Dancing Ourselves Whole (Again): The Lived Experiences of Maturing New Zealand Women Who Participate in Adult Recreational Ballet Classes

Abstract

This study investigates the lived experiences of maturing New Zealand women who participate in adult recreational ballet classes. It sheds light on how dancing for leisure contributes to the health and wellbeing of women as they mature. It also reveals the social and situational factors which help create meaningful and enriching pedagogical experiences for adults in recreational dance settings.

Dance is an embodied phenomenon. As such, a methodology blending perceptual (Merleau-Ponty, 1945/2002, 1964/1968) and existential phenomenology (de Beauvoir, 1949/1993, 1970/1972) with Goffman’s dramaturgical framework (Goffman, 1959) was used to illuminate the bodily and social experiences of dancing ballet while maturing. Hearing the voices of the women and recounting their stories in their own words was a priority in this study.

Six women aged between 30 and 80 years old were recruited from dance schools in the North Island of Aotearoa New Zealand. In-depth, qualitative, audio-recorded phenomenological interviews were conducted to elicit the women’s reflections on their relationships with ballet and the professional dance world. Notes were made by the researcher of the women’s bodily and emotional responses as they reflected on their experiences.

Seven themes emerged from the data analysis. These revealed that, for the women who danced in childhood, their encounters with ballet left lasting positive and negative imprints on their identities. In their search for ballet learning opportunities, each of the women encountered ageism and negative stereotypes of femininity which impacted their health and wellbeing. When they finally found schools to call home, the women flourished and thrived through the care and compassion of their teachers and the dance community.

The themes in the dancers’ stories were interpreted using the writings of the theorists and the literature. The phenomenological interpretation process revealed three phenomena threaded throughout the women’s reflections. The first was an overwhelming sense of pleasure and joy. This motivated participation and was the gateway to transcendence and freedom. The second was the intentional co-creation, by the women and their teachers, of compassionate communities which affirmed and normalised the diversity of maturing bodies. Within these communities the negative stereotypes of ageing and femininity were overturned. The maturing dancers were recast as capable ballet bodies and sources of creativity, beauty and grace. The third phenomenon was the negative stereotypes of ageing and femininity which were hidden in the background of each dancer’s reflections. The women were aware of their stigmatised status and gleefully used dancing to resist and protest their marginalisation by western society and professional ballet. Through the chiasmatic intertwining of the physical practices and social worlds of ballet, the six maturing women in this study experienced improved physical, emotional and social health, and wellbeing. Through ballet each woman danced herself whole again.

The findings of this research revealed that the construction and embodiment of dancing identities are far more complex and meaningful than has been previously reported in the literature. This study highlights the importance of creating communities of practice where ageing is normalised and diversity is embraced. The learnings from this study will be of interest to adult recreational ballet dancers, professional dance organisations and sport and recreation professionals working with maturing populations.