PRIMEIRAS VIVÊNCIAS COM AS DANÇAS

This article explores perceptions of the first contact with dance, focusing on students in the Physical Education undergraduate program. It is a qualitative study grounded in the sociocultural studies of Physical Education, with an emphasis on dance. The research was conducted through a case study in the "Knowledge and Methodology of Dance Teaching" course, a curricular component of the Physical Education undergraduate program at the Federal University of Espírito Santo. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed using Content Analysis. The results indicate that students’ first experiences with dance occurred in diverse contexts and forms. The emerging Recording Units were: social media; family; friends; formal education; school/dance academy; parties; initial teacher training; social projects; and religious contexts. Among these, the school was the most frequently mentioned Recording Unit by the interviewees. However, we observed that challenges still persist regarding the effective inclusion of dance in the school Physical Education curriculum.