From the Wings to the Stage and Beyond; Performance Anxiety and Flow in UK Vocational Dance Students

Clegg, Helen and Clements, Lucie (2022) From the Wings to the Stage and Beyond; Performance Anxiety and Flow in UK Vocational Dance Students. Journal of Dance Education. ISSN 2158-074X

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Official URL: https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/6QJ5SEGZF9TMAIK...

Abstract

Professional dancers have described high levels of performance anxiety while also experiencing flow on stage. However, such research tends to capture one period of time in the performance experience and rarely focuses on vocational dance students. The current study samples vocational dance students at a UK performing arts school and captures their cognitive, somatic and emotional experiences from pre- to post-performance. Eleven interviews were conducted with female students aged between 15 and 17 years. Thematic analysis was employed and three themes identified: Facilitative and Debilitative Anxiety in the Wings, Constructions of Anxiety and Flow on Stage, and After the Show; the Highs and the Lows. Findings produced an understanding of the psychological journey from pre- to post-performance. Students have the potential to manipulate their cognitions to facilitate flow suggesting that dance schools can implement psychological techniques to manage anxiety and increase flow, thus enhancing well-being and performance

Item Type: Article
Additional Information: Acceptance date 27th October 2021. Published online 03 Feb 2022.
Uncontrolled Keywords: cognitive anxiety, optimal performance, post-performance, somatic anxiety, thematic analysis.
Subjects: B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology
Divisions: School of Psychology and Wellbeing
Depositing User: Helen Clegg
Date Deposited: 04 Jan 2022 10:46
Last Modified: 08 Feb 2022 10:23
URI: http://bear.buckingham.ac.uk/id/eprint/527

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