An investigation of professional ballet dancers’ pre-performance routines and superstitious behaviours

摘要

This study investigated manifestations and effects of pre-performance behaviours with which professional ballet dancers engage prior to performance. It focused on the relationship and distinction between pre-performance routines and superstitious behaviours to aid the achievement of optimal performance. A unique opportunity arose to carry out a single case study in one of the UKs’ leading ballet companies, to which the author had privileged access. The study employed a mixed method approach where both questionnaires and interviews were utilised as methods of data collection. Questionnaires designed to investigate the use of pre-performance behaviours were completed by 90% of the company’s dancers. The results were then used to select the six dancers who engaged with the highest number of routines and rituals for in-depth interviews in order to explore the phenomena of pre-performance routines and superstitious behaviours. Professional ballet dancers were found to regularly engage with both types of behaviours prior to performance although it is often difficult to draw a definitive distinction between the two. These findings are consistent with sports based research literature, that although limited, has established that both pre-performance routines and superstitious behaviours are widely used and can have a positive effect on the outcome of a performance.