A Foucauldian Discourse Analysis of Professional South African Ballet Dancers’ Subjective Performance Experiences

Abstract

Extensive research into the lives of professional ballet dancers has been conducted by the psychological and medical fields, but much of this research has focused on problems in the environment, sometimes in a way that further pathologizes dancers. Professional ballet is a highly demanding performance area, yet little research into ballet dancers’ performance lives has been conducted, which further shapes perceptions about this population. This study explores how South African professional ballet dancers’ performance lives are shaped by discourse, and how they draw on available discursive resources to construct their subjectivity and create meaning, and to what ends, in relation to performance. Findings suggest that dancers are caught up in several powerful, dominant discourses, some of which may position them in ways that cause subjective harm, but that alternatives do exist. Insights into the complex web of intersecting discourses surrounding ballet are offered, and questions posed to create possibilities, but ultimately, dancers must decide which positions they want to claim or resist, as they continually form their subjectivities.