The non-professional teaching of classical and modern dance at the Mexican Institute of Social Security (imss) (ca. 1973-1986)

Abstract

In this text we review 15 documents that the dancer, teacher and Mexican choreographer Socorro Bastida gave to the dance teachers of the imss, in order to improve their way of teaching classical and modern dance in the Social Security Centers (css) of this Institution, during the period 1973-1986.
The textual corpus study’s purpose is to identify the dance schools and techniques that underpin the non-profesional dance teaching at imss, as well as the names of the dancers, teachers and choreographers that support the techniques or schools that founded such teaching; and to elucidate their importance for dance practice at that time and now. It should be noted that what is approached is the non-professional dance education because in the css, this discipline was aimed for the population in general.
For this study, hermeneutics was used, and in order to reach conclusions, the following aspects were taken into account: the study of the texts themselves, in what context they were elaborated, the review and study of original texts by other authors who wrote on
subjects related to the textual corpus; who is Socorro Bastida, who were her teachers, her main dance influences, and the opinion of the teachers: Sylvia Ramírez and Anadel Lynton, who have extensive experience in classical and modern dance, respectively.