Selected Publications:
Giguere, M. and Barr, S. 2020. Section Co-Editors, Community Dance Section for Ethical Dilemmas in Dance Education: Case Studies on Humanizing Dance Pedagogy, Risner, D and Schupp, L (Eds), Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company.
Giguere, M. and Barr, S. with M. Fitzgerald. 2020. “Whose Class is it Anyway” in Ethical Dilemmas in Dance Education: Case Studies on Humanizing Dance Pedagogy, pgs 245-253. Risner, D and Schupp, L (Eds), Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company.
Giguere, M. and S. Barr. 2020. “Why Do I Have to Perform?” in Ethical Dilemmas in Dance Education: Case Studies on Humanizing Dance Pedagogy, pgs 278-286 Risner, D and Schupp, L (Eds), Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company.
Barr, S. and M. Giguere with S. Bendix. 2020. “Intergenerational Moves” in Ethical Dilemmas in Dance Education: Case Studies on Humanizing Dance Pedagogy, pgs 267-276 Risner, D and Schupp, L (Eds), Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company.
Barr, S. and M. Giguere with S. Bendix. 2020. “Dancing within Prison Walls” in Ethical Dilemmas in Dance Education: Case Studies on Humanizing Dance Pedagogy, pgs 256-265 Risner, D and Schupp, L (Eds), Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company.
Giguere, M. September 2019. Guest Editor Dance Education in Practice: Special Issue: Choreography in Education. Philadelphia, PA: Taylor & Francis Publishing.
Giguere, M. 2019. The Development of Identity in Teenage Dancers through Community Engagement in Dance and the Quality of Life. Bond, K (Ed). NY: Springer Publishing.
Giguere, M, 2019. Foreward and Viewing Dance in Public and Private: Embracing Ambiguity in Philadelphia Museum of Dance Catalogue https://phlpmd.com
Giguere, M. June 2017. Guest Editor Dance Education in Practice: Special Issue: Community Dance. Philadelphia, PA: Taylor & Francis Publishing.
Giguere, M. and Federman-Moralies, R. 2017. Dancing Partners/ Dancing Peers: A Wheelchair Dance Collaborative in Dance, Access and Inclusion: Perspectives on dance, young people and change. Burridge,S. and Svenson C. (Eds).
Giguere, M. (2015-21) Trends in Dance Education (ongoing column, published two-three times yearly) Dance Education in Practice. Topics published to date: Pay Rates for Dance Teachers: Concerns and Suggestions; The Pros and Cons of Student Performances: Tips for Working with Beginners; Classroom Management Techniques, How to Negotiate for Wages, Recognizing Success as a New Teacher, etc. Philadelphia, PA: Taylor & Francis Publishing.
Giguere, M. (2015) Anorexia Nervosa and the Dancer: Perspectives for the Dance Educator. Dance Education in Practice 1(3) 8-10.
Giguere, M. (2015) Contributor Chapter 2: Teaching and Chapter 4: Research in Dance in Public Scholarship: Teaching, Choreography, Research, Service and Assessment for Community Engagement. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics
Giguere, M. (2014) Dance Education and Action Research: A Twin Study, Research in Dance Education, 16 (1) 16-32.
Giguere, M. (2013) Beginning Modern Dance. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics
Giguere, M. and Bashaw, B. (2013) Book Review: Close Encounters: Dance Partners for Creativity. Thinking Skills and Creativity 10 (2013) 99– 100
Giguere, M. (2012) Self Reflective Journaling: A Tool for Assessment, Journal of Dance Education 12 (3) 99-103
Giguere, M. (2011). Social influences on the creative process: An examination of children’s creativity and learning in dance. International Journal of Education and the Arts, 12(SI 1.5). Retrieved from http://www.ijea.org/v12si1/.
Giguere, M. (2011) Dances For Children, With Children, and By Children: Looking at Dance through a Lens of Children’s Culture, Journal of Dance Education 11(3): 84-89
Giguere, M. (2011) Dancing Thoughts: An Examination of Children’s Cognition and Creative Process in Dance, Research in Dance Education, 12 (1): 1-24.
Giguere, M (2010) The Mind in Motion: An Examination of Children’s Cognition Within the Creative Process in Dance, Arts and Learning Research Journal, 26 (1) 126-144.
Giguere, M and Moss, M (2009) “What Does Mr. Bach Tell Us to Do?” A Thematic Collaboration Between Music and Dance, Journal of Music & Dance. December 2009.
Giguere, M. (2008) Learning from the Masters: Understanding the Influence of Dance History on Technique Class in B. Miller and A. Vachon, (eds.) The Limon Centennial Collection. New York: Jose Limon Dance Foundation, p.47-54.
Giguere, M. (2007) Shared Symbols: An investigation into the symbols conveyed through dance and sculpture In L. Overby and B. Lepczyck. (Eds.) Dance: Current Selected Research, Volume 6, AMS Press. New York: AMS Press, Inc: 79-92.
Giguere, M. (2006). Thinking as they create: Do children have similar experiences in dance and in language arts? Journal of Dance Education 6, 2:41-47.
Giguere, M. (2005). Revitalizing Pennsylvania Through Creativity: Dance in Education. Arts Education Policy Review 106 (4), March / April p. 34-39.
My research interests center around cognition and social interaction during the creative process, particularly when that practice is an embodied group process, such as choreography. I am particularly interested in questions of how our thinking is shaped by our physical experiences and understanding what effect a collaborative group structure, present in many dance making paradigms, has on our thinking. This has led me to investigate the impact of context and pedagogical methodology on social cognition in dance. I have conducted this research using a variety of methodologies, including phenomenography, action research and mixed method paradigms. The main settings for these investigations have been in community- based learning environments, K-12 schools and professional choreographic projects. The results of this research are most commonly journal articles, book chapters and conference presentations, but sometimes manifest as city wide performance projects which challenge the public to re-examine the role of the dance in intellectual development.
I am also interested in the potential applications of this work, by understanding how the skills for group thinking and embodied cognition, developed through the creative process in dance, could be applicable to 21st century social and educational goals for public education. Our public education system, designed in an industrial age, is often focused on skills such as memorization and the acquisition of facts, which can be assessed through standardized testing. These are not, however, the requisite skills for educating youth to enter our current creative economy, which relies on tolerating ambiguity and collaborative thinking. Discoveries and inventions are made by teams, not individuals, in the 21st century, and the ability to know how to navigate creative process in a group setting is emerging as a central social and cognitive skill. My research leads me to believe that an arts integrated curriculum could develop these skills. I further believe that this approach will empower students as individuals capable of navigating a complex world, where working with a multiplicity of diverse individuals is necessary for success. The arts are often touted as important to education because they contribute to emotional and cultural development, but rarely are the arts seen as a mode of intellectual or social development, particularly in elementary education, and especially with respect to dance. My current research is focused on expanding understanding of the value of the arts, particularly dance, in developing social and cognitive skills necessary for 21st century success.
Funded Research Projects:
Rehearsing Philadelphia (PI)
Funding Source: Pew Center for Arts and Heritage Collaborative Project Grant (with Curtis Institute of Music)
January 2020-June 2022
Philadelphia Museum of Dance (PI)
Funding Source: Pew Center for Arts and Heritage Project Grant.
June 2017-October 2018
Dancing Dialogues (PI)
Funding Source: Pew Center for Arts and Heritage Project Grant.
September 2015-September 2016
Movement in Mind: Perception of Motor Skill and Aesthetics in the Minds of Experts (Co-I)
Founding Source: ExCITe Center Seed Grant
September 2014- June 2015