Dancing beyond exercise: young people's experiences in dance classes

Abstract

Although physical inactivity contributes substantially to the so-called obesity epidemic, public health programs have had limited success in increasing activity. Dancing is a form of physical activity widely practised by all cultures and age groups which may offer many health benefits. Community-based dance classes in urban settings may have a role in health promotion programs. However, little is known about the motivations or experiences of people participating in dance classes or the outcomes of such participation.We undertook a qualitative study of 10 people aged 14-25 years attending communitybased dance classes. One-to-one, semi-structured interviews addressed motivations, the nature of the class experience, impact on body image and other implications for health and wellbeing. The interviews were transcribed and analysed according to standard techniques of thematic analysis.The data have shown that dance class participants' experiences of 'the physical' are embedded in social, community/cultural or other values; participants respect their older teachers and they value physical expertise or knowledge that is gained over the long term; participation develops a sense of confidence and provides opportunities for transcendent experiences. These data support the conclusion that encouragement of dance class participation may offer an important strategy for health promotion as long as dance classes are not promoted in narrowly-conceived 'exercise' terms. By helping to foster a concept of physical activity that is life-long and non-individualistic, and where expertise increases rather than decreases with age, it may provide a resource for initiatives designed to address the problem of overweight.Evidence suggests that lack of physical activity in young people may be a major indicator of poor health outcomes, including obesity (Salmon et al, 2006, Power et al, 1997, diabetes and depression (Allgower et al, 2001). These poor health outcomes of youthful inactivity may also develop later in life (Baumann and Owen 1999, Power et al, 1997). It is widely agreed that there is an urgent need for young people to engage in physical activity and various public health and clinical strategies have been tried or proposed (Baur, Lobstein & Uauy 2004).Advertising and health education campaigns promoting physical activity have tended to focus on sport and other physical fitness regimes (Headley 2004) but almost no attention has been given to the preventive and therapeutic possibilities of participation in recreational dance activities in Australia. Our study sought to identify the reasons why young people attend dance classes and focused on their motivations and experiences. MethodsWe undertook semi-structured, in-depth interviews of an 'open sample' of young people attending a variety of community-based recreational dance classes. Studios offering different 3 kinds of dance classes were identified using the Yellow Pages and information from the organisation Ausdance Victoria. Teachers were approached as to the possibility ...

“I feel free”: Experiences of a dance intervention for adolescent girls with internalizing problems

“…Concurrent with the results described in the category Enjoyment and Empowerment, other studies also highlight enjoyment as an important aspect for girls’ participation in dance (Edwards et al, 2016 ; Gardner, Komesaroff, & Fensham, 2008 ). The narratives in this study express a journey from often being tense and insecure, to being more in contact with joyful feelings, which can be valuable considering the internalizing problems.…”

Examination of Body Composition, Flexibility, Balance, and Concentration Related to Dance Exercise

“…When the significance in flexibility and balance values of the students who did not do dancing exercises was examined, it was observed that there were decreases from (19.32±10.19) (pre-test) to (9.07±0.76) (post-test) in flexibility and from (4.12 ± 4.13) (pre-test) to (3.47 ± 3.36) (post-test) in balance (Table 2). In the study of Gardner et al (2009) it was pointed out that dance encourages physical activity and contributes to wish to live healthily to a great extent. Results obtained with the sit-reach test in the stretching exercise showed an increase in flexibility values (Nelson et al, 2005).…”

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

“…The experiences and motivations of students who participate in dance classes are the best ways to articulate and conceptualize to others the value of dance education. A study of young dance students ranging in ages 14 to 26 from different dance backgrounds was conducted to find out experiences of dance students and motivations for attending dance classes (Gardner, Komesaroff, & Fensham, 2008). The results of the study produced major themes in which participants of the study derived meaning from the dance class experience.…”

“…The site of the dance class served as a place where students explored or maintained social, cultural, intersubjective values. Lastly, students believed that participating in dance classes involved experiences of self, body, and world that lie outside the everyday (Gardner et al, 2008).…”