Abstract
How do professional dancers negotiate identity dissonance? It is well understood that physical thinkers opportunistically assert identity threats and see them as resourceful for working on desired identities (Brown & Coupland, 2015; Hickey & Roderick, 2017). However, less is understood on how identity dissonance is experienced by these individuals. This is of significance as by understanding how identity dissonance is experienced, we can better interpret the practical implications of such phenomena and contribute to the discussion on identity work. We analyse professional dancers' lived experiences and how they negotiate their working lives. We demonstrate that professional dancers shared multiple, incoherent identity narratives that were reflexive and actively worked on, both in isolation and social discourse; that their identities were constructed within relations of power and abuse; reflecting their identities were not easily described as either favorable or attested (Brown, 2022). In so doing, we emphasize professional dancers' identity dissonance is consequential of relations of power and abuse. We build our argument through an analysis of how professional dancers' identities are constructed and narrated through identity dissonance. We demonstrate how identity dissonance is reinforced through experiences of social inequity and maltreatment including physical, verbal and emotional behaviors and neglect (Stirling & Kerr, 2008a; 2008b). This leads to a discussion on the implications of identity dissonance and how professional dancers negotiate their working lives. This study examined lived experiences of professional dancers and how professional dancers negotiated their working lives. Fifty life history interviews, each lasting 70 to 120 minutes, with professional dancers (n = 50), were conducted between October 2023 and March 2024. To further enable understanding of lived experiences of professional dancers, codesign took place with three UK inclusive dance companies (n=3) between January to March 2024. Participants recruited to the study had trained and/or worked in classical ballet and/or contemporary dance in the UK (United Kingdom). Findings of the study indicate a disabling sector leading to identity dissonance. Findings emphasize a clear need for further research into professional dancers' lived experiences of social inequity and maltreatment.