical presentation of traditional dances.