“Dancing in Pain is a Symbol of Determination”- Understanding Dance Related Pain in Relation to Dancer Identity Using the Biopsychosocial Model of Health

Clegg, Helen (2026) “Dancing in Pain is a Symbol of Determination”- Understanding Dance Related Pain in Relation to Dancer Identity Using the Biopsychosocial Model of Health. The Journal of Pain, 42. ISSN 1526-5900

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Abstract

Dancers experience high levels of persistent pain but continue to dance despite risk of injury. A dancer’s identity is often rigid, restricted, and powerful suggesting that the integration of pain and identity will manifest differently for dancers compared to non-dancer chronic pain populations. Using the biopsychosocial model of health may help to elucidate the interplay between dancer identity and the pain dancers experience. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with twelve professional or vocational student dancers who were either currently performing or retired. Dancers engaged in a wide range of genres including ballet, contemporary, musical theatre, HipHop, and Latin. Using reflexive thematic analysis three themes were identified: “Maintaining Dancer Identity through the Pain” which highlighted the foreclosed dancer identity and how dancers normalise and reinterpret responses to pain to maintain their identity, “Just push through: Gatekeeping the pain narrative” that discusses how the dance world valorises dancing in pain and polices the pain narrative, and “An embodied pain identity” which considers how physical pain is psychologically reconstructed to protect dancer identity. Overall dancers had an ambiguous relationship with pain where pain both strengthened their foreclosed dancer identity, thus protecting them from identity crisis, and also threatened survival of their dancer identity. The analysis highlights the importance of integrating the biological, social and psychological aspects of pain to understand pain in dancers. Furthermore it highlights the importance of bespoke interventions for different pain populations. Future research should explore the relevance of the findings in other populations with restricted identities such as elite athletes.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Biopsychosocial model ; Dancers ; Identity ; Pain narratives ; Reflexive thematic analysis.
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology
Divisions:	School of Psychology and Wellbeing
Depositing User:	Helen Clegg
Date Deposited:	15 May 2026 10:45
Last Modified:	15 May 2026 10:45
URI:	https://bear.buckingham.ac.uk/id/eprint/724

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