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The results of the 2016 British referendum on membership of the European Union and the presidential election in the United States of America initiated political changes that will arguably have resounding impacts, within and beyond the UK and the US for years to come. Much of the rhetoric accompanying these political victories appears to confront humanist ideals associated with inclusion, rationalism and transnational exchange. This article argues that these seismic political events in Europe and America will have an international impact on policies, practices and pedagogies associated with dance education, inevitably challenging those who seek to broaden meanings of socially, culturally, economically and politically inclusive arts education. We have gathered the queries of leading dance education researchers from around the world, to better understand how these political shifts are perceived, who feels they may be affected, how they feel it may affect them, and how research into dance education may respond to, and address, these effects. In doing so, we hope to provide a global snapshot of concerns felt by dance education academics in the aftermath of the 2016 British referendum and US Presidential election, and a research framework for investigating the implications of these events on dance education.

This research describes a community dance project for people affected by cancer, which was led by a trained community dancer over 10 movement workshops and three performances. Using a qualitative descriptive approach, the research explored the experiences of a convenience sample of 8 participants out of the original group of 17 individuals who took part in the community dance. The research was participatory and the researchers were involved in workshops and performances as members of the group who also had family members with cancer. The findings indicate the motivation of the dancers to continue in spite of hardship, their sense of pride in being part of something that was larger than themselves, the way the dance permitted them to embody a sense of courage, and finally, in performing, how they managed to share something that genuinely moved an audience.

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