La propuesta de indagación cualitativa de Elliot Eisner:

In this section, I argue that dance had a central space in young people’s lives in two key ways: first, dance was part of young people’s everyday routines; and, second dance had a wider significance in young people’s lives as part of their sense of identity.

First, it was clear that for many young people in my research, dance had a central space in their everyday lives and daily routines. For example, at the dance school, Emily (16) explained:

I think, well [dancing is] something I’ve always done and I’ve just always loved it [...]. I just, it’s kind of in my routine – get home from school, do a bit of [home]work, go to dancing [...]. [I go to dancing every] [Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday], so four times a week [...]. I can’t imagine just going home after school and doing nothing!

Dance classes were a key part of Emily’s after-school routine and had been for many years, to the extent that she now found it difficult to imagine what she would do after school if she did not have a dance class to attend. Charlotte (16), also a student at the dance school, similarly explained:

I don’t know what else I’d do in my evenings! Whenever we have half-term [...] I’m like, “Ahh it’s such a nice break from dancing”. But then it gets to the Christmas holidays [...] and the summer holidays [which are so long] and about 1 month in I’m like, “Right I’m ready to go to dancing again, come on!”. I get really restless at home! It sounds really weird but I’m like, jumping in my sleep, like moving about, fidgeting all the time, I can’t, I can’t sit still!

Like Emily, Charlotte also felt that she would not know what to do in the evening if she did not have a dance class to attend. For Charlotte, the centrality of dance to her everyday life was particularly evident during the dance school Christmas and summer holidays, when she stopped going to dance classes, which was made manifest through a feeling of physical restlessness.

Second, I argue that dance had an important space in young people’s lives in a much broader sense. Several participants at the dance school and secondary school indicated that dance had a wider significance in their lives, for example:

It’s just part of my life now really [Emma: Yeah]. It’s just the way it is. [...] I’d be lost, like, if I didn’t have a dance class to come to. (Rosie, 17)

It’s like what I do. Like it’s kind of, this is gonna sound really cheesy, but it’s like my life, like [Emma: Yeah]. It’s what I do. (Katie, 14)

Dance is just a big thing, it’s a big part of my life [Emma: Yeah] and I would never wanna give it up. I never would. [...] Like I really enjoy dance, and if someone took that away from me, I’d be distraught. (Lily, 14)

I don’t think I could ever quit dancing. It’s just too much a part of my life [Emma: Yeah]. It’s just, yeah, I couldn’t stop it. (Matilda, 13)

[T]his sounds really weird, but I would feel like a part of me had gone if I stopped dancing. (Charlotte, 16)

For these participants, dance had become an integral part of their life that they could not imagine being without. Stinson et al. (1990) conducted research with a group of 16-18 year old female dancers in the USA. Several students described the significance of dance in their lives in a similar way; for example, one student said, ‘It is who I am... If I couldn’t dance I think I would feel like there was a part of me that was just totally dead’, and another explained, ‘I just can’t imagine life without it’ (Stinson et al., 1990: 16). Stinson et al. (1990: 16) argue that for these young women ‘the meaning of dance’ in their lives had become ‘intertwined’ with their ‘identity’. This idea is also reflected in the comments of the young people in my research, and particularly in Charlotte’s statement that ‘[she] would feel like a part of [her] had gone if [she] stopped dancing’.

The notion that the importance of dance in young people’s lives was interwoven with their identity was also apparent in the comments of Helen, Ruby’s mum, at the dance group:

Ruby doesn’t enjoy [dancing], she lives for it [...]. [S]he absolutely adores it. It’s a central part of her life and has been for over 12 years now [...]. [W]hen she meets anyone, she describes herself first in terms of her dance [Emma: Does she?] and then she’ll talk about her [other activities that she enjoys] [Emma: Ok]. So that’s her own identity [...]. “I’m a dancer, and I’m a [other activity] and [other activity] [...]. That’s who I am”. [...] [A]nd [that] completely takes away from the idea of just seeing herself as some poor victim [...]. You’ve only got to look at

disabled groups when they haven’t got that “I can” sense about them, they’re much more prone to erm being vulnerable [Emma: Yeah] to depression [Emma: Yeah], which is a serious risk for adults with Down’s syndrome [Emma: Yeah]. So as far as we’re concerned it’s the, you know, it’s a tonic for all time, and what a lovely way to have your morale picked up. Helen’s comments indicate that dance was not only a central part of Ruby’s life, but central to how she identified herself. Helen believed that it was important for Ruby to be able to identify herself as a ‘dancer’ and not just as ‘some poor victim’, in order to help her to maintain a positive view of herself. In their evaluation of a dance programme in Canada for children and young adults with additional needs (including young people with Down’s syndrome), Reinders et al. (2015: 105) similarly reported that the dance teacher felt a particular benefit of the programme had been to improve the self-confidence of students through instilling a ‘sense of identity’ as ‘a dancer’; the dance teacher explained, ‘I think it’s that sense of achievement, you know, coming to a dance studio, taking a dance class sort of changes your self-identity. Like you can now identify yourself as a dancer so you have something to be proud of [...]. It just sort of gives you a sense of confidence, I think. You know I am no longer somebody with a disability; I am a dancer and that’s what comes first’. Thus, both these findings suggest some potential benefits of participation in dance for young people with disabilities such as Down’s syndrome, through developing a sense of identity other than as a ‘disabled’ person.