Exploring Lived Experiences of Emotional Well Being Among Dancers :An Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis

Abstract

Dance has increasingly been recognized as a meaningful contributor to psychological health and wellbeing ; however ,existing research has predominantly focused on quantitative outcomes such as stress reduction ,physical fitness, and mental health indicators, with comparatively little attention given to dancer’s subjective experiences of emotional wellbeing. The present study sought to explore how dancers experience and make sense of emotional wellbeing through their engagement with dance. Using an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) approach, semi-structured interviews were conducted with dancers representing diverse dance backgrounds and varying years of experience. The interviews were analyzed following IPA guidelines to examine the meanings participants attributed to their lived experiences. Collectively, these themes illustrate that dance functions as considerably more than an artistic or physical activity in Five superordinate themes emerged from the analysis: dance as psychological home: regulation, refuge and emotional survival, Dance as identity ,purpose and meaning, The embodied self-Body ,emotion and performance, Vulnerability, pressure and emotional cost and growth transformation and meaning making. Together, these themes suggest that dancer’s emotional wellbeing cannot be reduced to the presence of positive feeling alone , rather it is shaped by a continuous interplay of emotional regulation, identity formation, embodied expression , resilience-building and personal change. Dance was described as both emotional refuge and deep fulfilment, even as it brought with its pressure around performance ,self-doubt, physical  fatigue and exposure to vulnerability. Notwithstanding these difficulties, participants consistently positioned dance as core to who they are and as a vital channel for expressing emotion, constructing meaning and undergoing psychological growth.

These findings advance understanding of emotional wellbeing as dancers themselves experience and articulate  it, underscoring the emotional ,embodied and relational dimensions  inherent to dance practice. The study carries practical implication for dance educators ,mental health Practitioners ,counsellors, and performance institutions seeking to build psychologically supportive environments that nurture dancers' overall wellbeing.