Reframing Movement Modifications: Integrative Dance in a Collegiate Environment

Dancers embody movement with an individualized approach, informed by their own unique physicality, creativity, and lived experience. In this paper, the author describes an integrative dance course in higher education that invites adult community members with developmental and intellectual disabilities to dance alongside college students twice per week for one hour. By grouping college students and community members into small cohorts, the design of the class is able to support differentiated learning and an acknowledgment of the diversity of the dancers engaging in movement. A detailed description of class structure, logistical considerations, and pedagogical strategies for integrative dance in a collegiate environment is discussed, overlaid with an argument to replace the term “modified” with “integrative” when dancing with individuals with disabilities.