Exploring Situations Between Art and Pedagogy: The Dance Project Var Vrimmel as an Aesthetic Learning Process with Fourth Graders as Participants

Abstract

This article investigates aesthetic learning processes from the perspective of three dancers working in a school context. It is based on our own experiences from Var Vrimmel – a dance project carried out by the dance group Landing at a Norwegian primary school in 2019, where three dancers were “artists in residence” at a primary school for four weeks. We present three different formats, each with a different relationship between the dancers and the fourth graders participating in the project. Our intention is to outline, describe and discuss how our practice can facilitate aesthetic processes at the intersection between art and education. Our theoretical framework is based on John Dewey’s work, particularly his definition of aesthetic experience. Our aim is to contribute to understanding the notion of aesthetic learning processes and broaden perspectives on how artists could work in a school context and the roles they might have.