Dance students at a two year college: making sense of their academic, cultural, and social world

Abstract

The purpose of this dissertation was to investigate the lived experiences of community college dance students. Previous research was examined to provide a more holistic picture of dancers during their college years and while in the workforce. The literature reviewed indicated that the emergence of dance as a field of study was controversial. Its beginnings were marked by debates concerning (a) the very definition of dance as a body of motion and a body of knowledge that includes a history and a philosophy as asserted by Dimondstein (1985), (b) its legitimate place within the academy (the perception that university dance programs were vocational in nature with little academic value) as noted by Stinson (1990); and, more recently (c) the possibility of some resolution to make dance not only a performing art but an academic discipline in its own right (Savrami, 2012). The theoretical framework of social cognitive career theory was used but was modified to include only the tenets most frequently cited in the literature that directly influenced the career identity of dancers particularly in relation to their motivation to academically persist and graduate. The phenomenological analysis, in the tradition of Moustakas (1994) and Wertz (2005), produced an early thematic matrix of 18 codes that were reduced to six major themes: aspirations, academic commitment, emotional identification, anticipated outcome or career expectation, vicarious learning, and challenges. One of the major recommendations included conducting a longitudinal study focusing on how students navigate an unpredictable job market, including the discussion of issues of workforce preparation in the academic curriculum and major. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First and foremost, I would like to thank God for guiding me through my long educational journey. This dissertation was the result of hard work and valuable assistance from others. I am very grateful to my committee chair, Dr. Rosa Cintrón, for being so committed to my success. I would also like to acknowledge my parents, family and friends for their support during the difficult times of this process. In addition, I would like to thank the chair of the dance department for assisting me in finding participants for my study. I would also like to recognize my participants for giving their time to participate in my study. To my fellow doctoral cohort, thank you for your assistance and guidance. Finally, I would like to thank my dissertation committee members for their efforts in helping me produce the final product of this study. v TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES .

Mental health in dance: A scoping review

“…Situational stressors (20 studies) in general include career uncertainty, time management issues, limited economic means and injuries. Only a few articles in this category describe how limited financial means and career uncertainty represent issues negatively affecting dancers’ development and potential future ( Sanchez et al, 2013 ; Lopez, 2019 ). On the other hand, injuries are a much more discussed topic ( Liederbach and Compagno, 2001 ; Kenny et al, 2019 ; van Winden et al, 2020 ; Pentith et al, 2021 ).…”

“…Situational stressors (20 studies) in general include career uncertainty, time management issues, limited economic means and injuries. While only a few articles in this category describe how limited financial means and career uncertainty especially represent issues negatively affecting dancers' development and potential future, are injuries a much more discussed topic (Liederbach and Compagno, 2001;Sanchez et al, 2013;Kenny et al, 2019;Lopez, 2019;van Winden et al, 2020;Pentith et al, 2021). Injuries negatively affect dancers in many ways, hindering training and performance, and thus, hampering the learning and development process (Macchi and Crossman, 1996).…”

The Effectiveness of Exploring Local Wisdom From Youtube: an Investigation on the Indonesian Higher Education Students’ Dance Performance Across Gender

“…Besides, their creativity was also increased in terms of creating movements, improving attitude, and increasing their creative thinking. The finding added to the concept which has been conceptualized by the previous research conducted by Lopez (2019), who claims that the commitment and discipline which are built through the content of local wisdom make dances produced by students better. It means that integrating local wisdom in choreography dance can not only build students' characters, commitment, and discipline, but it also increases students' performance, creativity, and collaborative skill.…”

Dance-Related Research In Tertiary Education : A Systematic Literature Review

“…Egyértelműen látszott, hogy a publikált kutatások több, mint 70%-a angol anyanyelvű országokból származott, ezen belül több, mint 60% (n = 26) az Egyesült Államokból (Baran, 2020;Bonner, 2022;Brown, 2022;Clendinning, 2022;Conner et al 2021;DiPasquale et al, 2021;DiPasquale & Roberts, 2022;Risner & Musil, 2017;Dragon, 2015;Duffy, 2015Duffy, , 2019Duffy, , 2020Gail et al, 2018;Haines & Torres, 2016;Johnson, 2018;Kearns, 2016;Lopez, 2019;McCarthy-Brown, 2015;Patton et al, 2022;Pulinkala, 2014;Purvis, 2018;Risner & Barr, 2015;Robinson, 2016;Sulé, 2015;Walker, 2019) és az Egyesült Királyságból (n = 17) (Assandri, 2019;Domene & Morley, 2022;Dryburgh, 2020;Dryburgh & Jackson, 2016;Ehrenberg, 2020;Farrer, 2018;Higdon & Stevens, 2017;Johnson et al, 2019;Kelsey & Uytterhoeven, 2016;Mills, 2014;O'Leary et al, 2019;Petsilas et al, 2019;Rimmer, 2017;Ritchie & Brooker, 2018Roe, 2017;Seago, 2020), míg csak a cikkek mindössze 10,14%-a származott Ausztráliából…”

“…Harmadik kérdésünk a vizsgálatok kutatási módszertanára vonatkozott. A kutatások közel kétharmadában (62,32%) (n = 43) kvalitatív kutatási eszközöket alkalmaztak (Assandri, 2019;Baran, 2020;Barton & Ryan, 2014;Bonner, 2022;Conner et al, 2021;Domene & Morley, 2022;Duffy, 2019Duffy, , 2020Dryburgh, 2020;Dryburgh & Jackson, 2016;Ehrenberg, 2020;Farrer, 2018;Haines & Torres, 2016;Higdon & Stevens, 2017;Johnson, 2018;Johnson et al, 2019;Kaktikar, 2016;Kattner, 2016;Kelsey & Uytterhoeven, 2016;Leijen & Sööt, 2016;Liu, 2020;Lopez, 2019;McCarthy-Brown, 2015;Mitchell, et al, 2018;‚Ofamo'oni, 2021;O'Leary et al, 2019;Patton et al, 2022;Petsilas et al, 2019;Pulinkala, 2014;Rimmer, 2017;Risner & Barr, 2015;Ritchie & Brooker, 2018Robinson, 2016;Roe, 2017;Salcedo et al, 2017;Seago, 2020;Stevens et al, 2019;Stevens & Huddy, 2016;Sulé, 2015;Tembrioti & Tsangaridou, 2013;Tsompanaki, 2014;…”