Intelligence Past, Present, and Possible: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences in Dance Education

Summary The contributions of Howard Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences (MI theory) to dance education are reviewed by placing MI theory in the context of historical perspectives on intelligence and examining the assumptions behind traditional models of intelligence as well as some of the more recent pluralistic approaches. The principal tenets of MI theory are reviewed and examined in relationship to the goals of education. Through this examination it is suggested that MI theory validates dance as a domain of knowledge – as the embodiment of “intelligence possible” – and an argument is advanced for the reconsideration of the goals and purposes of dance education.