Building resilience : the challenges of pre-professional dance training

Abstract

Resilience is a quality that exhibits empowerment of mental, physical and emotional characteristics. To thrive, dancers require this attribute to bolster their confidence and overcome anxiety during a transitional period. Recognising and acknowledging weaknesses enables dancers to work on their issues and eventually become strong to navigate through difficult circumstances. This research identifies the resilience of a pre-professional dancer’s transition during a module in the Bachelor in Dance Studies (Honours), looking into specific phenomena that emerge. Since I, the author, did not find sufficient literature on pre-performance career transitions, in comparison to the prevalence of post-performance transitions, I resolved to investigate what was affecting my resilience in my specific encounter, within the UM environment. One concept led to numerous others and the likelihood to develop arguments was discernible. Often, this hindered my central focus due to the prevailing nature of overthinking, which was benevolently regulated with my tutor’s assistance. Through autoethnographic practice, combining both personal memory and the review of academic literature as data for analysis, three main influences are discussed. As a result, the factors which aid resilience are related to Abraham Maslow’s ‘Hierarchy of Needs’ to allow for self-actualisation to occur (1943).