Making Space for the Psychology of Creativity in Dance Science

Abstract

Creativity is commonly recognized as a complex phenomenon; one which entails a range of debates around definition, process and product, domain specificity, cross-discipline generalisability, and appropriate testing measures. The psychology of creativity appears to find a fitting home in dance science, a field concerned with understanding and enhancing dancers' health and performance. Yet dance psychology has been predominated by research which focuses on the mental processes underpinning optimal skill execution and technical performance. This paper outlines an argument for a greater focus on the creative demands of dance within dance science, highlighting some the challenges of, and barriers to, research in the psychology of creativity in dance, before making a number of recommendations to encourage the growth of this important research area.

Mechanisms for Affect Communication from Dance: A Mixed Methods Study

“…Dance is a creative act. Both the creation of dance (i.e., choreography) and the execution of dance (i.e., performance) are creative processes (Clements & Weber, 2018; Frith et al., 2020; H'Doubler, 1957; Press & Warburton, 2007). Dance is also multifaceted (e.g., involving cultural norms, physicality, historical contexts) and can take many forms with varying creative inputs (e.g., dance may or may not involve music, storylines, sets, groups, costumes, etc.…”