Implementing Gentile's Two-Stage Model in Modern Dance Education: A Course Development at Oriental Technical School, China

Background and Aim: Modern dance plays an important role in vocational education by fostering creativity, coordination, and self-expression. However, many vocational students lack prior dance experience, making it difficult to acquire basic skills. This study aimed to design and develop a modern dance course for beginner-level vocational students based on Gentile’s Two-Stage Model of skill acquisition, providing a structured framework to support skill development from fundamental movements to creative dance performance. Materials and Methods: The participants were all 30 female tenth-grade students aged 15–17 years from Oriental Technical School, Baoding, China. These students represented the entire female student population of the school’s tenth grade, and there were no male students in the cohort. All participants voluntarily took part in the study and had no prior dance experience. The research employed a two-stage training program based on Gentile’s model: (1) Cognitive and Control Stage (Weeks 1–6), focusing on task-based training to develop body awareness and basic motor skills; and (2) Automation and Performance Stage (Weeks 7–16), emphasizing skill integration, movement expression, and improvisational choreography. The course was designed according to 21st-century learning principles. An Item-Objective Congruence (IOC) assessment was conducted by three doctoral-level experts specializing in modern dance, vocational education, and curriculum development to evaluate the course’s content validity. Results: The IOC assessment showed values ranging from 0.67 to 1.00, indicating a high level of consistency between the course content and the intended learning objectives. Expert evaluations confirmed that the course structure aligns well with pedagogical goals and supports students’ skill development. Conclusion: This study demonstrates that the developed modern dance course effectively addresses the learning needs of vocational students with no prior dance experience. The course offers a valid and practical instructional model for enhancing dance education and skill acquisition in vocational settings.