Theoretical framework

Having now finalised my question 'Can a deeper awareness of and connection to the natural environment impact my health and artistic development as a dancer?'

 I am sharing my theoretical framework. Although I have many other sources I will draw on, here are my main 3 sources:

1: Author and professor in the areas of both dance and environmental studies Andrea Olsen provides evidence for the connection between our minds, bodies and the earth and encourages us to explore this interconnectedness through embodiment and greater awareness of the patterns which can be identified through our bodies, lives and the planet around us in Body and Earth (2020). She justifies her theories with strong foundations combining biology, environmental science, meditation and expression through creative exploration.

Although she explores how as human beings, we are part of a large-scale dance as we move an ‘choreograph our days’ she does not specifically refer to the genre of ballet in this work or deal with how dancers of this particularly regimented style would respond to the exercises she has set out. She does however say that ‘All the physical laws of the planet are inherent in our bodies. Movements disconnected from underlying physical integrity are those that create injury or loss of vitality.’ (2020, p.74) With the high injury rate of professional ballet dancers this did make me consider how much physical integrity ballet dancers truly possess.

 

2: In 2021 Jimenez and multiple authors reviewed the existing studies to assess the impact of nature exposure on health and they discovered that longitudinal observational studies were beginning to look into the effects of nature exposure on depression, anxiety, cognitive function and chronic disease and there are enough studies to suggest that more exposure to green space is linked with better mental health outcomes. (2021, p. 5) Although the studies specifically addressing anxiety and depression are limited and of low quality there was some evidence to suggest that there were improvements in some with a depressive mood after short term nature exposure. There is also strong evidence showing improved cognitive function ‘even after a short time in natural environments as well as improved immune function through an increase in natural killer cells through ‘a potential pathway for improved immune function’ via ‘exposure to phytoncides (a substance emitted by plants and trees to protect themselves from harmful insects and germs). (2021, pp.4-5) However, once again is this research relevant to dancers who live very unique lifestyles?

3: Dwarika and Haraldsen (2023) reviewed the current research on dancer’s mental health and found that this is still an under researched area although ballet dancers have been researched more than any other genre the evidence is ‘still quite anecdotal in nature-revealing topics uncovered, populations left out and, and too little rigor in the methodological approaches.’ (2023, p. 12)

However, there is clear evidence that dancers who find it harder to manage stressors usually possess more debilitative personal qualities such as perfectionism, obsessiveness and ego orientation (2023, p. 8) and that most of the studies examined describe the dance world as an unrelenting environment with pressure to conform to ideals with teachers and directors in such environments adopting authoritarian teaching styles and showing little interest in supporting dancers’ mental health.

The study also highlights how developing psychological skills through training can provide protection and better resilience to cope with some of the pressures of the dance environment. However, it does bring up the question of whether any training can truly protect against ‘abusive’ environments. The study does not seem to be able to fully address this issue. But it does acknowledge that there is a ‘mutual relationship between the individual and its environment. An individual is influenced by the environment…Thus it is not only the absence of psychological flexibility, relatedness or the complex ability to cope with diverse stressors, but also diverse and complex interactions between an individual and its environment that can result in mental health issues. (2023, p.2)

Ballet has particularly high levels of cultural stressors and is described as an ‘authoritarian, hierarchical, cult-like power achievement culture where dancers accept abuse and unreasonable behaviour in a state of silent conformity’ (2023, p. 7) These stressors can lead to poor mental health outcomes and the development of mental health illness, with eating disorders and anxiety among the most common illnesses found. Although some positive mental health outcomes are identified such as life quality, confidence and self efficacy, these are only found in studies also reporting the absence of mental health. (2023, p.9) Although mental health is described as a dynamic state, overall the review found ‘strong indications for both the absence of mental health and the presence of mental illness’ which ‘point to a most warranted change in the dance world to address these issues.’ (2023, p.11)

Bibliography

Dwarika, M S., Haraldsen, H M. (2023) ‘Mental health in dance: a scoping review,’ Frontiers in psychology, 14, article number 1090645. Available at: DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1090645   

Jimenez MP, DeVille NV, Elliott EG, Schiff JE, Wilt GE, Hart JE, James P. (2021) ‘Associations between Nature Exposure and Health: A Review of the Evidence.’ Int J Environ Res Public Health. 18 (9) article number: 4790.pp 3-19. Available at: doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18094790.

Olsen A. (2020) Body and Earth. Middletown, Connecticut: Wesleyan University Press

Window of opportunity

 As I look at my life ahead. 

I remind myself that it is only in this present moment that I can truly exist

The future is unknown to all of us

If I look only for external circumstances to make me feel enough I will waste this life

No experience is going to bring long lasting fulfilment

It is the appreciation of each moment life offers me that that will enrich my existence and bring me true satisfaction

Take this image below, I could look out of that window and wish I was outside by the stream, or I could appreciate the window that I am seeing that beautiful stream through. 

It is easy to lose sight of what is in the foreground of an image such as this and to realise that is part of what makes this image meaningful.

I make a commitment to consciously notice all that is in the foreground and background of my life and not to take it for granted.  

I feel that for the first time in my life I am ready to sit with the stillness and to enter the next stage on the journey to coming home to myself.

Exploring Ekhart Tolle

 Over the last few weeks I have become increasingly engrossed in the teachings of Ekhart Tolle. His theory of the power of now is something I was familiar with for some years but I have found myself being drawn more deeply to these concepts and being at a place in my life where I am ready to fully embrace this way living. 

The idea that we are separate from our thoughts, that the true essence of ourselves is the space between thinking and doing. I find real comfort in this feeling of the one aspect of ourselves that is constant regardless of external circumstances and external bodily appearance or sensation even. It is that unexplainable consciousness which simply 'is'. This is who 'I' really am. So often when someone says who are you I reply with

I am Ann

I am a ballet dancer

Yet this speaks nothing of who I truly am.

To try and explain who I am would in itself defeat the entire concept because I am my presence not my titles, names or appearance or ideas about what I am.

In a way the essence of each human transcends words. Yet we often know from the presence of someone more of who they truly are. For example we might meet a person who tells us that they are for example selfish and arrogant yet we might sense in them the complete opposite energy. They have been conditioned to believe that is who they are but deep down that is not the essence of that person. Similarly we can meet people who have an exterior of kindness but it is all for their own benefit and we can sense that underneath it there is a untruthful quality. But in a sense this is all thoughts too and defeats the point in itself. I am currently navigating understanding my intuitive side more deeply and understanding the difference between thinking and intuition.

I find this fascinating and I am enjoying losing myself in some of these concepts.

This video was especially enlightening for me:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGH6sdODcOw

   

Ethical considerations

Ethical considerations Some ethical considerations as they emerge for my research proposal for: An exploration of whether a deeper awareness of and connection to the natural environment impacts the mental health and artistic development of ballet dancers 

 Mental health is an area I will be exploring in my inquiry. I will not discuss this in the interviews with the dancers I plan to carry out in case it is triggering for them. But will send them a short questionnaire following the interview which they can fill in if they wish and send back to me which will address areas relating to mental health and connection to nature.

 I will be addressing mental health with the counsellor who I intend to interview who specialises in dancers. This participant was also a professional dancer so I will ask them questions regarding their relationship to nature throughout his career as well as see if any strategies they now use with clients are nature based. Because I know this participant, I will need to retain objectivity and a certain degree of formality when talking to the individual to ensure we stay on track of the topic.

 I will be interviewing one retired ballet dancer who is now a teacher and character dancer who I know has had a strong connection to nature. Because I know this participant I must be careful to ensure I work in a way that keeps the interview fairly formal I must be mindful that they may share more personal information than what they intend to because they know me. So I will use a semi structured approach and must be very objective in how I interpret the data. 

 I intend to do a call out for 2 Ballet dancers trained in the UK at vocational ballet schools and currently dancing professionally either freelance or in a company. These participants must have performed at least once in both an outdoor and indoor context. I intend to do this across social media groups and perhaps by emailing individuals who can then forward on the information to others. 

 I will be using my own journals and experience as a professional ballet dancer throughout this study. I need to be mindful that revisiting journals does not bring back past trauma and I need to consider how discussing trauma within the study may be triggering for others reading it. 

 If I am asking participants questions related to their training and careers I will retain anonymity of all institutions and companies and any names they may refer to. I will omit any information which makes them identifiable. Apart from the counsellor who in principle has said they are happy for their name to be used.

 I am concerned to ensure I reach a culturally diverse participant base although this is difficult when I am only using a few participants. So not sure whether focusing on UK participants for this research is better in that it is more specific? Or shall I just open up the inquiry and see who comes forward? 

I want to ensure I am being inclusive in this research and considering disabled dancers as well, even though they do not form a large part of the current intake in vocational ballet schools. I come from a place of hoping that this will in the future be the case, therefore I am hoping to consider these dancers throughout the research.

 Also would it be useful to ask if we can disclose ethnicities within the research? Is it right to do this? I am so drawn as to whether or not to ask the other 2 dancers as participants or to do a random call out. There are 2 individuals who I think would be excellent for it, to tackle the area from a number of angles, but I am unsure if this is already twisting the inquiry to how I want it to unfold. 

What are your thoughts? 

 Would really appreciate your thoughts on this MAPP team. 

Thank you💚

Watching Lea’s piece: Starving Dingoes

 As I watched Lea’s piece Starving Dingoes I felt as though I was transported to the early days of human existence. 

Here were the thoughts and ponderings which emerged from witnessing this fascinating piece at the Place on Saturday night. 

 Who are we beneath the façade we have created as societies? 

 What are our primitive desires and feelings? How does disease manifest and can we truly fight it of with the healthy cells in our bodies? 

The feeling of fighting a disease was strong throughout.

The way in which this theme was explored was so powerful and the ways the dancers committed to the emotions at each stage of the piece struck me deeply. 

 I was particularly interested in how a certain crawling movement was adapted in a way that made the beautiful disabled dancer the more powerful force to be able to execute that movement. 

 I felt at times uncomfortable as though lost in a repetitive cycle and this reminded me of the discomfort from OCD. 

It felt like connecting to the deepest parts of self which we do not want to confront

 The sand seemed so integral and I found my eyes drawn to the patterns of the sand and how the dancers were creating them through their movements.

 The choice of score was equally interesting and I wonder Lea if I could ask what was the inspiration for using the La Traviata pieces? 

 A most impactful piece which leaves a lasting memory within me. 

Discussions and special Interest Groups

 Last week I had a fascinating discussion with Dieter around the area of trauma. It was great to hear Dieter's knowledge from a somatic point of view concerning Long Covid in particular. We discussed how the body can tell you through physical symptoms that something in your life needs to change. How so often illness manifests from the disconnection between mind and body - when we stop listening. We spoke of the challenges that the national health services have with so little time allocated to each patient and how they can rarely get the root of a problem and must instead prescribe medication which is not always the right treatment and in most cases does not fully address the underlying issue. This discussion further prompted my my exploration into considering what really helped me to reach the point of recovery I am in when many people with Long Covid are still struggling. I remembered nature and how much I missed in isolation and then how I would go each day and sit by the tree in the park and gradually increase my walking in nature which eventually led to running.

I wonder how much of Long Covid is related to the fact that at a time when the body was struggling to adapt to an unknown virus, I was stuck in a room lacking oxygen, away from people and disconnected from nature. This can't have helped me to recover from a disease which affected my respiratory system so badly as well as every other system in my body.

Dieter pointed out the connections between nature and somatic practice and I hope this week to be able to attend his somatic class as I seek to develop a deeper awareness of this connection.

Evolving ideas of an inquiry and finalising my research question

 In the last few weeks my ideas for what I will focus on for my inquiry have evolved in ways I never anticipated. First of all I began feeling that I would be focusing on the effects of trauma on ballet dancers. But the more I researched, the more I wanted to focus in on a particular type of trauma, as it is such a vast area and did not feel I would be able to do it justice. This led me to revisit the trauma of Long Covid which I have experienced and I explored the possibility of looking into the impact of Long Covid on ballet dancers. I revisited diaries and memories from my experience and this led me to remember a moment of enlightenment which occurred when I was very unwell. 

I remember noticing that I did not miss doing ballet class which I had previously been somewhat addicted to. After 14 days in isolation entirely alone in my flat trying to look after myself when I was struggling to walk around even, and then the months and months that followed of being unable to do basic things let alone a ballet class, showed me what I missed most. I missed being able to walk down the street into the park and connect with the beauty of nature. I missed feeling the breeze on my face, seeing the colours of the flowers, touching the trees. I realised just how much of my life I had spent disconnected from the beauty of life itself.  

This memory has returned at a timely moment in my life where I was starting to ask why? Why am I dancing to begin with and this led me to revisit a favourite children's book of mine which I asked my dad to read to me over and over again! Bravo Tanya, A book which tells the story of a young girl who loves to dance but when she is in the ballet studio and the teacher is shouting counts she cannot seem to connect to the dancer within her. Down by the brook she dances to the music of nature which only she and her ballerina bear toy can hear. One day the pianist is walking by and stops to watch Tanya dancing. Afterwards she applauds her and tells her what a beautiful ballerina she is and that she too likes the music she can hear there in nature. This surprises Tanya and the next time she goes to class she ignores the shouting and counts of the teacher and instead focuses on the music of the piano instead in which she hears 'waves, a storm and branches in the wind'.(Gauch,1992, np)  Later, the teacher who had previously told Tanya's mother that Tanya was a lovely child, but that not every child was meant to be a dancer declared ''My goodness...what a little ballerina you are''. (Gauch,1992, np) This book spoke to me most deeply and has never stopped leaving an impact on me. I now use it with my own students because the message is so clear. When we connect to the world around us only then can we truly dance. This is of huge inspiration to me and when I forget this reason I end up questioning my career choices in general.

So my inquiry is now looking further into the training of a ballet dancer and how little time we spend in the natural environment, how that the then feeds into our careers. Also into how much intentional time we spend observing nature. I have been considering how much dancing in open air contexts may impact a ballet dancer's performance and how generally a deeper connection to nature may impact the mental health of dancers given the challenges of the profession. Therefore following a very helpful supervision with Helen I believe I have landed upon my research question:

How can a deeper awareness of and connection to the natural environment impact the mental health and artistic development of ballet dancers?

 Which will take the form of this as my title:

An exploration of how a deeper awareness of and connection to the natural environment impacts the mental health and artistic development of ballet dancers

Although I do definitely want to pursue the research around Long Covid and dancers, I would like to wait a little longer before embarking on this as the area of Long Covid is still not fully understood. 

This research around nature and ballet dancers seems to encapsulate the journey through trauma and Long Covid but also reveals a possible light, a feeling of hope in me which is asking to be pursued. I wake up in the morning with enthusiasm for the research ahead. This is how I know it is the right question.

So far, I plan to use a combination of grounded theory and ethnography

Doing interviews of classical ballet dancers who have performed both indoors and outdoors and a counsellor who specialises in dancers to see if he uses nature based treatments with his clients and if so how effective these are.  I will also be drawing on my own diaries and artwork.

I will do another post detailing my literature review but currently looking at the work of Rosemary Lee, Anna Halprin, Anna Pavlova, Isadora Duncan who all have a deep connection to nature in their work.

I am looking to find more male dance artists through history who have a strong connection the nature and the environment. Can anyone help me out here?

I am also in the process of exploring phenomenology in greater depth and I have to say I find it fascinated. I find myself resonating with Heidegger's ideas but when I consider his political status as a Nazis I find it hard to comprehend how they can go together and find myself less trusting of his ideas. This in itself is indicative of perception and how our perception of something changes depending on the circumstances around it. For example with dancers I often find that dancers who are kind personalities seem to become more enjoyable to watch whereas if I know that a dancer is extremely narcissistic I find this starts to be all I see when I dance and therefore I don't enjoy watching them so much however technically excellent they may be.

But I am also reminding myself that I cannot get to absorbed in philosophy because I have a deadline to meet! But I could definitely spend a whole term just on the area of philosophy!

 References

Gauch, P and Ichikama, S (1992) Bravo Tanya. The Putnam and Grosset Group: New York

Videos and podcasts currently being explored are:

Heidegger 

https://youtu.be/M_nNEN7JUiM

Phenomenology

https://open.spotify.com/episode/3DtfANSetD2gv6iLygLn8m?si=oaBZm5OdQZquOOT3D9vW1g&utm_source=copy-link

The philosophy of Martin Heidegger 

https://youtu.be/8Y_HlIPRUc8