Danza, cuerpo y educación en Chile. Perspectivas de una relación compleja

Abstract

This article proposes some perspectives about the relation between dance, body and teaching, based on the review of certain body practices that are part of formal education, in specific moments of the recent history of Chile. We will take the historical break produced by the Chilean Coup d’état from September 11, 1973 as a landmark. That’s the moment when neoliberal system began to be installed, as well as when the dictatorship made attempts on many Chilean inhabitants’ lives. Then, we’ll refer to the contribution of a specific dance school in Chile, founded during the military dictatorship, that was dedicated to the training of teachers for almost 30 years. This school produced new perspectives for both dance practice and teaching, and for body understanding, contemporizing it. Finally, we’ll reflect on the importance of sensitive body training in today’s society. We’ll work from Haraway’s ‘Situated knowledges’ perspective; from anthropologist and sociologist David Le Breton’s concepts of the body; from Chilean female dance teachers, including this article’s writer; among other authors.