Gender Differences of the Young Adolescent's Attitudes towards the Aesthetic Component of Art Dance

The educational value of dance lies predominantly in its contribution to aesthetic development. Primary school students' attitudes to dance as an aesthetic experience have yet to be discovered. The review of qualitative research indicates that dance is a prevalent recreational activity for young people and is primarily considered an aspect of the PE curriculum. This research aimed to estimate assumed differences in attitudes toward art dance's aesthetical components among primary school students of both genders and ages. The opinions on the variety aspects of art dance have scope from a relatively unified sample of boys and girls, 11-15 years old, using a Questionnaire containing four segments of art dance attitudes scales (Likert-type, with three statements of modalities). Research data were analyzed using MANOVA, DISCRA, and the Roy test. Analyses showed significant differences in all questionnaire segments among upper primary school students of different genders. The realized study design provides information on Serbian urban school pre-adolescents concerning dance as a curriculum activity in schools, which is relevant to many educationalists, first of all for physical education teachers, as well as for other individuals of relevant cultural institutions. The authors also hoped this study may provoke further work, including different regional (intercultural) and cross-cultural research programs.