Diversity of dancer experience in a dance program

This research describes the relationship between dance program structure and the types of experiences had by participating dancers. The research followed 48 participants through a 6-month dance project that culminated in a weeklong performance season. Recognizing that reported positive developments occur within the structure of programs, the aspects of a dance program that were significant in forming participants’ different experiences were examined using a technique known as Qmethodology. The process of factor extraction and the content of factors are summarized to identify the different dancers’ perspectives on their experience of the program. A discriminant function procedure was then used to determine whether demographic variables significantly discriminated between the groups. Divergent Q-sorts were analyzed to highlight that some dancers’ experiences were different to the main types of experience available in the program. As dance participation has long been assumed to increase self-esteem, self-concept was measured using the Self-Description Questionnaire (SDQ). The paper concludes by outlining a multi dimensional view of dancers’ experience.