Creating or composing in the arts, notably dance, encourages multiple solutions to
a single problem and often incorporates several intelligences in the process. Through
the arts, children learn essential skills by using the problem-solving processes of
innovating, prioritizing and sequencing. The creative process engages higher-order
cognitive thinking that goes beyond rote memorizing. When a teacher facilitates
creativity within a group it promotes team building, peer teaching, group decision
making, and negotiating consensus. Hanna (1999) made reference to the arts
programme in some of the New York public schools which impacted on the motivation,
academic performance and personal development of inner-city youths. Creativity
and experimentation are at the core of arts education. Incorporating whole-body
kinaesthetic knowledge through dance completes a student’s full spectrum of
aesthetic talents and abilities.