Alethea de Villiers
Biographic Data
| ID | 8006137 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Alethea de Villiers |
| GIVEN NAMES | Alethea |
| FAMILY NAME | de Villiers |
| SIGNATURE | DE VILLIERS A |
| AFFILIATIONS | Nelson Mandela University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-7452-5083 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 10 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 0 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 10 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2016 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2024 |
| H-INDEX | 0 |
Protean Careers
This qualitative research investigates the career experiences of 14 female musicians in the city of Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. Findings accord with research conducted in other countries, and like their international counterparts, these musicians find themselves in a complex and precarious industry. They develop their identity or brand, build networks, and pursue lifelong learning while working in non-music fields to su…
Establishing Connections with the Ancestors through Umxhentso Dance
Through the ages, ritual dances have been part of human culture. Although artistic, the umxhentso dance is a ritual dance performed by the Xhosa amagqirha (traditional healers) to establish connections with supernatural beings. During the dance performance, the amagqirha enter a state of trance and connect with the spiritual realm. During this state of trance, they seek guidance and vision from their ancestors. The amagqirha, in all the Xhosa com…
The Functional Role of Traditional Music and Dance in Xhosa Traditional Healers’ Ceremonial Rites
African societies have always used traditional music and dance to celebrate events, interface, and connect with divinity, especially during communal ceremonies. The central thesis of this paper is that traditional music and dance are transforming agents used by Xhosa traditional healers during ceremonies to gain insights into the nature of a society’s experiences and to connect with supernatural beings. This study, therefore, investigates the fun…
Drumming Tradition among the Xhosa Amagqirha
Drumming is an important part of several African communal cultural traditions and is performed during initiation and ritual ceremonies because it is believed that the beat of the drum can evoke the ancestors. This article is based on ongoing ethnographic research into umxhentso traditional dances among the Xhosa people in the Eastern Cape and Western Cape Provinces of South Africa in the context of amagqirha ceremonies. These ceremonies include d…
(Re)organizing the music curriculum as multicultural music education
Cultural hegemony permeates society and is spread through social institutions. These institutions socialize people into the norms, values and beliefs of the dominant social groups. Moreover, cultural hegemony is spread and perpetuated through education in the form of compulsory education, a national curriculum, national assessments, as well as the hidden curriculum. The cultural hegemony of Western Art Music is established as the standard of musi…
Church Community Music Activities and the Benefits for Participants
Community Music (hereafter CM) exists in many forms, including choral groups, instrumentalists, bands and other ensembles. The literature on community music highlights how participants in different contexts benefit from participating in community music activities. This article reports on a study in which the researchers investigated diverse forms of CM in three church settings in Port Elizabeth (now Gqeberha), Eastern Cape, South Africa. These ch…
The Moravian heritage of community musicking
In this article, the authors firstly provide a brief historical narrative of the origin of the Moravian Church and its hymnody. Secondly, they proceed to trace the origins of Moravian hymnals and their use in South Africa. Thirdly, they discuss the history of Moravian hymnals in South Africa and the contribution of South African composers and musicians. Several articles and books were consulted to trace the contribution of the Moravian hymnal fro…
Music Expressivity in High School Choirs
In this study the researchers explore musical expressivity in choral singing. While expressivity is multifaceted, the scope of this article is the role of the choral conductor in developing expressivity during rehearsals. The theoretical framework informed the focus of the open-ended interviews used to collect data. The purpose of the interviews was to determine how three high school choral conductors defined expressivity and also how they develo…
Changing teachers' practice in the Creative Arts classroom
The study described in this essay explores the use of educational technology as a resource in the Creative Arts classroom. Many teachers are not qualified to teach Creative Arts. They then tend to rely on curriculum documents and textbooks to help guide their planning, teaching and assessment. Most of the teachers who participated in this case study were not specialists in any of the arts, and in the education district where this study took place…
The role of context in the efficacy of professional development in the Creative Arts
Educational reform that introduces a new curriculum for schools usually serves as the impetus for professional development for teachers. In this essay the researcher provides a literature review in narrative format. She simultaneously draws on her own experiences in arts education in the context of a developing country. She identifies and discusses factors that can impinge on the efficacy of professional development for generalist teachers who te…
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The role of context in the efficacy of professional development in the Creative Arts
Educational reform that introduces a new curriculum for schools usually serves as the impetus for professional development for teachers. In this essay the researcher provides a literature review in narrative format. She simultaneously draws on her own experiences in arts education in the context of a developing country. She identifies and discusses factors that can impinge on the efficacy of professional development for generalist teachers who te…
Changing teachers' practice in the Creative Arts classroom
The study described in this essay explores the use of educational technology as a resource in the Creative Arts classroom. Many teachers are not qualified to teach Creative Arts. They then tend to rely on curriculum documents and textbooks to help guide their planning, teaching and assessment. Most of the teachers who participated in this case study were not specialists in any of the arts, and in the education district where this study took place…
Music Expressivity in High School Choirs
In this study the researchers explore musical expressivity in choral singing. While expressivity is multifaceted, the scope of this article is the role of the choral conductor in developing expressivity during rehearsals. The theoretical framework informed the focus of the open-ended interviews used to collect data. The purpose of the interviews was to determine how three high school choral conductors defined expressivity and also how they develo…
The Moravian heritage of community musicking
In this article, the authors firstly provide a brief historical narrative of the origin of the Moravian Church and its hymnody. Secondly, they proceed to trace the origins of Moravian hymnals and their use in South Africa. Thirdly, they discuss the history of Moravian hymnals in South Africa and the contribution of South African composers and musicians. Several articles and books were consulted to trace the contribution of the Moravian hymnal fro…
(Re)organizing the music curriculum as multicultural music education
Cultural hegemony permeates society and is spread through social institutions. These institutions socialize people into the norms, values and beliefs of the dominant social groups. Moreover, cultural hegemony is spread and perpetuated through education in the form of compulsory education, a national curriculum, national assessments, as well as the hidden curriculum. The cultural hegemony of Western Art Music is established as the standard of musi…
Church Community Music Activities and the Benefits for Participants
Community Music (hereafter CM) exists in many forms, including choral groups, instrumentalists, bands and other ensembles. The literature on community music highlights how participants in different contexts benefit from participating in community music activities. This article reports on a study in which the researchers investigated diverse forms of CM in three church settings in Port Elizabeth (now Gqeberha), Eastern Cape, South Africa. These ch…
The Functional Role of Traditional Music and Dance in Xhosa Traditional Healers’ Ceremonial Rites
African societies have always used traditional music and dance to celebrate events, interface, and connect with divinity, especially during communal ceremonies. The central thesis of this paper is that traditional music and dance are transforming agents used by Xhosa traditional healers during ceremonies to gain insights into the nature of a society’s experiences and to connect with supernatural beings. This study, therefore, investigates the fun…
Drumming Tradition among the Xhosa Amagqirha
Drumming is an important part of several African communal cultural traditions and is performed during initiation and ritual ceremonies because it is believed that the beat of the drum can evoke the ancestors. This article is based on ongoing ethnographic research into umxhentso traditional dances among the Xhosa people in the Eastern Cape and Western Cape Provinces of South Africa in the context of amagqirha ceremonies. These ceremonies include d…
Establishing Connections with the Ancestors through Umxhentso Dance
Through the ages, ritual dances have been part of human culture. Although artistic, the umxhentso dance is a ritual dance performed by the Xhosa amagqirha (traditional healers) to establish connections with supernatural beings. During the dance performance, the amagqirha enter a state of trance and connect with the spiritual realm. During this state of trance, they seek guidance and vision from their ancestors. The amagqirha, in all the Xhosa com…
Protean Careers
This qualitative research investigates the career experiences of 14 female musicians in the city of Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. Findings accord with research conducted in other countries, and like their international counterparts, these musicians find themselves in a complex and precarious industry. They develop their identity or brand, build networks, and pursue lifelong learning while working in non-music fields to su…
Art (9 works) · Sociology (8 works) · Visual arts (8 works) · Psychology (7 works) · Diverse Music Education Insights (5 works) · Musical (5 works) · Pedagogy (5 works) · Aesthetics (4 works) · Dance (4 works) · History (4 works)