The Presentation of Self in the Classical Ballet Class : Dancing with Erving Goffman
- Submitting institution
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Royal Conservatoire of Scotland
- Unit of assessment
- 33 - Music, Drama, Dance, Performing Arts, Film and Screen Studies
- Output identifier
- 2435709
- Type
- D - Journal article
- DOI
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10.1080/14647893.2015.1110570
- Title of journal
- Research in Dance Education
- Article number
- -
- First page
- 14
- Volume
- 17
- Issue
- 1
- ISSN
- 1470-1111
- Open access status
- Out of scope for open access requirements
- Month of publication
- November
- Year of publication
- 2015
- URL
-
-
- Supplementary information
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-
- Request cross-referral to
- -
- Output has been delayed by COVID-19
- No
- COVID-19 affected output statement
- -
- Forensic science
- No
- Criminology
- No
- Interdisciplinary
- No
- Number of additional authors
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1
- Research group(s)
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-
- Proposed double-weighted
- No
- Reserve for an output with double weighting
- No
- Additional information
- The article uses the framework of Erving Goffman’s model of dramaturgy to explore the nature and purpose of social interactions and behaviours within an adult amateur ballet class in Scotland. I explore: what the protected and disrupted “realities” are within the class, and how these are maintained or challenged; how dancers manage the impression they give to others and why this manifests in a particular way; key themes of ballet vocabulary; ballet-body idiom; and teacher-pupil dynamics.
I was a member of the class and carried out the research in the role of Participant as Observer, allowing me to draw on well-established trust and rapport, and to experience at first hand the exercises and movements. I conducted semi-structured interviews with a representative sample of the class, and observed the actions, atmosphere, and behaviours relating to the (ballet, social and physical) “performance(s)” of the teacher and participants.
The limited existing dance literature that draws on ethnographic methods and particular sociological models and frameworks, tends to be dominated by the conceptual tools of Pierre Bourdieu and Michel Foucault. Earlier studies also focus on the vocational and professional ballet body and world. I found that Goffman’s model of dramaturgy offered strong insights into the interactions and “realities” of a dance setting; and that within this amateur setting, participants sought to emulate their perceived reality of the professional ballet world.
Drawn from my PhD, this study was published in Research in Dance Education, a leading peer-reviewed journal in the discipline. The PhD itself substantially developed the use of Goffman’s dramaturgical model in the field of dance, and was funded as an ESRC Case Studentship, with Creative Scotland as industry sponsor.
- Author contribution statement
- -
- Non-English
- No
- English abstract
- -