Image Reference
Yeung Photography. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Cheer and Dance Teams [Photograph]. UNC Spirit Program. https://gotarheels.wixsite.com/uncspiritprogram
Presentation Script
Entering into this research, I intended to discover how dance impacts the social connectivity and mental well-being of the dancers on the UNC Dance Team.
Several studies have suggested that dance has positive influences on social connections, body appreciation, self-esteem, and self-expression. A study by Dawn Marino suggested that if students began with low initial baseline levels of self-esteem and social skills, they would experience improvements in these areas when given dance intervention (Marino, 2010). Another study at the University of Calgary by Hansen, Main and Hartling found that after group dance intervention for eight weeks, participants felt less lonely and more in touch with their bodies (Hansen, Main, & Hartling, 2021).
Observation 1
My first observation was an interview that I conducted with a current freshman member of the UNC Dance Team, Jaidyn. I learned that she has been dancing since she was three and loves dancing as a way to express herself, get exercise, and be social. When I asked Jaidyn about the team dynamics, she said she feels that there is a good mixture of people on the team and that she is comfortable being herself around everyone.
Jaidyn also said that her mood drastically improves after practice and that dance “offers me a release from the day and a chance to work toward my goals.” However, when asked if dance has a positive or negative effect on her body-image and confidence, she replied that she finds herself comparing her body to other dancers as the costumes they wear at games are more revealing than she has had to wear in the past. Overall, it was obvious that Jaidyn found the most beneficial impacts of dance to be on her social-connectivity and self-expression on and off the dance floor.
Observation 2
For my second observation, I attended one of the dance team’s practices. When I walked into the studio, the first thing I noticed was the variety in the clothes of the dancers. I thought that this was a cool way in which the dancers could express themselves and their style that is not allowed in other college level sports. I also noticed that there was a good range of diversity on the team. The warm-up part of practice led by the seniors was very laid back and I noticed several dancers talking and laughing with each other. I got the sense that the team was pretty close-knit.
When practicing the dances they perform at sports games, the coaches took on more of a leadership role. I got the sense that there was a respectful relationship between the coaches and dancers because when the dancers were given corrections, they were taken without annoyance. Instead of feeling that they are better than the younger girls, the seniors seemed like they wanted to help and uplift them. In terms of social connectivity, there seemed to be a stimulating and comforting relationship between the dancers on the team.
Conclusion
From Jaidyn’s interview and my observation of the team, it seems that dance inspires social connections and friendships. In terms of mental well-being, I did not find much evidence of the team having a negative effect on the dancers’ mental health. While more research should be done on the subject, for now I believe that dance positively impacts the social connectivity and mental well-being of the dancers on the UNC Dance Team. The team seems like a fun and supportive group of girls. I will enjoy their football and basketball game performances even more now that I am aware of how they operate behind the scenes.
Explication of Research
Preface
I have been a part of dance teams and groups since I was about four years old. Dance has always been an avenue for me to make friends, get exercise, and feel like a part of a community. Seeing the UNC Chapel Hill dance team perform at football games, I became interested in investigating whether the dancers feel a similar way about their sport. The UNC Dance Team consists of twenty-six girls ranging from freshman to seniors and two coaches. They practice three times a week, perform at home football and basketball games, and compete at Universal Dance Association (UDA) Nationals in Orlando every year. Prior to investigating and interacting with the UNC Dance Team, I held the assumption that there was a social hierarchy and there were more cliques of friends rather than the whole team being close with each other. I imagined the collegiate and performance-heavy aspects of the team would cause dance to have less of a positive impact than it did in my experience. Entering into this research, I intended to discover how dance impacts the social connectivity and mental well-being of the dancers on the UNC Dance Team.
Background Information
Several studies have suggested that dance has positive influences on social connections, body appreciation, self-esteem, and self-expression. A study by Dawn Marino examined the effects of dance intervention on the self-esteem and social skills of children. 164 elementary school students aged eight to ten were used in this experiment. Marino and fellow researchers introduced aerobic dance into the physical education classes of sixty-four students for eight weeks, while the physical education classes of the other sixty-four students in the control group remained unchanged. The findings suggested that if the students in the study began with low initial baseline levels of self-esteem and social skills, they would experience improvements in these areas when given dance intervention (Marino, 2010). In addition, aerobic exercise in general has been shown to have several mental health benefits including “a higher sense of self-efficacy, an enrichment of social interactions, distraction from negative thoughts… decreased levels of stress and improved emotion and self-esteem” (Marino, 2010, p. 1).
Another study at the University of Calgary by Hansen, Main and Hartling investigated the impact of group dance intervention on social connections and body appreciation. The study was done after the period of COVID-19 in which many people were required to socially isolate. The researchers believed it would be best to test how dance impacts social connectivity after participants were forced to socially isolate due to the pandemic. The researchers found that after group dance intervention for eight weeks, there was an increased awareness of interpersonal boundaries, increased connection through task-based collaboration, and increased body responsiveness (Hansen, Main, & Hartling, 2021). When surveyed after the study, most participants reported that they felt less lonely and more in touch with their bodies. When surveyed again after two months, it was found that many of the participants chose to stay in touch with the people they had met during the dance intervention. This study suggests that dance inspires close relationships and a healthier connection with one’s body.
Observation 1
My first observation was an interview that I conducted with a current freshman member of the UNC Dance Team, Jaidyn. She is the friend of one of my suitemates, so I got her contact information and scheduled a time to meet with Jaidyn in my Ehringhaus dorm room. After some introductory questions, I asked Jaidyn how long she had been dancing and she said that she had been a part of dance groups and teams since she was three years old. I asked her what has prompted her to keep dancing all these years, and she replied by saying that she has always loved dancing to express herself, get exercise, and be social. She said that most of her closest friends have been made through dance. I noted that this is very similar to the way that I feel about dance. When I asked Jaidyn about the team dynamics, she said she feels that there is a good mixture of people on the team and that she is comfortable being herself around everyone. She commented that there is a social hierarchy on the team based on seniority but assured me later that she feels encouraged and uplifted by everyone on the team including the seniors.
When I asked Jaidyn more direct questions about the way dancing on the team makes her feel, I received mixed responses. She said that her mood drastically improves after practice and that dance “offers me a release from the day and a chance to work toward my goals.” However, when asked if dance has a positive or negative effect on her body-image and confidence, she replied that she thinks it has a negative effect. She went on to say that she finds herself comparing her body to other dancers as the costumes they wear at games are more revealing than she has had to wear in the past. She feels that it is harder to maintain good eating habits and is constantly thinking about what food she is putting in her body. While talking with Jaidyn, it was obvious that she found the most beneficial impacts of dance to be on her social-connectivity and self-expression on and off the dance floor.
Observation 2
After conducting my interview with Jaidyn, I was very curious to see the way she described the interactions between the dancers in person. I thought the best way to do this was to attend one of the dance team practices and observe the dancers and the coaches from afar. I decided to attend their two-hour practice from 7:30 to 9:30 on Wednesday, October 5th. The studio where the dance team practices is located about a fifteen-minute drive from campus. As I learned from Jaidyn in our interview, the dance team is not provided with a place to practice on campus like other sports teams here. I thought that this was unfair, and Jaidyn expressed similar concerns about how much priority other UNC sports teams are given over the dance team in terms of finances and publicity.
When I walked into the studio, I was given some odd looks from the dancers. However, the coaches greeted me when they noticed I was there, and this made me feel welcome. I found a spot in the corner of the studio where I could observe the team. The first thing I noticed was the variety in the clothes of the dancers. I thought that this was a cool way in which the dancers could express themselves and their style that is not allowed in other college level sports. I also noticed that there was a good range of diversity on the team. The dancers started their practice by doing some warm-up and stretching exercises. This was led by what seemed to be the senior members of the team. This part of the practice was very laid back and I noticed several dancers talking and laughing with each other. I got the sense that the team was pretty close-knit. After they were allowed to get water, the dancers seemed to begin practicing the dances that they do at football games. The coaches seemed to have more active participation in this part of the practice. As the dancers were running through some of the dances, the coaches would come around and give corrections. I noticed that none of the dancers that were given corrections seemed annoyed. It seemed to me that they respected the feedback and that there was an overall respectful relationship between the coaches and dancers.
During the next part of practice, it seemed that the coaches had decided to change the choreography in one of the dances. The new choreography was demonstrated by the coaches while the dancers watched, and then it was their turn to practice it. While it took some dancers longer to pick up the new choreography than others, they all seemed to have it down by the end of practice. I noticed that there seemed to be a very encouraging relationship between the dancers. Instead of feeling that they are better than the younger girls, the seniors seemed like they wanted to help and uplift them. At the end of practice, the team began packing up their things and chatting with each other. There seemed to be a few cliques, but the dancers looked relaxed and like they were interacting with everyone overall. There was a general feeling of relief among the dancers that they were done with practice and could finally go home.
Conclusion
Early into my research, I held the assumption that the UNC Dance Team would have a social hierarchy and that the performance-heavy aspects of college level dance would cause it to have less of a positive impact on the social connectivity and mental well-being of the dancers. When I furthered my research, I found that my assumptions were not entirely true. While the seniors seemed to have leadership roles on the team, it did not seem to me that this had consequences for the rest of the dancers. In fact, from Jaidyn’s interview and my observation of the team, it seemed that the dancers had encouraging and supportive relationships no matter their age. In terms of mental well-being, I only found evidence of the team having a negative effect on the dancer’s mental health when Jaidyn mentioned how she feels conscious of the way her body looks in the performance costumes. In relation to my original research question, I believe that dance positively impacts the social connectivity and mental well-being of the dancers on the UNC Dance Team.
However, in order to make this conclusion with more certainty, further studies must be done. If given the opportunity, I think it would be interesting to interview other dancers of different age groups and ethnicities on the team to see if they have different responses to my questions than Jaidyn. As a freshman and white cisgender female on the team, her perspective may not reflect that of other dancers. In addition, my perspective as a white cisgender female should not be the only lens one takes to analyze this group or dance as a whole.
Overall, I enjoyed doing this research and learning about this subculture at UNC that I love watching perform at football games. Observing the dancers and talking to Jaidyn, the team seems like a fun and supportive group of girls that I could see myself enjoying being a part of. Meanwhile, I will enjoy their football and basketball game performances even more now that I am aware of how they operate behind the scenes.
References
Hansen P., Main C., Hartling L. (2021). Dance intervention affects social connections and body appreciation among older adults in the long-term despite COVID-19 social isolation: A mixed methods pilot study. Health Psychology. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.635938.
Marino, D. M. (2010). Effects of aerobic dance on self-esteem, academics, behavior, and social skills (Order No. 3421912). Hofstra University. Available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global. (756455884).
Featured Image Source
Google Images, Creative Commons License