Perspectiva cualitativa de la investigación

In this section, I begin by providing a descriptive overview of young people’s participation in dance at the dance school, secondary school and dance group, in order to give a broad sense of the extent to which dance classes, rehearsals and performances were part of young people’s everyday lives. I show that many young people in my research had participated in dance for a number of years and now took part in several hours of dance each week. Furthermore, whilst acknowledging the influence of parents and teachers, I argue that young people felt that it was their own decision to participate in dance.

At The Southern School of Dance, many young people had first started attending a weekly ‘Toddler’s Ballet and Tap’ class when they were 2 years old, starting RAD Ballet and ISTD Tap lessons when they were 4 years old and ISTD Modern classes when they were 6 years old. Some students were invited to attend extra RAD Ballet lessons (to train for vocational graded exams) when they were 10 years old,41 and many opted to start Free Jazz lessons when they were 12 years old.42 As students moved through the grades, the length of the dance classes they attended increased. Students also attended

41

Some students attended vocational exam courses held at the exam board headquarters in the weeks leading up to their exam.

42

It is common practice in many dance schools in the UK for students to start by learning Ballet and Tap, and to take up classes in Modern or Jazz when they are older. Whilst most young people had danced at The Southern School of Dance since they were aged 4 or younger, a few had started lessons when they were older usually having already attended dance classes at another dance school. Some also opted not to take up Modern and/or Jazz, had started Modern and/or Jazz classes when they were older, or had stopped attending Tap or Ballet classes (although the dance school strongly encouraged students to pursue Ballet to improve their core strength, flexibility etc. which would help their progress in other disciplines).

additional weekly exam preparation classes if they were taking a dance exam at the end of the term, and when preparing for the school dance show senior students (aged 16 or above) attended extra show rehearsals (up to 2.5 hours each week) for the ‘Opening’ and ‘Finale’ numbers. At the time of their third interview, the 15 young people I interviewed attended on average 6 hours (minimum 2 hours, maximum 10 hours and 15 minutes) of dance classes and rehearsals at the dance school each week after school and on Saturdays, with some also assisting dance teachers in classes with younger students. The dance school held classes during 30 weeks of the academic year. Additional occasional commitments included dance exams (held at the dance school or RAD/ISTD studios), as well as rehearsals and performances at the theatre for the biennial school dance show. In addition to their participation in dance at The Southern School of Dance, some young people also studied Dance as a (GCSE or A Level) subject at their secondary school and attended secondary school dance clubs. Others (had) also attended dance lessons at other dance schools in different styles (e.g., Ballroom and Latin).

At Greenleaf Secondary School, all students participated in 1 hour of compulsory dance classes each week in Years 7, 8 and 9 as part of the school curriculum. The students I interviewed had also opted to study GCSE Dance in Years 10 and 11 (3 hours per week) and/or A-level Dance in Years 12 and 13 (5 hours per week). As part of the GCSE and A-level Dance courses, students were expected to attend additional rehearsals for group and solo compositions outside of scheduled lesson times (e.g., at lunchtime) especially in the run up to practical dance exams and moderations. GCSE and A-level Dance students also had to complete homework and revise for GCSE/A-level Dance theory exams. Many students also participated in weekly extracurricular lunchtime and after-school dance clubs (e.g., Boys Dance Club). Additional rehearsals (including an all-day run through and dress rehearsal) were scheduled in the lead up to the school’s two annual dance shows. Students also occasionally participated in one-off dance workshops (e.g., a West End Musical Theatre Dance workshop) and rehearsals for other performances (e.g., at local theatres). Most young people who I interviewed also danced outside of school (e.g., at a local dance school) and had done since they were young (as young as 2 years old), although a few participants (particularly boys) had first got involved in dance when they started secondary school. Some students had previously taken part in the primary school outreach programme delivered by Dance teachers at Greenleaf Secondary School. The total number of hours of dance each young person that I interviewed participated in varied week by week, however on average most participated in between 4 and 8 hours of compulsory and extracurricular dance classes and rehearsals at school each week (for 39 weeks of the school year).

At DS Dance, many young people had been part of the dance group for several years, some since the group first formed over 15 years ago. Young people attended a weekly hour-long dance class during term time (39 weeks per year), with some parents driving their children for up to an hour to get to the class, which the dance teacher explained was because of the limited number of dance classes available specifically for children and young people with Down’s syndrome and their siblings. Young people performed regularly with the dance group at 20 to 30 different events each year (e.g., at local theatres, schools, church fêtes, West End Theatres, TV dance show competition auditions), attending additional rehearsals before some performances. Many young people also took dance exams held at the end of every summer term, and took part in one-off dance workshops with specialist teachers. Some young people also attended other dance clubs for young people with disabilities run by other dance schools in the local area.

Importantly, at all three fieldsites all the young people that I asked said that it was their own decision to participate in dance classes, rehearsals and performances.43 Although many participants explained that their parents had been responsible for their initial participation in dance classes44, and at times had encouraged them to continue attending lessons, they felt that now it was ultimately their own decision to continue to participate in dance (although at the dance school and dance group parents did continue to play a significant role by paying for and providing transport to lessons). For example, at the dance school, Emily (16) explained:

No [my parents don’t pressure me to come to dancing], not at all. Like I think when I was younger I was obviously like, “I don’t wanna do this, I don’t wanna do that”, and I think my mum said, “Oh stick with it for the next term”, and I’m so glad that I did. Like cos there’s

43

Whilst I acknowledge that it is possible that GCSE and A-level Dance students may have been limited in their choice to study Dance as a subject (e.g., due to ‘option block’ restrictions), all spoke positively about studying GCSE and/or A-level Dance and gave reasons why they chose it. At DS Dance, all the parents who I interviewed were clear that it was their child’s decision to participate; for example, Barbara, Matthew’s mum, commented: ‘If he didn’t enjoy it, he wouldn’t go! He, he would say he doesn’t want to go’.

44 _{For example, at the dance school several young people explained that their mum had enjoyed going to} dance lessons as a child so took them to dance classes because they wanted them to ‘try it out’ too (Jasmine, 15). Freya (17) said that her parents had bought her a ‘ballerina outfit’ for her third birthday that she ‘wouldn’t take off’ so decided to send her to dance lessons, and Emily (16) commented that when she was little she used to ‘dance around the house’ so her mum thought she would enjoy dance classes. Other young people said that their parents took them to dance classes because they thought it would be ‘fun’ (Megan, 14), they wanted them to do some ‘physical activity’ (Chloe, 15), they thought dance would be good for their ‘posture’ (Freya, 17), they wanted them to ‘learn a skill’ (Rosie, 17), or they thought dance would provide an opportunity for them to ‘socialise’ with other children (Megan, 14). These findings support existing research showing that parents value extracurricular activities as ‘fun, healthy and socially beneficial’ for their children (Holloway and Pimlott-Wilson, 2014: 621), with middle-class parents often deliberately involving their children in enrichment activities in order to help them to develop their talents and a range of skills (Karsten, 2015; Lareau, 2000, 2002; Vincent and Ball, 2007). Other reasons young people gave for their initial involvement included being taken to dance lessons because they had older siblings who danced (and wanted to dance like them), and being encouraged to start dance lessons by school friends who already attended.

never a class that I don’t want to go to anymore [Emma: Yeah]. [...] I always want to come, it’s never forced or anything [Emily: Laughs].

Many participants said that they were grateful that their parents had got them involved in dance and had continued to encourage or support their attendance, but firmly expressed the view that it was now their own decision to participate. Therefore, whilst acknowledging the influence of parents (and teachers, for example in encouraging students to attend extracurricular dance clubs), it was clear that the young people in my research were competent social actors capable of making ‘key decisions about their lives’ and ‘exercising agency to transform their own social worlds’ (Smith and Ansell, 2009: 58–59).