Making Space for the Psychology of Creativity in Dance Science

Background

The current dance ecology sees the relationship between choreographer and dancer as blurred, with the choreographer no longer deemed the sole creative (Farrer, 2014). It is common within contemporary dance that dancers contribute to the development of movement material (Butterworth, 2004; Rowe & Smith, 2011), and in many contemporary practices, the hierarchical norm and dichotomous separation of dancer and choreographer is dissolved. As more dance professionals seek a portfolio career, dance education programmes emphasize the dual aims of developing technique and creativity (Bennett, 2009). Indeed, creativity is considered an important facet of talent in dance (Redding, Nordin-Bates & Walker, 2011). Thus, we argue that creativity is of relevance for all dance artists, and is a pertinent topic for dance science.

Despite its importance and the fact that dance is recognized as a creative activity, there is a lack of research on the psychology of creativity in the dancer's training and career. The relevance of inter- and intrapersonal, environmental, and situational psychology in achieving optimal creativity in dance is unknown. Unsurprisingly then, dance science is yet to recognize the dancer as a creative artist, and further still, to understand the relevance of creativity within the health and well-being of dancers. It is clear that there is a place for creativity research within dance science. Potential areas of investigation include:

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  The identification of creative talent

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  Understanding environments and teaching methods that nurture creativity

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  The relationship between technical ability and creativity

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  Dancer's understanding of their creativity

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  The impact of particular training forms such as somatics on creative ability

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  The possibility of training creative skills while a dancer is injured.