The purpose of this study is to clarify current topics in somatics and dance education in the US and derive knowledge to contribute to dance education of Japan. The articles in Journal of Dance Education and Somatics are mainly examined.

It is clarified that common principles within multiple somatic disciplines are proposed as the way through which general dance teachers can take somatic approach in dance class. The noticed aims to apply somatics are the greater somatic awareness which lead to internal authority and personal growth, as well as improving student individual dance skills. It is also noticed the aim as a way of shifting the identities of dance teachers to improve authoritarian teaching practices, replacing a part of aims of dance into somatics. In the underlying these ideas, the visions of somatics as a field are found, which are that emphasizing on developing communities of explores and researching common principles within different disciplines. In the current Course of Study of Japan, knowledge of body structures and principles of movements are found as contents in the field of Karada-tsukuri. On the other hand, the general knowledges which will support individual dance movement skills are emphasized but remained ambiguous in the field of Dance. It is concluded that the found topics of applying somatics to dance education in the US here show the ways to cultivate knowledges sought in Karada-tuskuri through dance class.

Many elementary schools are replacing expressive movement (creative dance) with practices for group performances at athletic meets. This occurs due to teachers’ concerns, such as their difficulty in understanding the contents of expressive movement instruction and their lack of confidence in teaching the skill. In this study, we conducted interviews at a school where expressive movement was replaced by group performance to determine the cause of the current situation. Our goals were to discover ways to create group performances incorporating expressive learning at athletic meets.

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 elementary school teachers, who instructed group performances. The data obtained from the interviews were analyzed using the modified grounded theory approach (M-GTA).

As a result, 17 concepts in six categories were derived. The data revealed that the group performance teachers recognized that this activity fosters collaborative learning through communication and teamwork. However, they were also anxious about the free expressive movements that should be included in their curriculum and the group performance.

The data suggested that teachers instructing group performances for athletic meets were　conscious of the ingenuity that led learners to make good movements, which improved their willingness to teach, given the stress of creating these teaching materials. Future studies should further investigate how teachers can incorporate expressive movement learning into group performance curricula with greater confidence.

This study verifies the effect of yoga classes on 66 female university students by text mining methods.

The aim of the class was to integrate the states of mind and body. The content was practicing yoga asana and studying “Yoga Sutra”. Subjects of instruction were to understand relationship of mind and body. And students answered three questions (①“What do you think about your mind?”, ②“What do you think about your body?”, ③“What do you think about relationship of mind and body?”) four times. Transition of their comment was verified by KH Coder.

As a result, there was no significant improvement in the stress and disorder of the students. However, analyzing detailed comments verified that self-affirmation of the students increased. In addition, the willingness to improve their malfunctions increased. It was also found that deep breathing is a major factor that makes students feel the connection between mind and body.