HART Director, Prof Jacquelyn Allen-Collinson, and HART Associates, Dr Helen Owton (The Open University) and Dr Helen Clegg (University of Northampton) have been undertaking a qualitative study investigating gender and embodiment in dance. The project, which is being led by Dr Clegg in the Division of Psychology at the University of Northampton, has been examining professional dance teachers’ lived experience of dance, including gendered expectations of female and male dancers. Dance teachers play an important role in shaping their students’ perceptions of gender (in)equalities, but to date their perceptions have remained largely under-researched. The current project forms part of a larger programme of research on dance, and an article based on earlier work by Dr Owton and Prof Allen-Collinson, which focuses on the role of arts-based research, was published in the journal Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise & Health.
