No abstract

Little is known regarding the stability of motivational climate perceptions, or how changes in climate perceptions affect performers. As a result, dancers' perceptions of the prevailing climate within both regional centers for talented young people and local dance schools were assessed longitudinally and in relation to dance class anxiety and self-esteem. Dancers (M age ϭ 14.41, SD ϭ 2.10; 75.7% female) completed standardized questionnaires approximately 6 months apart (Time 1 n ϭ 327; Time 2 n ϭ 264). Both climates were perceived as more task-than ego-involving, but talent center climates were perceived as more task-involving and less ego-involving than local climates. However, dancers found that talent centers became more ego-involving from the middle to the end of the school year, and this change predicted increases in anxiety. Changes in climate perceptions did not predict changes in self-esteem. Results point to the benefits of climates low in ego-involving features if dancers are to experience less anxiety around performance time.

Correlates of disordered eating attitudes were examined with a mixed-sex sample of 347 young talented dancers aged 10-18 years from all UK Centres for Advanced Training. Equal proportions of females (7.3%) and males (7.6%) were symptomatic for disordered eating but correlates differed: for females, self-evaluative perfectionism, waking up > twice/night and hours of non-dance physical activity were predictive while for males, only the combination of self-evaluative and conscientious perfectionism was significant. Differences between menstrual status groups were evident, with young dancers (pre-menarcheal/within first year of menarche) reporting the least disordered eating attitudes and those with dysfunctional menses reporting the most.

This study investigated differences in the characteristics of talented dancers in relation to age. Physical (handgrip muscular strength, leg muscular power, hamstring flexibility and external hip rotation), psychological (passion, self-esteem and anxiety) and social (the motivational climate) characteristics were assessed in 334 students enrolled on a talented scheme. The male late adolescence group (16 to 18 years) had greater jump height than the early (10 to 12 years) and mid-adolescence groups (13 to 15 years). For both sexes, the early adolescence group exhibited the lowest and the late adolescence group the greatest grip strength values. The late adolescence group reported lower self-esteem than the two younger groups, and the two older groups reported greater perceptions of ego-involving motivational climates than the early adolescence group. Results suggest that, as some characteristics of talented dancers differ across the adolescent years, talent identification and development criteria could be adapted according to age.

Performance anxiety research abounds in sport psychology, yet has been relatively sparse in dance. The present study explores ballet dancers’ experiences of performance anxiety in relation to: 1. symptom type, intensity, and directional interpretation; 2. experience level (including company rank); and 3. self-confidence and psychological skills. Fifteen elite ballet dancers representing all ranks in one company were interviewed, and qualitative content analysis was conducted. Results revealed that cognitive anxiety was more dominant than somatic anxiety, and was unanimously interpreted as debilitative to performance. Somatic anxiety was more likely to be interpreted as facilitative, with the majority of dancers recognizing that a certain amount of anxiety could be beneficial to performance. Principal dancers suffered from higher intensities of performance anxiety than corps de ballet members. Feeling out of control emerged as a major theme in both the experience of anxiety and its interpretation. As a result, prevention or handling of anxiety symptoms may be accomplished by helping dancers to feel in control. Dancers may benefit from education about anxiety symptoms and their interpretation, in addition to psychological skills training incorporating cognitive restructuring strategies and problem-focussed coping to help increase their feelings of being in control.