Dancers perceptions of psychological skills

Abstract

Psychological skills have been shown to influence the quality of sporting performance and the enjoyment of participation. Although dance obviously involves physical activity and places emphasis on performance it is not traditionally included in discussions of sport psychology. Before investigating the effects of a psychological skills training program on dancers, it is imperative that it is first determined which psychological skills may already be used by dancers, and which skills may be of benefit if developed further. A group of 22 dancers were interviewed to ascertain their beliefs about their own mental strengths and weaknesses, as well as what role they felt that mental skills could play in dance performance. Results indicated that whereas motivational skills were quite strong, strengthening the areas of arousal control, concentration, imagery, self-confidence, and self-talk could be beneficial. Dance may be able to provide sport psychology with a valuable domain for study which inherently focuses on performance rather than outcome.